By Noelani Mathews | WCTV Eyewitness News

LOWNDES Co. – For more than six years, these halls were filled with silence, but that ended on Wednesday as happy school kids flooded through.

To students at Highland Christian Academy, they’re returning to a new building. However, it was once Pine Grove Elementary School.

“I just imagined what it would look like with clean floors, new carpets, paint on the walls, and people being here”, says Principal Ron Kooy.

Many in the community say they’re overjoyed to see more than 70 years of history being brought back to life.

“It was a win-win because it was what we were looking for and it was already there and we could buy it”, says Principal Kooy.

For Mary Lisse, a language arts teacher, this building is a sort of homecoming for her.

“It was exciting because when I was getting my room ready I ran across old pictures of back in the 90’s when I was here before”, says Mary.

The pictures are of her teaching in the same building and even the same classroom back when it was Pine Grove.

“It was almost like I was in second grade again because I walked into my old classrooms and they just came alive”, says Alden.

School officials say they’ve already enrolled 15 new students.

As they continue to expand, they say they are also looking for more teachers.