It was a happy day in Elberta Monday morning, as Baldwin County Schools officials, Board of Education members and Elberta town leaders met to break ground on a new wing at Elberta Elementary School — a move many said is the first step to creating a full high school in the small community. “There’s a huge sense of accomplishment in getting this underway,” Elberta Councilman Michael Hudson said. “We’re very thankful the school board has listened to the people in the community for what they wanted. I couldn’t be more excited about it, but this is just the first step. The ball is rolling.” The new wing that will soon be under construction will house fourth, fifth and sixth graders and will free up space at what is now Elberta Middle School for additions to be made to turn that school into an Elberta High School. The 14-room addition is being paid for with pay-as-you-go funds the school system put together through saving and refinancing loans. “I’m excited about it,” BCBE President Shannon Cauley said. “This is what we needed to do for the community. There’s a growth, there’s a need and we’re going to continue to work with the communities to try to get what they need done.” Foley BCBE board member JaNay Dawson said she felt a future Elberta High School could help with some of the growth issues being felt in the county. “Continued growth is something that we know is going to continue to happen here, so anything we can do to help relieve pressure on some of our more overcrowded feeder patterns, like Foley, is certainly a good thing,” Dawson said. Elberta Councilman John Conti said this groundbreaking was a great first step for the town, something he said he’s heard a lot of residents interested in lately. “I talked to almost 600-plus registered voters in the area and told them about what we’ve got going on with the high school,” Conti said. “We’ve got this portion funded and that Phase Two still needs to be funded and I told them we needed to be sure we get out for the next Build Baldwin Now program or whatever mechanism that we will vote on to make sure our high school gets to be properly funded and built.” Elberta Mayor pro team Jim Hamby said there was a definite excitement in the community for what the future could hold. “It’s important to a lot of people that we be able to have a high school here, so that kids can go to school in their own community,” Hamby said. “It’s been something many of us have been fighting hard for, and we’re going to continue to push for it until it become a reality. The people of Elberta have said they want this and so we’re going to make sure it happens.”