'Abbott Elementary' Is at the Top of the Class in 2022 Emmy Nominations

Quinta Brunson's Abbott Elementary had a golden morning on Tuesday when nominations for the 74th Emmy Awards were announced.

Among its seven nods on Tuesday, Abbott scored nominations for outstanding comedy series, outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for Brunson (who also scored a writing nomination for the pilot), outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for Tyler James Williams and outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James.

"What an honor to be nominated by the Television Academy," Brunson, 32, said in a statement to PEOPLE. "Creating this show has been the greatest gift and to have it recognized in this way is the dream. It's a joy we get to share with the amazing people who watched our first season. None of this would be possible without my incredible, supportive EP's Justin Halpern, Randall Einhorn & Patrick Schumacker, our incredible writers room, our insanely talented cast, and the hard-working teams at ABC and WBTV for helping to bring Abbott Elementary to life. Lastly, and most importantly, I want to thank teachers. Thanks for being our inspiration."

For more on the 2022 Emmy nominations, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

Ralph, 65, shared her excitement about the show's nominations with PEOPLE in a statement: "I am so deeply honored and completely overwhelmed with an abundance of gratitude that comes with this recognition. Thank you to the Television Academy for the delicious honor of being nominated in the Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category, alongside the most talented and hilarious actors of today. Thank you Emmy voters for this great compliment, and thank you to Quinta Brunson for the opportunity of a lifetime. It has been a joy and a blessing to portray Mrs. Barbara Howard on screen and honor the thousands of educators she represents across the country in doing so. Thank you again!"

Brunson is the star, executive producer and creator of Abbott Elementary, which also stars Lisa Ann Walter and Chris Perfetti.

The mockumentary-style sitcom premiered in December 2021 and follows a group of Philadelphia-based teachers working at one of the worst-ranked schools in the country.

Its first season earned a rare 100% critics' score from Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the review aggregation site's highest-rated television shows.

"Abbott Elementary earns top marks for its empathetic yet sidesplitting critique of the U.S. education system, plus some extra credit for a deftly handled will-they-won't-they dynamic," Rotten Tomatoes said about the series.

On Tuesday, Executive Producers Justin Halperin and Patrick Schumacker said in a statement to PEOPLE: "We are incredibly grateful and excited at these nominations. The entire cast, crew, and writing staff are some of the most talented people we've ever worked with. We are so thankful Quinta trusted us with helping her make this show and she deserves every accolade that comes her way. She is insanely good at everything she does. It's frankly unnerving."

They continued, "We made Abbott because we wanted to make people laugh but also show the daily struggle teachers go through and the respect and admiration they deserve. We're realizing now this reads like it was written by a PR robot but rest assured these were the original thoughts of two humans who are shockingly paid to write things."

Brunson, who plays second-grade teacher Janine Teagues, previously reflected on what it felt like when her acclaimed series became an overnight sensation.

"To have only had a few episodes [air] and just for it to be an abundance of love, conversation, and just enjoyment of the show is just so, like, I don't know. I am just so happy, so overwhelmed," she told Harper's Bazaar in January. "It was weird to feel like I had to pull back from Twitter because of too much positivity. I was like, 'I don't know what to do with so many nice messages and nice comments.'"

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

The 74th Emmy Awards will air live Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC.