SACO — Plans are in the works for a third dormitory at Thornton Academy, allowing the school to house more international students on campus while making room for new students.

Thornton Academy is a private high school and middle school that educates publicly funded students from Saco, Dayton and Arundel. In 2009, it introduced its international program, in which private tuition students from overseas resided in a newly built, 18,200-square-foot dormitory. About 40 students resided in the first dorm.

Since then, a second dormitory has been built, and some students are housed in private homes in the community. Thornton Academy Headmaster Rene Menard said there are currently about 150 students from China, Vietnam, Spain and a number of other countries attending the school.

Menard said the school plans to build another dormitory, which will allow more current students to reside on-campus and get the full campus experience, as well as make space for additional students.

The building is pending site plan approval from the Saco Planning Board, which is expected to vote on the matter March 1.

Menard said the school hopes to start construction this spring and have the new dorm ready by summer 2017. The building will be privately funded.

Plans are to build a two-story,

22,700-square-foot building that will include four faculty apartments, according to a letter to the Planning Board from architect Lyndon Keck of PDT Architects in Portland.

The original master plan approved by Saco’s Planning Board allowed for four dormitory buildings along Main Street in four phases, according to Keck. All the dorms will have the same architectural style to create a “village” of buildings.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.