Members of the Covington County Board of Education and local media got a sneak peak of Straughn Elementary School’s Early Learning Center on Tuesday, just ahead of an open house set from 5:30 until 7 Thursday night.

SES Principal Bettye Anne Older said Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms were moved into the 9,926 square foot facility in January. The facility was constructed as a total FEMA-rated shelter.

“We were able to put 900 children in here in a tornado drill last week,” Older said.

All of Straughn Elementary’s students were moved to classrooms and middle school students moved to the hallway. “

The students were in place within five minutes, she said.

“And amazingly, it was quiet.”

The FEMA-rated building was built to withstand an EF5 tornado. The reinforced masonry building has a concrete roof deck, reinforced interior and exterior walls, steel indoor window shutters, double steel exterior doors, a fresh air ventilation system for the whole building, first aid kits, and a community system.