While families in Hebron celebrate their newly opened ninth grade center, perhaps it’s a good time for us in LH to count our blessings as well. The Lake Highlands Freshman Center opened in 1998, and we’re the only high school in RISD to educate freshmen in their own stand-alone facility.
In a Dallas Morning News Neighborsgo article yesterday, Hebron’s principal boasts that “the advantages extend far beyond a roomier campus.” (Lewisville ISD moved ninth graders out of Hebron High to alleviate over-crowding, but LHFC pulled freshmen up from LHJH and FMJH.)
“It’s a wonderful benefit for the kids,” Hebron’s principal says. “It offers an instructional benefit because we can tailor instruction and daily activities to meet the needs of 14-15-year-olds and provide them with a stable transition” between middle school and high school. Got it.
“While ninth-graders spend the majority of their day in the new center, the bell schedules are in sync between the two campuses, so students have the option of taking classes at the main campus.” Got it.
“I think parents are excited about it, and a good indication of that is that we picked up a number of kids that were in home school and private school.” Got it.
“Students basically get the best of both worlds: they get the advantage of the high school and its offerings but they also get the school setting where they’re in their own building, where it’s tailored to their needs.” Got it.
But don’t cry for Berkner, Pearce and Richardson High. They like their set-up as much as we like ours. In fact, though RISD didn’t have the funds to build new FCs for their campuses, administrators did originally propose “freshman wings” when bond money for campus expansion became available. While serving as PTA president of LHFC, I was invited to several brainstorming sessions to plan for “freshman programming” at the other high schools. RISD residents and parents made it clear they wanted their students fully integrated into high school life. I tried to share our LH experiences about the value of separating maturing freshman from the world-wise upperclassmen and the benefit of separate lunchrooms, gymnasiums, dressing rooms, clinics, detention halls and such. I raved about the benefit of having guidance counselors and disciplinarians specially trained to deal with this unique age. I extolled the virtues of having every leadership role in every student organization filled by a freshman. I told of the strong bonds formed between students (and between parent volunteers) when they spend one year joined-at-the-hip. They wanted freshmen fully incorporated into all aspects of high school life. To each his own.
Our LHFC isn’t new, but it’s still a jewel for our neighborhood. Now Hebron knows what they’ve been missing.
