PRAIRIEVILLE — On Thursday, 23,000 students returned to school in Ascension Parish, including students at the brand-new Prairieville High School.

“Now that they’re here, we’re actually able to start building our culture,” Randy Loving, Prairieville High’s principal, said. “We’re a blend of three different high schools and three different middle schools in our parish.”

Loving said it’s now about “go ‘canes,” already proud of the school’s new mascot, the Hurricanes.

While the spirit squad filled the gymnasium, football players were getting a morning practice in, with coach Mike Schmidt saying they were taking extra steps to stay cool.

With a new school also comes new rules, but a cell phone ban statewide poses a social challenge for the younger generation.

"Well first of all it's the law and so we're going to be very compliant. What we'll do is the students will adjust to access to their phones outside of the scope of the school day and so we'll make the adjustments but during the course of the day, our students will be fully engaged in instruction,” Denise Graves, assistant superintendent of Ascension Public Schools, said.

Overall, the school system is looking forward to another great year with top test scores and a new gorgeous campus to educate their students.

Parents will receive more detailed lists of rules and regulations that will be sent home with students this week.