BUDA, Texas -- With the new school year comes a brand new campus for students at Hays Consolidated Independent School District.
- School approved via 2017 bond
- Will focus on career and technical education
- First graduating class in 2022
The Moe & Gene Johnson High School is a 413,500-square-foot campus with a capacity of 2,250 students. The school is the home of the Jaguars and will be accommodating its first incoming freshman and sophomore class this year.
The $122 million school was approved in a 2017 bond and the district is excited to finally see it come to fruition.
The high school joins the other two high schools in Hays CISD, Lehman and Hays, which are both over capacity.
A ribbon-cutting ceremoney was held August 3 for the new school, giving parents and district staff an inside look at the impressive campus, which features tall ceilings, sleek lines and modern colors.
The school's principal, Brett Miksch, said they've formed a first-class staff from the ground up, and he's looking forward to creating resilient students who will be game changers.
The campus itself is focused on career and technical education, with the school's main hallway and bottom floor featuring classrooms like cosmetology, construction and manufacturing, and media production.
"When you go through the school, we have a real focus on career and technology, which is really a unique opportunity for these kids here to be able to see as they walk down, not actually sitting in classrooms, but they're doing hands-on things," Miksch said. "You've got the beauty salon, where we'll see kids working. You've got an aerospace program, media production. So you have all these trades where kids can kind of get some interest sparked."
Miksch said it's important to show the students outlets besides getting a four-year bachelor's degree.
"It's not just all about going to college. We're about making them career ready and college ready. So we've got it all together here at Johnson High School. We're really looking forward to getting things started."
He believes the school will be a flag for Hays CISD to wave that the district was one of the first focusing on CTE courses.
"I think this will be a showcase center to where a lot of school districts will come from the outside and view what we've got here. This mindset of really focusing on that career trades and showcasing those," Miksch said. "You know, CTE used to be off in the back corner of the building where nobody knew what was going on, but it is front and center when you walk in."
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The Moe and Gene Johnson High School’s first graduating class will be in 2022.