A bigger and better centre to allow more students to study for an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma at Bermuda High School was officially opened on Wednesday.

Education Minister Randy Horton was at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Renaissance Centre — a former family home in the school grounds which has undergone a $2.7 million revamp.

The building was bought from the Llewellyn family in 1999 and converted into classrooms in 2001, when the school first began offering the IB programme to its students.

In 2005, as the popularity of the course soared, it was decided to extend the centre. Construction began in December 2005 and students and staff moved in again last October.

Former student Jean Motyer, who started at the private school 70 years ago and gave money towards the revamp, performed the ribbon cutting.

And the first student to sign up for the IB course at the school was also in attendance. Melissa Lawley, of Hamilton Parish, said she knew very little about the programme when she embarked on her studies.

“I knew it was going to be of some benefit but I didn’t realise how much,” said the 22-year-old, who recently graduated from Dalhousie University in Canada with a Bachelor’s degree in management and is about to do a Master’s in business. “It changes the way you think. The workload at university is crazy but my first year, I breezed through it. I didn’t find it a challenge at all after the IB.”

The programme — for year 12 and 13 students — began in 2001 with 12 participants but will have about 80 next year. Eighty percent of students achieve the full IB Diploma, with the rest gaining IB certificates.

Principal Roy Napier, who lived in the building when it was still a house when he first joined the school in 2000, told guests that the school offered the IB programme to students of all abilities, unlike other institutions who only allow the most talented to take part.

“We believe that with hard work and commitment each student can benefit from the IB programme,” he said. “The key to success is hard work, commitment and determination.”

Mr. Horton said the IB programme gave students a sense of community. “I think that’s so important because we don’t want to produce scientists who are only going to produce bombs that are going to kill people. We want to produce scientists who are going to come up with solutions to some of the ills of our society.”

He urged pupils to take advantage of the opportunity given to them at BHS. “The best way to a successful future is to create it yourself,” he said.

Peter Durhager, chief administrative officer at RenaissanceRe, said the insurance company gave money to the project because it felt it was vital that a “credible alternative” be offered on the Island for parents who didn’t want to send their children to school overseas. For former BHS girls Sacha [NOTE]correct[\NOTE]Pedro, 24, and her mother Lyn [NOTE]correct[\NOTE]Llewellyn, 60, the ceremony gave them the chance to take in the changes to what was once their family home.

Both attended BHS while living in the on-campus property. “We are pleased that it has been preserved to some extent in its original form,” said Mrs. Llewellyn. “The new conversion has managed to incorporate quite a lot of the old features.”

Mrs. Pedro added: “They have done a really good job. I am really impressed with the amount of cedar they have managed to preserve.”