By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

>LEBANON - After years of having two campuses, separate staff meetings, and transporting students to one location for assemblies, the staff and students of Lebanon Christian School are excited to be under one roof again.

"There's still a lot to be done, but it's nice to be all in one place again," Principal Rick Milligan said. "We'll feel like a team. A lot of the teachers didn't even know each other if they were in a different building."

He spent Monday with parents, students and staff helping to move desks, chairs and boxes into the school's new addition at 1436 Deerfield Road.

"Before we laid the carpet we wrote bible verses on the floor so we could tell the kids they were walking on the words of God," Mr. Milligan said.

The school, which has 286 students and 23 full- and part-time teachers, finished the $480,000 expansion project earlier this month. The staff will spend the rest of this week unpacking and decorating for students, who return to class Monday. Some details - including sidewalks and landscaping - need completing.

The expansion adds 8,400 square feet - including eight classrooms and a multipurpose room - to the 23,000-square-foot building.

The extra space provides room for the fourth- through eighth-graders, who had been attending school at Urbancrest Baptist Church for six years. It also includes some room for additional growth.

"I like coming here because we're all together," seventh-grader Katie Furman said while helping move boxes Monday. "It's going to be a lot easier because we don't have to get on the bus all the time to come here."

Besides the new addition, the school is celebrating its 30th year in operation.

The school, affiliated with Countryside Community Church of the Nazarene, offers a non-denominational Christian education for children in preschool through eighth grade.

Teachers expect having one building will boost convenience, as well as bringing together staff and students.

"This will do a lot for unity," said Pat Wentworth, who teaches seventh and eighth grades.

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com