Lakewood Ranch-area families who send their children to Sarasota Christian School will find a brand-new high school building waiting when classes start Monday, Aug. 10. The private school cut the ribbon on 13 new classrooms Thursday, Aug. 6, at its Bahia Vista Street campus in Sarasota.

The building is the first completed phase of a 43,000-square-foot campus master plan that will eventually add administrative offices, a performing arts auditorium, a cafeteria and kitchen, and more classrooms. No timeline for those future phases has been announced.

SCS is listed on the official Lakewood Ranch community website as a private school option "just off the ranch" for families on the Sarasota County side.

The expansion comes as SCS hits an all-time enrollment high of 836 students for the 2026-27 school year, up from 792 the year before. That's a record. The 44-student jump represents roughly a 5.6% increase at the school, which serves Pre-K through 12th grade and was founded in 1958.

"This ribbon cutting marks the fruition of prayers, giving, sacrifice and the efforts of many," Head of School Joseph Stokes said at the ceremony, according to WWSB.

Parents, students and staff attended the ribbon-cutting. The project had been in the works for at least two years; Stokes announced in a July 22, 2024, newsletter that the school had submitted final mechanical plans to the county to begin the permitting process for the new building.

SCS uses a selective admissions process and reports a 100% graduation rate. High School Principal Jim Toth oversees the upper school program, which offers AP courses in subjects including calculus, chemistry, physics, computer science and Spanish.

The first day of school at SCS is Monday, Aug. 10, the same day Sarasota County's new Wellen Park High School opens its doors for the first time.