WENDELL — Wendell Middle School Principal Mary Castleberry is elated over the new facility the school will begin holding classes in on August 25.

She said it’s something parents and students should be proud to be a part of.

When the school opened two years ago in modular buildings, this year’s rising eighth graders were sixth graders. Castleberry said it’s appropriate the new building is complete and those who were there from day one will get to reap its many benefits.

Two years ago, under the modular layout, there were 220 students — all sixth-graders. Last year there were 420 students after sixth- and seventh-graders made up the student body. As of Thursday there were 847 students set to attend in the new facility, and 852 projected to attend by the beginning of the year.

Castleberry said there are still several teaching positions to fill despite the 100-person faculty on staff as of last week. She added it will be an advantage the school will not hit its capacity of just under 1,200 students in its first year in the new building, noting things will run smoother in the teacher-to-student ratio department. With Wendell Middle becoming a year-round opt-out, adding 60 students per grade, she said it will be comforting for all that the student body population won’t reach its peak as they settle into the new teaching and learning environment.

“Wendell residents have always felt they needed a middle school in their town,” Castleberry, a product of the Wake County Public School System herself, and principal of Carver Elementary from 1993-2007, noted. “I think everyone’s very excited to have a state of the art middle school that will serve many of our families.”

Appropriately, Wendell Middle School will draw students from Wendell, Carver and Forestville elementaries.

“It’s nice to be able to know some of the families and see them go through the schools. Some of the eighth graders we will have were in kindergarten when I was principal at Carver,” Castleberry said.

In the classroom, she said she thinks her teachers are, and will be, the best in Wake County, possibly in the state — student-focused and willing to do whatever it takes to help. She pointed out how important that is when you have smart children. She said they deserve the best teachers she can find to teach them.

It’s no secret Wendell, as a whole, is big on athletics. Castleberry said her new athletic facilities will please the Wolves’ faithful. Although the football field will not be ready for this year’s season, the gymnasium is already ready for basketball in the winter, and all spring sports will likely be held on-site.

Top that off with “state of the art technology” and the school is a well-rounded package. The brand new computers that line the walls of various labs in the school, the professional sound control equipment for the auditorium, and computers and linked projectors (rather than televisions) that give teachers interactive control of their learning environments are just a few example of how things in the classroom have changed over the last decade.

“I think Wake County has built a physical building Wendell can be proud of, and it’s up to me and the teachers to build the culture to match that in the classes. We are proud of athletics, but students are students-first,” Castleberry reiterated. “It is most important to develop the skills to be a winner in life. Fortunately we can use sports to help teach that as well.”

Castleberry said her hope for the next five years is simple — meet the needs of those who walk through her doors.

“We don’t just serve the students, we serve the families,” she said. “But we want to win at sports, have the best test scores, and I see us continuing to grow and excel.”

Wendell Middle School will open its new doors to the public for an open house on Friday, Aug. 21.

The event will open to rising sixth-graders at 3 p.m., seventh-graders at 5, and eighth-graders at 6.