Naas Community College to be completed in 2021

The long awaited Naas Community College building at Millennium Park is set to be completed in August — through it may be 12 months from now before the students actually move in.

The 1,000 student second level school is currently located at Craddockstown Road and is one of about two dozen secondary schools run by the KWETB, which also has three primary schools.

Student numbers at NCC have continued to grow and the enrolment is now pushing towards 500. When NCC opened in Craddockstown in September 2015 it had 76 students with nearly 100 being added to the roll book the following year.

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According to KWETB member and Kildare county councillor Evie Sammon it is hoped the building will be completed and handed over by September 2021 but this could happen earlier. It was originally due to open in 2017. However, it is likely that the students won’t move into the school until the Christmas period next year to ensure that disruption to the academic year is kept to a minimum.

Planning permission was sought for the building over four years ago.

The two and three storey building will occupy 10,450 square metres and will accommodate 1,000 post primary students - similar to the capacity of Piper's Hill College which is full.

Cllr Evie Sammon

It will have five science labs, two multimedia suites, two art rooms, four workshops/ technology rooms. There will also be 92 car park spaces, parking for 250 bicycles, bus and car set down facilities, three hard play areas and an all-weather pitch.

The delay in proceeding with the school led to parents raising concerns about whether there would be sufficient space at the existing premises and some students from that school have attended classes at the Piper’s Hill education campus.

A year ago, Fianna Fail TD James Lawless criticised the delay and had raised the issue with the then Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton.

Deputy Lawless has stated that the school is a key part of the educational infrastructure for Naas and surrounding areas like Sallins, Kill, Johnstown and Rathmore.