Construction starts on Christian high school

Gilbert Christian Schools is building its first high school — an $8.5 million “state-of-the-art” building with new technology and sports facilities.

Construction is under way on nine and half acres at Wade and Jasper drives in Gilbert, less than a mile east of the current school, which houses preschool through 12th grade.

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A ceremonial ground breaking is planned from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday on the construction site. Phoenix Suns player Steve Nash, Gilbert Mayor John Lewis, and a representative from Gov. Jan Brewer’s office are expected to attend.

Gilbert Christian Schools is running out of room with 480 students at its current location. When the new high school opens for the 2010-11 school year, freshmen to seniors will move over to the new Gilbert Christian High School.

Gilbert Christian Schools, in Agritopia at 1424 S. Promenade Lane, will become a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school next school year. The school, formerly known as Surrey Garden Christian School, changed its name this year.

The Christian school is private, with students paying $5,600 to $7,500 a year to attend.

Gilbert Christian High will have a 63,000-square-foot campus, with a second floor and a basement, a collegiate-sized basketball court, training facilities and artificial turf football field.

“The idea is to have a state-of-the-art facility,” said Superintendent Jim Desmarchais, a former principal in the Mesa Unified School District and a former children’s pastor at East Valley Bible Church. “Everything is going to be first class.”

Each class will have no more than 18 students, with the school peaking at 400 students, and a laptop will be given to every student, Desmarchais said.

“We want to keep it small where you know every kid, but at the same time, make it comprehensive, with all the sports, drama and technology,” said Desmarchais, whose freshman son, Christopher, and sixth-grade son, Steven, both attend the school. “I’m excited about it. It’s going to be an incredible place.”

Doug Fougnies has three children at Gilbert Christian Schools and a son who graduated from the school last year. His sophomore son, eighth-grade daughter, and sixth-grade son are involved in sports, and he’s excited his kids will get the “real experience of going to a high school.”

“They’re (Gilbert Christian Schools) going through an academic revival, and they are really raising the bar,” he said. “The new high school will have all the new technology. It’s got the highest academic standards, and then they’re going to have an incredible sports facility.”

Nancy Roberts has a junior son who plays varsity basketball and varsity golf. Her freshman son moved to Chandler’s Hamilton High School because of the tennis program, which Gilbert Christian Schools doesn’t have, but he might consider coming back.

“This whole new high school — we can see it in the future becoming very competitive, like a Brophy almost,” she said. “Something like that is due in the East Valley. With the facilities that they’re going to have, over time they will provide incredible opportunities for kids to compete on higher levels.”

For more information on Gilbert Christian Schools, call (480) 279-1366.