Principal Steve Hall welcomed about 900 people during open day sessions when locals were able to look around the two-storey, 10,000sqm building. He said it was hard to prepare for the sessions and gauge how many would turn up.
"It was certainly a lot of people but we had heard that lots of people were interested and we know how important the school is to the community, so it was great to be able to show lots of people around."
About 400 people attended the morning session when Mr Hall talked about open learning spaces and the public-private partnership (PPP) between the Ministry of Education and consortium Future Schools Partners.
He explained the PPP was responsible for designing, financing, building and maintaining the school property and Wakatipu High School is essentially a "tenant".
The importance of technology in relation to modern education was also noted.
During a tour of the sports hall Mr Hall explained the building process.
While he gave the ministry a "wish list" he understood not everything could be included — such as a swimming pool or space for bleachers in the sports facility.
He confirmed the first meeting to discuss stage two of the project, increasing capacity from 1200 to 1800 pupils, was held in late December.
The opening roll for the school was 964.
