Possibly one of Renton’s cutest elementaries opened with the beginning of the school year Wednesday.

The kindergarten-only Honey Dew Elementary is hosting five teachers from three schools, while the district works on opening the much-needed facility to kids through fifth-grade next year.

“It’s definitely a very cute community,” said Kris Babani, one of the district’s new kindergarten teachers.

The district didn’t have the funding to open the school completely this year, but it gave nearby Highlands schools the opportunity to use the facility for kindergartners instead of overloading and sending kids to the not-so-close Hazelwood Elementary.

“They’ve been so overloaded, they needed some relief,” said Highlands Principal Janet Fawcett, who will also oversee Honey Dew.

An ideal elementary school has about 450-500 students, but all of the three schools using the facility have more than 600 students, she said.

The kids will go on to Kennydale, Highlands and Maplewood Heights elementary schools next year, unless their homes are within new boundary lines for Honey Dew.

“All of the principals on this side of town are looking forward to the opening of this school (Honey Dew), because it will significantly reduce our size,” Fawcett said.

The about 160 half-day kids will use five classrooms, turning a fifth room into a library and work space for a para-educator.

The district does a good job at keeping classroom sizes on target, but shared resources such as lunch rooms, PE and music classes are stretched thin, Fawcett said.

“In a smaller school you have fewer logistical problems,” she said, adding it’s also less likely kids will fall through the cracks.

Much of Honey Dew will remain mothballed until next year’s grand opening. Kindergartners won’t have access to the gym or library.

Honey Dew hasn’t been used as a neighborhood school in 20 years.

However, elementary schools waiting for their buildings to be remodeled or rebuilt used the facility in year increments.

Once each of the district’s elementary schools were finished, Honey Dew went through its own remodel in 2010.

“I think it’s gorgeous,” Babani said of her classroom.

Skylights in the halls and a courtyard in the middle of the school guarantees each classroom gets a healthy amount of natural light.

The library beams with three walls of windows pushing out into the courtyard.

Yellow and orange paint throughout the building make a cheerful environment.

On opening day parents took pictures of their kid’s first day of school, while buses rolled through the parking lots, dropping off a few Honey Dew students.

Some parents have shown concern about separating kindergartners from their schools, but it’s temporary, said spokesperson Randy Matheson.

There are certain advantages to having all the kindergarten teachers together, Fawcett said. “They can work collaboratively in their lesson planning.”

The students will have more peers to socialize with during recess and on Friday lunches too, Babani said, adding, “We should use it as an advantage.”

About 14,200 Renton School District students returned to school Sept. 1 and 2.