Augusta Prep projects near completion

A building blitz begun last year at one of the county's largest private schools will come to an end soon, according to officials at Augusta Preparatory Day School.

Classes begin at Augusta Prep on Friday, Aug. 15. The dedication of the school's new Boardman Athletic Center will be held at 2 p.m. Aug. 18.

"The gym has a very impressive maple floor which is great for growing feet," said Siobhan Carlile, the assistant director of development and manager of communications at the school. "The gym has been designed specifically for basketball and volleyball."

The gym has a seating capacity of 800 people, which will allow for on-campus graduation ceremonies. A soft-surface rubberized track is also part of the 24,000-square-foot building.

Additionally, the school will open its Hull Fine Arts Center this fall, with a donor reception and recognition ceremony scheduled for Oct. 6 and an open house scheduled for Oct. 7.

"The fine arts center is acoustically correct and has already been booked by the Augusta Choral Society for a spring 2007 concert," Carlile said. The school will host its annual arts festival on April 28, the same day as the choral society concert.

"To get an idea of the scope, one really has to visit," Carlile said. "It seats 250 in the theater, has a scene shop, gallery foyer and dressing rooms. We really hope it will be a community venue."

The school will re-establish displaced tennis courts and a new parking lot will bring more uniformity to the growing campus.

At Augusta Christian Schools in Martinez, middle school pupils will be introduced to the Accelerated Reader program. The program was added last year for pupils through fifth grade.

"We've added Spanish 1 honors and eighth grade honors English to the middle school program this coming year for which they will get high school credit," said Lynn Wilkerson, the director of school activities.

Middle school pupils will also be offered one semester of French, for which high school credit will not be given. A music appreciation program has been added for pupils in fourth and fifth grades.

"Our expected enrollment is 675 students," Wilkerson said. The first day of classes is Thursday, Aug. 10.

Orientation for sixth-through 12th-graders will be Tuesday, Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Baston Road campus, while pupils in kindergarten through third grade are invited to orientation on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 9 a.m. at the Furys Ferry Road campus. Orientation for pupils in grades four and five will be held Wednesday, as well, at 11 a.m. at the Furys Ferry Road campus.