CedarBridge Academy officials are scrambling to have the school ready for more than 1,000 students in September.

And with just over a month before Bermuda's first senior secondary school opens, CedarBridge principal Ernest Payette admitted that the pressure is on.

He conceded that all the facilities will not be completed on time.

Work on the school field and a slat house (type of green house) for the science department has not yet begun.

Mr. Payette said the school hoped to use the nearby Police field temporarily.

"Then there's the normal little bits and pieces that with a project of this size you have to get the bugs out of the system,'' he said. "We have not had a chance to get the bugs out of the system because we're trying to get in the school at the same time that they are building it around us.'' The veteran educator pointed out that normally a two-to-three month preparation period was allowed between the completion and occupation of a building such as that on the 243,000 square feet property at Prospect.

"One of the difficulties we face is because of different change orders and that stuff that occurred over time, the construction time lines were extended,'' he said.

"So instead of having the school commissioned by the first of June and then the 30th of June which had been in the original plans, the school is not going to be commissioned until sometime in August.

"And the school is still expected to open in September. So the normal two or three months of preparation time that you have after you have a building provided to you, is not available. So we're making do the best we can.'' Mr. Payette noted that school officials were grateful that the Works and Engineering and the construction company working on the school had allowed them to access the school while work was continuing on it.

"They're still working which makes it difficult for both parties,'' he said.

"But it's nice that at least they were willing to try to accommodate in that respect.'' In addition to physical preparation, Mr. Madeiros also pointed out that there was "an awful lot of (staff) training that needs to be done''.

"We'll be doing some of that during the last week of August and first week of September,'' he said. "And then there will be training that has to go on during the entire school year.'' However, he was quick to note that this was normal for a project like CedarBridge.

"People have to understand that when you start a project of this magnitude, you don't just walk and all of a sudden everything is in place and everything is going,'' Mr. Payette said.

"Obviously, it is part of the (education) restructuring process which is not expected to be complete until 2005. So you're looking at the evolution of this school over several years.

"Certainly in terms of operation practices and procedures, all that should be in place and up and running in September. But we will learn as we go along as well.'' FEELING THE PRESSURE -- Cedarbridge principal Ernest Payette