How can I get my daughter to school in a better mood?

My 4 year old daughter has started complaining that she doesn’t want to go to school. I have to drag her to the car and then she will struggle and fight me putting her in her car seat. She will whine the whole way that she hates school and doesn’t want to go. Once when we got to the building she actually escaped out the door and started running back to the car. So basically, I have to drag her in.

Once she sees her friends, she’s totally fine. She’ll run off and play with them and barely say goodbye to me. She has a good time all day and when I come pick her up, she asks why she can’t stay all day (her class has all day and half day students and she only goes half day.) She complains that she doesn’t want to go home and she had a great time in school. But the next morning, she’s fighting and struggling against going.

I’ve tried asking her why she doesn’t like school, and she comes up with a different excuse every time. This morning’s excuse was “It’s too expensive.” Which it’s not, of course. She just knows that’s a reason I give her for not buying some things she wants at the store. She has also said that it’s boring and she has no friends. But like I said, she loves it and once she sees her friends she has a blast. I’ve asked her teacher and she said that my daughter has plenty of friends and is very popular with the other students.

So why all the fighting? What can I do to make it lessen or even stop?