LEWISTON — Kindergartner Aizyk Laliberte stood close to his parents, Vicki Blanchette and Jim Laliberte, outside McMahon Elementary School on Wednesday.

Summer ended with the start of school in Lewiston, Auburn and other communities including Sabattus, Wales and Litchfield.

Aizyk didn’t have a lot to say about starting school. When asked how old he was, he held up his hand. Answer: 5.

When asked whether he was excited about school, he stood in silence and shyly lowered his head. No comment.

He’s been talking about school, his mother said. The family came to an open house and met his teacher. Aizyk nodded yes when asked if his teacher was nice.

His sister, Siara Laliberte, 7, was more quotable. “I like school. I love the playground,” she said. Dressed in a new outfit, a white skirt and orange top, the second-grader had advice for success in school: “Listen.”

“Behave,” coached her mother.

This year, McMahon has more students. The school opened a $5.4 million expansion including 10 classrooms at one end of the school, and a new gymnasium, art room and music room at the other end.

Enrollment grew from 571 last year to 635 on Wednesday. Some students from other schools were transferred to fill the space as Lewiston’s total enrollment is on the rise.

Jessica Bousquet, the mother of three McMahon students, waited for school to open with her children, Alexander Bousquet, 11, Serria Belanger, 7, and Tyler Belanger, 5. “This is his first day,” she said of Tyler. “He’s starting kindergarten.”

Sixth-grader Alexander said he was excited to go back; he likes gym and math. Serria was all smiles about starting second grade. “You get to read books. You get to play on the playground.”

When the doors opened, parents followed their children in after showing identification. There were plenty of hugs and kisses as parents said goodbye.

Salinas Kinga stood in the hall outside his son’s classroom, smiling as his son was welcomed into first grade.

Kinga has three children at McMahon; last year they went to Montello Elementary School. He said he was nervous about his children being transferred to help fill McMahon. “Montello is a very good school,” Kinga said. But after visiting McMahon, he was fine with the change. “I’m happy,” he said.

In his new art room, teacher Todd Sherry called his space nice. “It’s 50 percent larger than the old art room.” With more room, “students will be able to do more art projects.”

Teacher Chris Henry was delighted with his new music room.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “It’s three times bigger than the room I was in.” The room has acoustic tiles and new technology, allowing music to be taught in various ways.

Sixth-graders Lucas Duncan, 10, Mckenzie Boucher, 11, and Zamzam Elmoge, 11, who gave a tour, said they liked the new gym. The old gym was in the cafeteria.

“Our janitor, Ross, had to move all the tables,” Duncan said. The old gym had two basketball hoops; the new one has six, Zamzam said. There’s more room for students to run, said Boucher, who plays basketball.

The gym has especially been a hit with staff, students and parents, Principal Tom Hood said.

“We had two open houses,” Hood said. “The excitement in this building about the gym was tremendous.” Students can do much more in the new gym than they could do in the cafeteria, he said.

Another building improvement is a new bus loop for picking up and dropping off students. “It’s much safer,” Hood said.

Overall, Hood was pleased with the opening day. “The first day was excellent,” he said.

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