It is as modest a basketball arena as you can get. Surrounded by grass on both sides, exposed to the elements, the outdoor court at the Washington Montessori Public Charter School was once home to an organized middle school team.

In 2005, months after moving to its new location on Old Bath Highway, the school initiated a blueprint to build an athletic program from scratch, beginning with a couple of intramural teams, hopefully moving to a recognized middle school program and, years down the road, establishing varsity sports. But the court — which was initially surrounded by mud, rather than sod — wasn’t regulation, so the basketball team was forced to play all their games on the road.

“The kids would gently throw the ball (in practice) because they didn’t want it to go off the court and go in the mud,” said Sharon Main, Montessori’s office manager. “So when they got into game play, they were still gently throwing the ball and it was getting stolen left and right. It wasn’t as successful as we hoped.”

It was a humble beginning to say the least and the team dissolved months after its formation, leaving the middle school soccer team as the last of the school’s sanctioned sports programs. Now, after 10 years of soccer, along with a spotty intramural cross-county team, Montessori is getting an upgrade, a brand new, state-of-the-art athletic facility that, upon completion, will be one of the largest in Beaufort County. And with the new facility will come the county’s newest high school.

“We’re just going to start building the athletic program and see where it goes,” Main said. “I feel like we can bring it back now and build a better program. First and foremost, we’re focused on our academics, but out athletics is something our kids and parents have asked for and it’s something that kids get excited about. It builds school spirit.”

The 8,500-square foot gymnasium, home of the Eagles, will feature sizable boys’ and girls’ locker rooms with ample storage space, fan seating and a ceiling high enough for volleyball. Unlike the composite tile courts featured in gyms like Terra Ceia, Pungo and the 7th Street Bobby Andrews Recreation Center, Montessori’s floor will be a glossy hardwood.

The gym is connected to what will be the new high school, featuring a science lab, open-space classrooms, administrative offices, a lecture hall and a family and consumer sciences classroom that doubles as a concession stand during game days.

Purchasing the wetlands adjacent to the school nearly doubled the area to build, which opened up space for a parking lot that will provide student parking during the day and event parking in the evening. Main anticipates the gym will double as an auditorium used for other functions besides athletics.

“We’ve been trying to do it for years, saving up to get to this goal,” Main said. “It wasn’t an overnight decision by any means. We looked at a high school a couple of different times, but it wasn’t cost effective. We had to grow our student body, get our numbers up and make sure we had a solid program in our existing campus, K through eight, before we could add the high school. Parents have asked for it for a long time, but we needed to make sure it was feasible.”

Beginning with ninth grade this academic term (2014-2015), the school plans on easing its way into a full, four-grade high school, adding a level each year. Come fall, Montessori will be Kindergarten through 10th grade. The first high school graduation class is set for 2018.

Montessori, Main said, will not be quick to rush into a varsity program, however.

“We’ve always let that thing sort of evolve to see what level we can play to,” she said. “We don’t want to set our kids up for failure. We want to be competitive and play other schools we can compete with. We have played G.R. Whitfield in soccer in the past, we’ve played P.S. Jones, but it really depends on who has a slot they can work us into.”

Stocks & Taylor Construction is building the gym and high school, which, pending a final inspection, is set to open officially on July 31.