NAPPANEE — NorthWood High School will have a new, more secure entrance likely by the end of 2013.

Wa-Nee Superintendent Joe Sabo said that the school board has been talking about renovating the high school’s entrance for several years.

“We get a lot of visitors,” Sabo said. Currently, those visitors are buzzed in to the building, then walk several yards down a hallway to get to the school’s office.

Sabo explained that the renovated entrance will include a new office that all visitors have to pass through to access the rest of the building. There, visitors will sign in and get a pass to be in the school.

Altogether, the project will cost less than $2 million, Sabo said. The school board will open bids for the project Feb. 19, with construction slated to begin in April. Sabo said that the project will hopefully be finished by December 2013.

“The reason for doing this is building security,” Sabo said.

Nappanee Elementary had the same issue of an office away from the main entrance until the school was renovated a few years ago, Sabo said.

Sometime after the project, the school corporation will likely renovate the original office into classroom space. First, though, comes the construction of the new office and entrance with several more layers of security.

“We’re very happy about that,” Sabo said.