Driving by, you may have noticed the huge construction project going on at North Cross School.
“We’re doing this construction with an eye toward not having to move the kids out of the classrooms during the course of construction. There’s definitely a little dirt, a little noise but for the most part it’s gone amazingly well,” said Dr. Christian Proctor, the head of school.
The $14 million project started three years ago and is now transforming the campus.
“I said ‘I think we should have a $5 million campaign. We can raise 4.2 million and we can do the first part of the project.’ I would have been very happy with that. To be able to do the entire thing is nothing short of amazing,” said Proctor, who added a lot of the money is coming from younger families in the region who are making money and deciding to give back.
They’re renovating the theater and adding more backstage area for the music program and renovating classrooms.
“This is Roanoke where they want you to be good with a dollar so we had to look and see what we had on campus that was better off being renovated or significantly altered as opposed to torn down,” said Proctor.
They’re also replacing the old library and administrative offices and adding a new student center, with a fireplace.
“Our students show up early in the morning and they stay late at night. They are very involved and it’s almost like a college campus. They need a place where they can relax, hang out, wait for parents to pick up or meet with friends and study,” said Proctor.
Students are excited about what’s to come.
“It’s really cool to see it slowly happen,” said Dayanna Anderson-Pryce, a sophomore. “I think it will definitely give us more opportunities.”
“A new building marks the process of time, marks the success of the school, marks the expansion. That’s going to be a very nice visual marker, a reminder of how far we’ve come as a school,” said Chase Daniel, a freshman who’s been going to North Cross since pre-school.
Dr. Proctor says this project has a bigger impact outside the North Cross community and expects others to take notice.
“I think probably more than anything else the fact that you walk into a school, it looks like one of the best schools in the state and then you find out it is one is sort of what I want to see Roanoke have. Every big city has a good independent school and North Cross needs to be that for Roanoke,” said Proctor. “I think it really reflects where Roanoke is right now as a city. This is a city that is really growing. It’s growing with an intellectual bend, the research institute, the huge construction at Virginia Western, the expansion of the hospital and then our expansion.”
They are ahead of schedule thanks to dry weather and expect to wrap up construction by Labor Day.
Proctor says this means they will be able to add up to 40 more students.
To see more about the project or donate you can visit the website: https://www.northcrosslegacy.org/
Source: WSLS News 10
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