Left: St Francis Xavier College captain Tim McKay addresses guests at the official opening of the Berwick campus on Friday. Below: Members of the school choir performed during the celebrations.THE new Berwick campus of St Francis Xavier College was blessed and officially opened on Friday.
Bishop Jeremiah Coffey led the ceremony and oversaw the celebrations, while Latrobe MP Jason Wood declared the campus open.
St Francis Xavier already has a college at Beaconsfield.
Principal Paul Desmond said the opening of the Berwick campus, in Ridgemont Drive, marked a milestone in the life of the college.
Many of the people involved in the creation of the college were at the opening celebration, as were former students and teachers.
College captains Melanie Van Diemen and Tim McKay joined community leaders in the official party.
St Francis opened as a coeducational college in Beaconsfield in 1978 with 72 students and has now become a twin campus college with a total enrolment of 1610 students and a combined staff of 200.
The new junior campus at Berwick opened in 2003 for year sevens and in 2006 the first intake of students from the junior campus will enter the senior campus at Beaconsfield.
Features of the junior campus include a modern equipped library, a multipurpose gymnasium and hospitality centre, several specialist areas including a technology building, science, music and drama area, a food technology centre and administration and staff centre.
