When students enter the new Waco High School, they are greeted with a mural representing Waco High’s history: Richfield Rams, Waco High Tigers and Jefferson-Moore Lions.
For students familiar with the previous campus, the new facility feels nothing like the Waco High they knew.
“This school is very different from the old one, because it was small and we had a lot of students. But now it’s big and everybody got space,” said Waco High junior Ky’eria Coleman.
Jefferson-Moore High School and Richfield High School consolidated in 1986 to become Waco High School. The previous Waco High School campus was smaller, and the needs of the students were outgrowing its size. In addition, the district faced increases in costs for maintaining the school. Oftentimes, the air conditioner would stop working.
“Everything is just so much more up to date and the systems themselves, of course, are all new. So the infrastructure is new. So we shouldn’t have as many failures as we had at the Waco High,” said Gloria Barrera, Waco ISD’s chief of facilities and operations.
A bond approved in November 2021 allowed Waco ISD to build campuses for multiple schools, including Waco High.
The new Waco High building, which is on 42nd Street (the site of the former Richfield High School), had a $157.1 million budget and has capacity for 2,150 students.
Students are looking forward to welcoming new students and transfers to the new school.
“I just hope the freshmen coming in enjoy this school as much as I will, because I know I’m gonna enjoy this,” sophomore Khloey Stoltmann said.
The new Waco High features a career and technical education wing and a new performing arts center. The school has more open space, a courtyard and remnants from the old high school building, including the gym floor. The district plans to add the Richfield High School flagpole. Murals of the previous mascots are located throughout the school to help students find their classes. Each mascot denotes a specific wing.
“This school is designed with a different philosophy and concept for education … One thing you’ll notice is you can see into almost every space,” Barrera said. “So it’s very much a collaborative, community-based learning environment, not an isolated, teachers enclosed in their own little classroom, never talk to anybody else all day, classroom kind of environment.”
The cafeteria
Instead of centralizing all the food lines in the cafeteria to one area, the new school has a distributed serving station. This helps reduce long lines and gives students another option to grab food.
The new cafeteria is bigger than the one at the previous high school. Students have more options for seating, including indoor seating and outdoor seating.
“It was way smaller. There was not enough room for all the students to sit. But in here, we have way more space,” said Waco High junior Tyler Hansen.
Classrooms
Waco High has more modern classrooms. In addition to upgraded science rooms, students will have more sunlight – a departure from the previous high school. There are curtains around rooms with windows to shade the rooms in case of an emergency.
In addition, students can borrow a group room for student organization meetings. Students also have the option to use nearby smaller rooms, with the supervision of their teacher, to work outside of the classroom. This gives them more autonomy.
“You’re also helping them learn a sense of responsibility and independence at this age,” Barrera said.
A shared space for teachers
Departments have shared spaces called think tanks. Each teacher has a desk, computer and locked storage. For teachers switching classrooms, they can leave their belongings in a designated space in the think tank. It is also a space for departments to have meetings and exchange ideas about curriculum plans and the school year.
“It’s a home base,” Barrera said.
Fine arts upgrade from portables
The new performing arts center will be called the Richfield Performing Arts Center. The center includes a black box theater and catwalk. Surrounding the center are the various art departments. Roll-up doors allow students to bring in large props and other items as needed.
At the previous Waco High, the fine arts department had limited space. They were in portables and had to place their items in storage for the demolition of the previous school.
“They went through the tough part, so they deserve what they’re getting,” Barrera said.
Students will receive hands-on learning through the career and technical education wing – whether working on a car, cooking in a commercial kitchen or working on A/V production.
Freshman and student athlete Khyndel Cain is planning to join the automotive tech pathway. He is looking forward to learning more about working on cars.
“I want to expand my knowledge of vehicles, because I like them very much. And if professional sports don’t work out, I have a plan to go down with vehicles,” Cain said.
Junior Ky’eria Coleman is excited about the possibility of signing up for culinary arts. The program was offered for the first time last year. However, she did not know it existed until the end of last school year.
Hansen, a junior in ROTC, notes there are many options for students to get involved in programs.
“We have a lot more fine arts now to where kids can join and go on and do what they need to do for their college and get ready. There’s programs here that help you grow a lot,” Hansen said.
Future construction
As construction continues at the campus, students and staff will remain in the front half of the site. Parking, additional courts and fields will be added. There will be three practice fields, and the site’s existing tennis courts will be renovated. In total, there will be eight tennis courts, including the four renovated courts. The updates will be completed by January, Barrera said.
Students in automotive technology will have to bring their project cars outside the lab to work on them during the school year.
In designing the building, flexibility was a key factor. Aside from the science wing and specific CTE classrooms, most of the spaces can be shifted.
“The main thing we have to think of now is flexibility, because we don’t know what people want to do in the future. I mean, everything is changing so fast, so this building is super flexible,” Barrera said.
