MORE than 130 students and 15 staff walked into a new school in Merriwa last Wednesday for the first day of the new school year.
Alkimos Baptist College opened for business with most of the 145 students enrolled attendin Alkimos Baptist College opened for business with most of the 145 students enrolled attending the first dayg the first day
Students in classes from Kindergarten through to Year 8 joined the school, which is temporarily operating from a former Kingsway College site in Merriwa.
Secondary principal Gary Harris said the school would eventually be built in the Alkimos development, but would operate from the current space this year, and possibly next.
“We anticipate some time this year we will obtain land,” Mr Harris said.
With pre-approval for the school, he said it should only take six months to build once land and permission have been obtained.
Mr Harris said the school would grow to about the same size as Quinns Baptist College eventually, with about 640 high school students and about 500 in primary, where his wife Carol is principal.
“In three years we will have those numbers in primary school,” he said.
Wednesday also saw 14 kindergarten students experience their first school day, and Mr Harris said the school had a smooth start.
“We had parents arriving with boxes of books for the kids,” he said.