SARALAND, Ala. — School is back in session for students along the Gulf Coast, including the Saraland Spartans, who returned to class this week for the 2026-27 school year.
Saraland City Schools’ four campuses welcomed a combined 3,400 students back on the first day, according to the district. At the Saraland Elementary Campus alone, around 100 faculty and staff greeted roughly 1,000 second through fifth graders with smiles and “happy first day of school” wishes as buses, cars and walkers arrived for the morning.
“We are excited to get the school year off to a great start,” said Saraland Elementary School Principal Stephanie Dial.
Dial said the excitement of the first day belies weeks of behind-the-scenes preparation by teachers and staff. “You can’t reopen school without spending at least six to eight weeks trying to shut down the last year and get ready for the new year. So, it’s around the clock around here, but that’s okay because we do it all for the kids,” she said.
As students hopped off buses, climbed out of cars or walked in holding their parents’ hands, Dial said the campus atmosphere reflected months of planning coming together. “We do a lot of good things here at the elementary school. We do a lot of things well,” she said.
For Saraland’s youngest students — affectionately nicknamed the “‘Lil Spartans” — the first day marks just the first step in a longer educational journey through the district’s four-campus system, which carries students from elementary school through high school graduation.
“We are just excited to do what we know is best for our children. We prepared them as best we can get them off to a great start so they can go to the middle school and be successful, high school and beyond,” Dial said.
About Saraland City Schools
Saraland voters approved breaking away from the Mobile County Public School System in a June 2006 referendum to create their own city school district. The district’s four schools are Saraland Early Education Center, Saraland Elementary School, Saraland Middle School and Saraland High School.
