The first day of school is always exciting — new friends to make, new teachers to learn from and new locker combinations to memorize.

For some 200 students at North Georgia Christian School, the first day of school Wednesday involved going to school in a new town and a new building at Chestnut Mountain Church in Flowery Branch.

The school previously operated out of Westminster Presbyterian Church on Thompson Bridge Road in Gainesville. The church founded the school in 1984, and in 2008 the church and school separated formally.

Frank McKay, director of development, said the school officials have been looking into moving to the South Hall area for a while.

“We’ve been looking into this area for years because we think that there is a lot of growth, a lot of parents are looking for the Christian education that we offer,” McKay said.

The school currently has 206 students enrolled; 37 new students were admitted this year. McKay said he believed the increased enrollment was largely due to the new location. He said the goal is to increase enrollment to 750 students in the next 10 years.

On the first day of school, it didn’t matter if students had been enrolled for years or just a few days, they all had to learn their way around the new location.

Sam Youngblood, an 11th-grader who has attended for two years, admitted he still had some difficulty finding his way around even after helping to move furniture into the building.

“I had to figure out where all the classrooms are,” he said. “I had to run up and down the hall to find out where the right classroom is.”

Morgan Gibbs, a 10th-grader, has been at the school since kindergarten.

She said the new building, though farther from her house, is worth the extra drive time.

“I really like it; the gym is a lot nicer,” Gibbs said. “I like our cafeteria a lot. It’s nice to have more lockers, and all the classrooms are really nice.”

She said she specifically enjoys the air-conditioned gym and more modern chapel.

But this isn’t a permanent home for the school. McKay said plans to expand into a permanent location could begin in the next two to three years.