Suffolk News-Herald

Passersby will be seeing more of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy over the next few weeks. On the other hand, some of its students might be seeing less of each other.

The school, which last week kicked off its 38th year of educating area youths, plans to finish off its &uot;Forging the Future&uot; project in late September. The project consists of a 24,000 square foot lower school building for grades 5-7, as well as a modification of the current lower school building and a renovation and relocation of the upper school library/media center and science complex. It enables the school to add 12 classrooms to the lower school, as well as a pair of science labs.

&uot;We get more space,&uot; said seventh-grader Douglas Parr, a Saint since his preschool years. &uot;We’re not mixed up with the fourth, third and second-graders. It was kind of tight. There’s going to be bigger lockers, so we won’t have to carry everything around.&uot;

The new upper school facilities have improved the opportunities of technology use and give the students more library use. A redesigned science complex replaces the old school library, formerly to the left of the main office. The school has provided its teachers with wireless laptops to connect to the Internet and each other through the school’s server.

Teachers are just one aspect of fine NSA life, said Shane Foster, in his seventh year as the headmaster.

&uot;I think we have an excellent faculty,&uot; he said. &uot;We have experience, energetic teachers and high-quality students that bring a sense of community to the school. We have students not just from Suffolk, but from Franklin, Smithfield, and other areas, but they’re all involved with many activities that help them harbor a strong school spirit.&uot;

2004-05 class president Matt Tuttle lives in Chesapeake.

&uot;I’ve been here since first grade, and I like the small school atmosphere,&uot; he said. &uot;I can be personal with my teachers by name, and can get help anytime. I know everybody at the school.&uot;

The school’s college counselors helped every senior of the 2003-04 class head to college last year, and gather more than $600,000 in scholarship money. Tuttle might head to either N.C. State or Virginia Tech.