The first day at Taylor Elementary School

Lights were flashing at Taylor Elementary School Tuesday.

Parents, armed with digital cameras, recorded every moment of their offspring's return to the school that was closed last year because of flood damage.

"It's very exciting," said Michelle Curl. "We're very happy."

Curl's children -- 9-year-old Damon and 5-year-old Brianna -- were among the more than 270 students registered to attend Taylor this year.

"I missed the whole school," said Damon, 9, who attended Harrison last year.

Now he's back in an environment he knows, with students and teacher who know him.

Taylor took on more than 3 feet of water in the June 2008 flood. The damage forced the building to close for the 2008-09 school year. Students, staff and teachers were dispersed throughout the district for a year.

On Tuesday, they came home.

There's comfort in the familiar, said Denise Alger, Taylor's special education Level 2 teacher.

Alger's students followed her to Coolidge Elementary School last year, but Taylor was never far from their mind.

"They asked me what was going on with the school, when we could go back," she said.

Still, despite the circumstances surrounding Taylor's re-opening, the first day of school was like every other first day of school. Students dashed through the halls, looking for friends they haven't seen in awhile. Parents greeted each other, and the staff, with hugs. The office was a bevy of activity, with even more parents coming in to register, including a family still living in a FEMA trailer in Marion.

"Everybody who's here wants to be here," said third grade teacher Betty Stewart. "We needed to come back for the neighborhood."

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