FAYETTEVILLE -- The New School added 1.7 acres to its campus with the purchase of property to its south.
School officials closed on the property at 294 E. Township St. for $518,400 on Wednesday morning, Dennis Chapman, president and head of school, said.
The private school bought the property with money donated by Bryan and Mandy Hunt, who have an eighth-grader at the school, and with an in-kind donation of $68,400 from Greg Martin, community president of Simmons First National Bank, Chapman said. The bank owned the land.
"This gift shows how much confidence we have in The New School and everyone that is a part of the program," Bryan and Mandy Hunt said, according to a news release. "Our family has proudly supported the school for many years and are excited for its growth and future."
The school, with 380 children from toddlers through eighth-graders, plans to start a high school program, beginning with freshmen for the 2016-17 school year and add a grade each subsequent year, Chapman said.
Construction will start in about four months on 65,000 square feet of building space for the high school that is set to open in the fall of 2017.
The Township property will be a construction staging area next school year, Chapman said. When the high school project finishes, ideas for the land include parking space for high school students and possible development of athletic facilities.
The New School also announced it hired Clayton Harrell as the director of athletics and dean of students for middle and high schools, according to a news release. Harrell is to start July 1. He is the athletic director at St. Thomas Episcopal School, a private school in Houston for students in prekindergarten through 12th grade.
NW News on 04/28/2016