A boy walked out of a room at the new Cottonwood Elementary and stopped in the doorway. He looked down one end of the hall, then the other.

"Do you need help finding your classroom?" asked principal Mari Stoll.

"No, I'm looking for the bathrooms," the boy said.

Stoll smiled and guided the boy just a few doors down from where he stood.

The new Cottonwood opened Monday morning for students and staff, a project that took three years to plan and finally build, Stoll said. Staff moved into the new building right before school started again.

"It's been quite a journey," Stoll said. "Our teachers worked so hard over Christmas break to pull it off."

Cottonwood is a combination of the old Westwood and McKinley elementaries, which merged several years ago. The schools have come together with little friction, Stoll said.

"From the very beginning, everyone knew this is what we were working for," Stoll said. "We've been building that community for a year and a half now."

Fourth-graders Duncan Cooley and Taylor Martin said the new building is a lot better than their former one, Westwood Elementary. Both were glad their class was no longer in a portable building.

"We can walk from classroom to classroom without going outside and getting our feet wet," Duncan said.

"It's big," Taylor added. "Everything is inside."

Also new to Taylor, Duncan and their classmates is the grand staircase at the front entrance of the school. The staircase is only for third, fourth- and fifth-graders, Duncan said.

Overall, the new school is taking a little getting used to, said fourth-grader Vincent Vinvugt.

"Some people may get confused for a couple weeks," Vincent said.

"You can't figure out where anything is," Duncan said.

Stoll said despite some confusion for students and teachers, everyone is jazzed about being in the new building.

"This is such a big exciting day for us," she said. "We can't get the smiles off our faces."

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com.

The new Cottonwood Elementary

Location 1230 W. 15th Street, the former McKinley Elementary site

Capacity 330 students

Size 60,205 square feet

Overall cost $17 million