New shared campus to be built for Limavady and St Mary’s High Schools in Co Derry
It will see Limavady High School and St Mary’s High School share new state-of-the-art facilities including a centre for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
They will remain as two separate schools.
The Education Authority’s confirmation that work is to begin has been welcomed by the schools’ principals.
“We have looked forward to this for so, so long,” Rita Moore, principal of St Mary’s told BBC Radio Foyle.
“This is the culmination of an awful lot of hard work,” she said.
The two schools are currently located on sites on the town’s Irish Green Street and are separated by a single footpath.
Pupils already move between the schools for a number of shared classes.
Limavady High School principal Darrin Moore said the new campus will include one of the only engineering suites in a NI post-primary school.
A sixth form centre, drama, careers and media hub are also part of the campus facilities.
“It is exciting times,” he said.
Mr Moore added: “The beauty of the shared campus and of shared education is that both schools can remain in their own ethos but share the facilities for the greater good for the education system”.
Plans for the Limavady campus were first announced in 2014 following the launch of the Northern Ireland Executive’s Together: Building a United Community strategy
Construction work is expected to start in spring and is expected to last two years.
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