SCHS will be under construction for the next year due to the passage of the 2022 Bond. There will be an addition of 40 classrooms and a new satellite cafeteria. This will cause some new changes to students’ morning commutes. Instead of entering the building through the PAC (door 45), students will now enter the building through the new gym entrance (door 44).
“My morning commute has not been impacted yet but it will be when construction begins,” senior Kade Odom said. “There will be more traffic and I will have a longer walk to my second period.”
The new additions of classrooms will include traditional classrooms, but it will also include a dental lab, an e-sports lab and a flex area. This will allow students to explore and pursue different career paths.
“I am most excited for the dental lab and e-sports lab additions,” Principal Dr. Matthew Mahony said. “It is a really cool opportunity for our students to explore such specific fields.”
The new additions will allow for less congested hallways. The satellite cafeteria will host a separate lunch from the main cafeteria. This allows for more walking space, more seating and shorter lunch lines.
“All of the additions will be connected to the main building, so we will all be under one roof,” Mahony said. “The added space will further separate underclassmen and upperclassmen. This is done to control the traffic on main street.”
The addition including the satellite cafeteria will ideally be done by fall 2024. The administration is hoping that all construction will be done by then. Once the construction is finished, the portable buildings will be removed.
“I am excited about the new expansion to spread out the students and have more classes,” sophomore Emma Forbes said. “It will be inconvenient to have construction around for the next school year though.”
SCHS is the fastest growing school in the district. The administration expects 100 to 200 more students per year. Despite so much growth, the district does not plan on building another high school. The growth will be accounted for by building additions to the existing schools.
“All of our growth is based on residential growth,” Mahony said. “We are currently sitting at 3,700 students. Our district is growing incredibly fast. Every school but Sconzo and AHS are currently under construction. SCHS has the largest addition out of all of the schools in Humble ISD.”
Students are most worried about how the construction will get in the way of their school day. However, the administration has this covered.
“We meet with the construction company weekly to discuss how to plan the construction around our schedule,” Mahony said. We are a very busy school that always has something going on so we wouldn’t want a concrete truck coming in when we are trying to roll out buses.”
During this time, Mahony says students and staff must stay positive and focus on the end goal.
“Having the students and the staff staying positive is the best way to contribute right now,” Mahony said. “When the construction is done, it is going to look beautiful. That is what we need to focus on.”
