Canberra's newest public school doesn't have a name but it does have a principal.
Rebecca Pearce was thrilled to receive the call she would be the first ever principal at the East Gungahlin high school when it opens its doors next year.
"You apply for jobs wanting to get the job, but it's always great to get that phone call," Mrs Pearce said.
"Then I think 1000 things ran through my head about what I needed to get started on."
Mrs Pearce has worked in the ACT public school system for 20 years and has been in school leadership roles for 15 years.
She'll be leaving behind her role as principal at Belconnen High School to take on the challenge of stewarding a school from scratch.
The new school located in Kenny is in the unusual situation of being built prior to the release of land for housing in the greenfields suburb.
ACT Planning Minister Mick Gentleman used call-in powers to approve the $85 million development to get it open in time for the 2023 school year but wet weather delayed the opening to 2024.
The school will have the capacity for up to 800 year 7 to 10 students and will also have sporting facilities available for the community to use outside school hours.
Mrs Pearce donned her boots for her first site visit on Thursday.
"Having been a principal and having the opportunity to work in a established community has been fantastic and certainly has giving me a lot of experience to take into this role," she said.
"But I think for me, the most exciting part of this is building a community alongside the growth of an actual suburban community in East Gungahlin, so I'm really pumped."
Residents of Kenny, Throsby and specific areas of Lyneham are in the priority enrolment area for the new high school.
Residents of Harrison, Franklin, Gungahlin, Mitchell, Watson and Downer, as well as parts of Ngunnawal and Forde, will have the option of enrolling in their local school or the new school under a one-way shared priority enrolment area.
The principal is the only staff member appointed to the school at this stage. More staff will be recruited in semester 2 this year, depending on the number of enrolments.
The official name, colours and logo for the school will be decided through community consultation later this year.
Mrs Pearce said it was important to develop the school's identity alongside the new teachers and students.
"I certainly have a vision. It's based around a really inclusive and positive school community where excellence in education is a priority. In terms of establishing individual values, I think that's a really important job to do with the community itself and with other people," she said.
"Valuing diversity, valuing inclusion and making sure it's a safe space for everybody and ... that every child matters is really my background and where I see a quality public education school."
Rather than favouring project-based learning, as in the Evelyn Scott School high school, the new high school in Kenny will have broad styles of pedagogy. It will offer specialist subjects and have a timetable.
"There are so many excellent teaching strategies out there and I've been leading a school who have been able to use a range of explicit teaching, project-based learning inquiry learning [strategies]," Mrs Pearce said.
"I think the key is understanding your students delivering on the Australian curriculum in line with the future of education strategy and finding the right pedagogy for the student at the time."
She said it would be sad to leave Belconnen High School, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021, behind.
"I put a lot of time and energy there and that place is a wonderful school doing great things, so I wish them all the best," she said.
Despite the threat of burnout in the teaching profession compounding the national teacher shortage, Mrs Pearce said her work filled her with energy.
"Engaging with young people, it fills up my bucket. That's the way I put it. The idea of being able to contribute to a young person's life really does enrich me, and you cannot find better people than teachers. I truly believe that," she said.
"Day one of term is just the best day. It's always great when everyone's back together and there's a positive vibe going on in schools. So yeah, young people are awesome. They're amazing."
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