Academy ISD almost ready to open new high school campus to accommodate growing enrollment
LITTLE RIVER-ACADEMY, Texas (KWTX) - Academy ISD high school students will be going back to class at a brand new high school campus, around three years after Little River-Academy voters approved the district’s bond to build a new high school to accommodate the community’s growing population.
“We definitely had outgrown the space at the old high school that was built in 1987,” Academy High School Principal Meagan Pruett said. “There were a lot of improvements that were needed.”
The new high school is able to house more than 800 students, which allows the district to grow by more than 300 students.
The classrooms are larger, and she said the district is able to provide more hands-on learning opportunities for students.
“Our health science wing is phenomenal with an ICU room, a pharmacy, plenty of options for our students,” she said.
The new campus also includes a larger culinary arts section with the ability for students to open up a daily cafe to serve piers and staff.
“All the equipment that they’ll be able to use in there, really the state of the art equipment,” she said.
The vocational agriculture building is located behind the main campus. Pruett said it has four classrooms and shops. She also mentioned the audio visual class, which will now have a green screen, news desk and equipment for students to learn broadcast and video skills hands-on.
The life skills class has a separate section with a kitchen, dining area and laundry room to teach students hands-on life skills.
“There’s a lot of exciting things that I think our teachers are just going to be so excited to come to work in this environment,” she said. “Our students are just going to be so proud to be in this space and so proud to come to the school every day.”
The performing arts space and athletic facilities are also designed not only to be bigger but better.
Pruett said the gym is a competition style gym with sunken-in floors. There are also windows that provide a view of the action when getting concessions or leaving the gym.
The performing arts wing and the gym will be complete in September or October.
“In a school district this size, you don’t always have an auditorium and the facilities, the competition gym, like we are going to have, so it really is going to be a showcase school,” she said. “As they walk in, they’re just going to feel that sense of pride, and they’re just going to want to up their work ethic and everything that they bring every day. It’s going to be a great place for them.”
Pruett also emphasized the district’s focus on safety when designing the campus. Security cameras are all around the building and alarms will sound if an exterior door is propped open for a certain amount of time. Some classrooms have windows that look into the hallway, and Pruett said the windows will be equipped with blinds.
To accommodate for growth in the middle and elementary schools, the middle school is moving to the former high school campus, and the elementary is moving to the former middle school campus.
“Not only does this new high school provide a new building for the growth for our high school students, but it opens up room for growth for our younger students,” Pruett said. “We’re able to utilize those campuses and move some grades around that’s able to open up and have room for growth in the future.”
The campus still has a few more days to go until its official ribbon cutting on Saturday, August 3 at 10 a.m.
“It means a lot, and this community is so deserving,” she said. “We’re celebrating the centennial year, and, as we’re going into that, it’s just a great time, you know, to really pursue the legacy that has already been built by the community, over 100 years of a legacy that our students want to continue and they want to pursue and they want to advance. This building is just one way to show that legacy.”
Academy ISD is back in session August 8.
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