When school begins in the fall, Greenville High School students will have an extraordinary surprise in store for them.

After four years of planning and building, the new Greenville High School, under construction on Highway 10 West adjacent to Interstate 65, is nearly completed.

Since the end of the school year in May, the faculty at the high school has worked hard to begin moving into the new school.

John Black, principal of Greenville High School, said the moving process will keep everyone busy during summer vacation.

"We have been moving one room at a time and one department at a time," Black said. "Each department is coordinating its own moving, so it's definitely an "in-house operation."

Black said despite the fact summer school is taking place at the present high school, moving has not been a problem.

The new school has about four acres under one roof, with about 55 classrooms, which does not include science labs, workshop rooms or office space. The school is built to comfortably hold 750 students in grades 9 through 12.

For instance, the new lunchroom is built to hold 400 students at a time, and the gym can hold 1,000 people at any given time.

Black said he believes students will benefit from the new school for many reasons.

"First of all, everything is under one roof, so students won't have to be walking around outside very much," Black said. "There's also a lighter, brighter atmosphere in the larger facility, a state-of-the-art science lab, a new gym and a tremendous media center. It is an area that is totally dedicated to education."

Black added that because the school is the only building on the road leading to the school, it will be much easier to know where each of the students is supposed to be at all times.

Currently, the auditorium is still be worked on, as well as other finishing touches such as painting and computer hook-ups to the school. If the auditorium is not completed by the time school starts on August 7, Black said they will still begin classes there.

Construction began after the completion of the road to the school in January 1998. The entire building was originally scheduled to be completed by General Kantrax, the construction company out of Panama City Beach, Fla., in July of 1999.

However, due to setbacks dealing with securing materials and changes made in the plans of the school, as well as for other reasons, the completion of the new school was delayed.

"We hope the auditorium will be completed by the time school starts, but if it's not, then we will move in and avoid the area," he said. "Many schools have construction going on while classes are going on."

Black said he would like to thank the city of Greenville and the Butler County Board of Education for having the vision to help create the new school for the students.

"Everything has worked out perfectl; we are moving onward and upward," he said.