There’s a proposal afoot to move the ninth graders up to Lake Highlands High School, for reasons which are rational and have merit. But before we make that move – a move unlikely ever to be undone – we need to understand the value of what we’re giving up.
You can read my recap of last night’s informational meeting here.
If your kids are young or long-graduated, you may not yet know that Lake Highlands is the only Richardson ISD area blessed with a freshman center. Ours was cutting edge when it opened in 1998, and fewer than 50 freshman-only schools currently exist in Texas.
In 2001, I became the 4th PTA president at LHFC. Through that year and the three others I served in parent leadership positions there, I learned how lucky LH is. The freshman center is tailor-made for 9th graders, academically and socially.
First, recall that all RISD freshmen were, before that move, still located in the junior highs. It wasn’t working because the junior highs became overcrowded, but also because 9th graders don’t belong in junior high. In fact, it’s tough to figure out where ninth graders belong. Their bodies are changing, their brains are changing, and – most importantly – their grades begin to “count.” They may go to high school for four years, but, because college apps go out early their senior year, freshman grades make up one-third of the admissions process. LHFC allows a sheltered “middle step.” High school – even dual credit, college level – academics are taught, with access to additional courses at LHHS next door. Instead of being tossed in with seniors, though, freshmen acclimate to high school life with a separate cafeteria, gym, dressing rooms, hallways and bathrooms.
The freshman center has become a virtual bonding retreat for each class. Students enter separately as Chargers and Wildcats, but by the time they exit 9th grade, you can’t tell and students can’t remember which kids came from which junior high – including the various private schools which feed into LHFC. Leadership opportunities abound because every leadership position – from president to dog catcher – of every student group at LHFC is filled by a freshman. These benefits aren’t just boosts to the resume, though there’s that, but students enter LHHS confident about who they are and what they can do as individuals and within a group. Natural leaders rise, but so do shy kids and musical kids and funny kids. It’s a big place with lots of opportunities – all of them filled by freshmen.
In 2005, it was time for 9th graders in the other 3 RISD feeder patterns to move to their high schools. By then, RISD couldn’t afford the kind of Taj Mahal separate building LH had, so separate “wings” on each high school were planned. I was invited to be part of focus group brainstorming, and I attended with pleasure. To my surprise, parents at Berkner, Richardson and Pearce were insistent that freshmen should be sprinkled throughout, should be “fully incorporated” into the mainstream of the building. “They aren’t stepchildren, they are full-fledged Rams/Eagles/Mustangs,” was the mantra. I left shaking my head at the missed opportunity to separate and shelter. The good news: those parents seem perfectly happy today, apparently oblivious to the bird’s nest on the ground we enjoy. It’s just as well. As I said, RISD can’t afford to buy them what they delivered to us in 1998.
So, if we keep our freshman center, how can we address overcrowding?
First, neither building is currently overcrowded. Today’s enrollment of 790 at LHFC is well under the 900 I experienced while at LHFC in 2002, though growth is certainly coming. Second, Superintendent Waggoner says additions to both LHFC and LHHS will be necessary. Bond money in 2016 will lead to an inhabitable wing by 2018 or so. Today’s serious growth is at the elementary level.
But what about ECHS?
First, LH students interested in this program can apply today to Richland’s Collegiate High School (and many do). It is not a part of RISD, but it is a fantastic program. Second, if ECHS is a space saver, let’s do it next year, even without moving 9th graders to LHHS. Either way, 125 students per class (or so) benefit from ECHS, versus 790 (and growing) who benefit from the LHFC.
What about CTE/vocational programs?
I have high praise for the state and the district for enabling alternate tracks for students to become tax-paying, productive citizens. If LHHS cannot find space for these programs in its current building, 2016 bond funds should be given high priority for these uses.
I have high praise overall for RISD using creative thinking to solve LH’s future overcrowding problems. I’m just not sure admin folks in Richardson understand how much we in Lake Highlands love our Freshman Center.
