OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV)—The Oshkosh Area School District invited the community to the ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for the brand-new Menominee Elementary School on Sunday. Menominee Elementary School opened its doors for the 2024-2025 school year, uniting the former Merrill, Washington, and Webster Stanley Elementary School communities. Supporters of the Weis Earth Science Museum at UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities campus rally to keep it open "We were able to get students kicked off here on September 3, and we're really welcoming the public tonight and excited to be able to show off this beautiful school," said Oshkosh Area School District Superintendent Bryan Davis. "What you'll see is a lot of natural light, you'll see a lot of open spaces that we can do everything from full classroom instruction to small group instruction and gymnasium size is much bigger than we were before." He went on to say the innovative facility features flexible learning spaces, a media center with an adjacent makerspace, all designed to foster creativity and collaboration. Gena Kakkak, the Menominee Tribal Chairwoman attended the dedication ceremony and received a tour of the school. She said on behalf of the Menominee Nation, she is honored to have the new school represent the rich history that is ingrained in the City of Oshkosh. "The Menominee people are the first people of Wisconsin; our creation story begins at the mouth of the Menominee River," stated Kakkak. "Thank you to the Oshkosh Area School District for reaching out to us and asking in a proper way to bring the Menominee name into the school system here." Camryn Raiden is in first grade at Menominee Elementary and said has been looking forward to attending since she first saw it being built. "It was like awesome the first time I saw it and I loved watching it from last year when I was in kindergarten," she said. She told Local 5's Samantha Petters she has always loved school, even when she gets sick, she wants to go and explained she has enjoyed her first few weeks at Menominee Elementary School. Weather cancels Fox Cities Marathon, but doesn’t take away runners’ purpose "Basically, everything! I can't decide. They're all so awesome," explained Raiden. "Like gym, art, music, they're all like all my talents! I even like to be quiet in the library. It's kind of peaceful." Camryn's mom, Dawn Golly, added that she's proud to send her daughter to a school where she's learning so much about the city's history from a young age.