Fulshear High School is changing fast, and in many ways. This can be scary for many students, faculty, and parents. However, these changes are nothing to be scared of, and in some ways are exciting for this campus. It is an understatement to say our school is big. “We have almost the same amount of kids as most 6A schools in the area … I’ve never in my life seen this type of extreme growth.” Head Principal Mr. Ward said. You might ask, ‘With this rapid growth, aren’t there going to be more changes?’ Yes,there are many changes that are needed due to overpopulation, but most people tend to overlook the exciting ones.

Overpopulation
Currently at our school we have 2500 kids, with next year growing all the way to an estimated 3100 kids- coming from 14 different housing developments going on in the area- the school system is soon to be in utter shock from the explosion of numbers. We’ve hired more teachers for this year than any other school in the area, even more than Randle; But, we only have 3 empty classrooms.

Plans
Depending on how many teachers we have next year, we might integrate what Mr. Ward calls, “Roaming Teachers.” They’re teachers who spend different periods in different rooms, as we don’t have enough rooms for every teacher on campus. The long term plan from the district is “for the shortage of classrooms is to build another high school but that could be 4 to 5 years down the road which doesn’t help us at the moment.” said Ward. This is where the Fishtank comes in.

The Fishtank
Our school is growing so large that we need to build a ‘Fish Tank.’ This, in a sense, will be a freshman building around the size of a 1A school. It will be a standing building that looks like the main campus, the same colors and everything. You’ll be looking at a large 2 story building built between the fieldhouse and the library. It’ll house all the freshmen classes, electives, etc.

You might ask, “Why don’t we just get portables?” But, there are multiple issues we need to face first. The reason we want a building instead of a portable is because portables age very easily, dropping down 50% in price just driving off the lot. Even with the fishtank seeming more favorable, is that once it’s built, we will be a 6A school forever.

Lunches
Lunches have been a very heated topic among students, since there used to be more freedoms that came with power hour in these past years.. The lunches have changed to a period schedule instead of its predecessor, the “one hour for all lunches.” Mr. Ward said, “I sat down with the principals before this year and I told them I was going to do away with power hour, simply because we’re too big. But I really wanted to do a 3 period rotation, which so far has worked out amazingly. Next year I don’t want to do a 4 period lunch, but with the influx of kids, I don’t have a choice. It will be 15 minutes in class, 30 at lunch, then 15 more back in the class.”

In The End…
In the end even with all these new changes, good or bad, there is still much to be excited for!
We are about to become a 6A school, which opens up so many more opportunities for us as students and faculty. Our overpopulation problem is concerning, but once we resolve it, our school will be better than it ever has been. Whether you are nervous, anxious, excited, or glad, it is undeniable that we have many great things in our future.