As students and staff left the NRCA campus for Easter break, construction crews began demolition of the interior of the Sherrill Center for the Performing Arts (SCPA), removing the sound booth, auditorium seats, and carpet.
Due to the scope of the fine arts expansion, NRCA began the project just one week after the spring musical production of My Fair Lady. The goal was “to try and complete it before the start of the 2024-2025 school year. Currently, that is still the goal, and we have a good chance of hitting that mark,” said Dr. Kevin Mathes, NRCA Superintendent.
For the rest of the school year, all chapels and programs will be in the high school gym.
The SCPA expansion will add roughly 150 new seats, and the entire auditorium, including side hallways, will receive an update as part of the renovation project. “Also, NRCA is adding workshop space outside the auditorium in the greenhouse courtyard that will almost double the current shop area,” Mathes said.
NRCA was blessed to see record enrollments post-COVID. To better accommodate the current student body and the ability to add up to 100 more students, the 2024 facility updates will also include a cafeteria expansion and additional classrooms. Mathes explained, “Besides the auditorium expansion and renovation, we will be expanding our cafeteria to add roughly 150 new cafeteria seats that should also be ready before the start of the next school year. Also, NRCA will be adding four additional classrooms on the end of the C-wing (two upstairs and two downstairs) that will include a brand-new enclosed staircase at the end of the new classrooms on the C-hallway.”
NRCA’s Leaving a Legacy giving events help with the cost of the expansion projects. You can learn more about these events, including the upcoming NRCA Golf Classic, at nrcaknights.com/giving.
“As with all major expansion and renovation projects, there is an associated cost. NRCA has been blessed by being completely debt-free for many years, which allows us to keep tuition affordable while providing excellence in academics, fine arts, and athletics—our mission. So, through the generosity of NRCA’s school community, that goal remains a priority. It is not too late to give and help NRCA fund these much-needed projects,” Mathes said.
