BILLINGS - A new high school is set to open with Billings Christian moving to a new West End campus.
School leaders hope it will lead to an enrollment boost as the opening date of Aug. 23 approaches.
The campus of Billings Christian High School used to be Yellowstone Christian College.
Contractors and volunteers have been remodeling and working on classrooms for several months and expect to be ready when about 100 students come to class in less than two weeks.
"It's been crazy," said Scott Moe, dean of students & activities at Billings Christian High School. "We've been going 24/7 with volunteers, contractors, subcontractors, carpet guys, plumbers, Wi-Fi guys. We've got staff that are showing up even in their summertime serving and just trying to get this campus ready. Our school is flooded with people trying to come in and enroll, and we're trying to create space for them. And God has blessed us with this incredible property."
Moe says donors have helped in many ways, including with the property, which has nine classrooms and three buildings and a chapel on 11 acres.
"There's a supporter that purchased this for us that wanted this campus to remain a Christian campus," Moe said. "And they're carrying the note for us for five years. Incredible blessing for us. So we're just incredibly grateful."
Billings Christian is adding a building for the middle school on Grand Avenue and the high school moved to Shiloh Road. That brings an increase from 60 to 100 students at the high school and a total of 400 on both campuses.
"The school has been balancing the development of two new campuses and the enrollment naturally has skyrocketed," said Craig Carse, teacher and boys basketball coach.
Carse teaches several subjects and says students from different denominations and religions attend the school.
"I want people to have information and then they can process it and make their decisions," Carse said. "There's no one here saying to anybody, you have to believe this. You have to do this, not at all."
And they say they want to give good guidance for the students during their high school years.
"High school years are huge," Moe said. "That's when the character is molded," Moe said about high school. "We're all about trying to build a strong foundation. And once the kids have a strong foundation, then we can send them off to college and then they become great citizens. They become great fathers, mothers and wives and spouses."
