Stromlo Forest Anglican College to open and welcome students from 2026 in Wright

The Stromlo Forest Anglican School on John Gorton Drive, Wright will be built to host up to 1800 students from early childhood through to year 12.

Construction is expected to start in 2024 with a building to open each year from 2026 to 2030.

Anglican Bishop Mark Short said the new school would be a school that reflected the diversity of the community.

"Already our Anglican schools here in Canberra, welcome students from over 50 different cultural backgrounds and although that the heart of this school there will be a generous and informed expression of the Christian faith, its classrooms, its facilities will be open and welcoming to people of all faith backgrounds."

Bishop Short said the diocese consulted with more than 20 community organisations as it was developing its tender submission.

"It is our intention that the facilities of this school will be made available to as many of those groups as possible," he said.

"We are very mindful of the trust you have placed in us by approving us as the tenderers and operators of this school, and we will work hard to be worthy of that trust."

The Bishop said the school fees would be set within the next few years and a bursary and scholarship program would be established.

The facility will cost about $100 million dollars to build and the proponents want it to be a zero energy design recognised by the International Living Future Institute certification program. The school will be partly funded by donations from the Anglican diocese.

The campus will have five buildings in total, with a multi-level, vertical design to work with the 56,000 square metre site.

The most recent school established by the Anglican diocese, The Anglican School Googong, has faced a high turnover of principals, board members and students. Current and former families previously spoke to The Canberra Times about their concerns over resourcing and a lack of responsiveness to parent feedback.

When Bishop Short was asked what would be done to avoid similar issues at the new Stromlo Forest Anglican School, he said: "We're very excited that Googong under the leadership of Dr Clayton Massey, the headmaster, and the board, that we have a firm foundation for moving forward.

"We're convinced that that school has a bright future and we believe the same to be true of the school that will take shape on this piece of land."

Bishop Short said the diocese would be looking for people to join the new school board.

"We will be looking to establish a foundation board for this school that will have diverse representation, including expertise in areas such as education, finance, and local community awareness."

Education Minister Yvette Berry could not say how many tenderers had made a submission. Association of Independent Schools of the ACT executive director Andrew Wrigley said it was good to know who would be running the school after a protracted tender process.

He said non-government school operators wanted to know earlier what land would be available in the ACT to help plan new schools and expansions of existing schools.

"Non-government schools shouldn't be put in competition with each other, I would imagine, for parcels of land that are irregularly released," Mr Wrigley said.

Molonglo Valley Community Forum co-convenor Monique Brouwer said families were excited to have another choice for schooling in their area but wanted to know when a public college would be built in the region.

"It's very exciting for them in the Molonglo Valley because now we know there'll be an option. It's more important to know when public college will be built," Ms Brouwer said.

Ms Berry said a public college for year 11 and 12 students in the Molonglo Valley was "quite a few years away."