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Wednesday marked a new school year and a fresh start for the Center School. After 25 years sharing its building on West 70th street with PS 199, the middle school is up and running in a new location, 14 blocks north.

"It's one of the best middle schools in the city so I feel very fortunate, no matter where we have to travel to," said one parent.

The Center School is a magnet middle school for students on the Upper West Side. While it wasn't over capacity, PS 199 was, so the Department of Education decided to move Center School out.

Many parents who balked initially were actually optimistic on the first day of school.

"It's a really simple commute, really great, we like the area, we love it," said one parent.

"They make wonderful things happen wherever they are so I think it'll be fine," said another parent.

City Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side, says the new arrangement works for both schools.

"For the sake of space and everyone being able to get along, there's a lot more space here they have 13 rooms, they had eight down there," Brewer said.

Space or lack thereof was a chronic problem at PS 199. With 115 new students this year, the school needed more room.

"Moving the school and allowing PS 199 to take over this entire building has afforded us the space we need for our growing population this year," said PS 199 PTA President Michelle Ciulla Lupkin.

Lupkin says the move has given the kids back their music and art rooms, their auditorium, cafeteria and gym.

"We moved into the neighborhood because of PS 199 so we're looking forward to a great year," said one parent.

While the additional space is great, Lupkin also says it's still not enough.

"This building will help us sustain approximately 850 to 900 students which if we're already at 775 we have another year, possibly another year. We simply cannot sustain eight classes coming in each year," Lupkin said.

The PTA says it will start looking at long-term solutions for 2010 and beyond, which includes getting additional school space in the district.

The Department of Education says it's aware the neighborhood is growing and is monitoring the situation to make sure its planning keeps up with students' needs.