Happy Birthday, NKHS!

The school wasn't finished, the start date was delayed by two weeks and – when students finally walked through the doors of their new high school – it was the day after the Sept. 11 attacks.

On this day 10 years ago, the new welcomes students for the first time. The $33-million project is one of the biggest construction endeavours the town has ever conducted as the new one-building school replaced the aging campus-style predecessor.

When students entered NKHS for the first time, they were greeted to an unfinished school; the arts and music wing was completely shut down, the auditorium was off limits, the spine was incomplete, there were no books in the library and construction crews were still in the building.

To wish NKHS a happy birthday, we've compiled a gallery of photos from the construction of the school. Also, we want to give a special thanks to Terry Romano, a former English teacher and media center specialist at NKHS, who supplied us with these photos.

To read more about NKHS' first day and how teachers and students coped with opening the school the day after a national tragedy, .