Tuesday marked a new era for the folks at Amazing Grace Christian School; New era, new building, new school and even a new name to go with it all.

Amazing Grace Administrator Dr. David-Paul Zimmerman and his wife, Gloria Zimmerman – whose family started the school in 1960 – officially cut the ribbon this week and moved in to the first floor of the former City Hall building at 200 Mill Ave.

“It’s awesome. It really is,” Gloria Zimmerman said of the school.

The school, which will house students from grades six to eight, as well as accelerated ninth and 10-graders committed to the Running Start program, was also officially renamed the Renton Preparatory Christian School.

The school takes up a total of 8,661 square feet and there are provisions in the lease for expansion to the second and third floors. The city values the lease at $705,729.36 over the full five-year term.

To prep the 200 Mill building for the school, the city had to make a series of tenant improvements, including the removal of asbestos tiles that were installed when the building was built. A bathroom was also added and the fire alarm system will be upgraded. The air conditioning was also have to be improved because of the increase in occupancy.

In addition, electrical docking stations and additional outlets have been added to the space, as every child at Amazing Grace uses a laptop as part of their studies.

There were also a handful of other standard improvements like painting. Inside school, the walls are bright and colorful, designed, according to Dr. Zimmerman, to represent the various colors of the world and its people. There are a handful of classrooms, several work rooms and a large common room with windows that look out over the Cedar River, across to Liberty Park and provide an excellent view of the still-under-construction library.

During a short ceremony following the ribbon cutting, Dr. Zimmerman introduced members of the team that made the construction possible and thanked each of them for their work.

“A school doesn’t just happen,” he said.

Also on hand was Councilman Armondo Pavone, who has children who attend the school. Pavone said the school was a good fit for the building because they share the city’s goals of integration, a strong public/private partnership and downtown revival.

Students through grade five were on hand for the ceremony, joining their older classmates in song to celebrate, but soon after returned to the school’s main location in the South Seattle/Skyway area.

According to the school, Amazing Grace and the new Renton Prep are Christian-based schools that serve children from 26 ethnic background and 12 faith traditions. Forty percent of the student population is from Renton. Tuition is approximately $6,000 a year.

The high school will emphasize Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculums, but will also teach classic liberal arts and culture.

Zimmerman said sign-ups for next year are high and he expects an additional 80-100 students to enroll by fall.

“It’s really humbling,” he said.

And while that may be the case, the excitement was still palpable, with one young man perhaps summing up the feeling in the room better than just about anyone else.

“This is epic!” he said.

This story has been corrected.