As the student population of the Ranch Cities continues to increase, each of the area’s school districts are taking steps to keep pace, and Aubrey ISD is making strides to offer its students multiple educational opportunities.
Major exterior and interior renovations to Aubrey High School were completed last year, including the opening of the athletic department's indoor athletic facility, but Aubrey ISD is continuing to add facilities to accommodate a variety of student interests.
“I believe the only way to serve a student is to understand the entire student, and I’m so thankful to be in a place where the district supports that belief and the process it takes to make it happen,” AHS Principal Dr. Vanessa Zavar said. “Every student should have the opportunity to have a say in their education, and then we answer that. That’s what we do as educators; we meet students where they are.”
The campus’ additions start with the expansion of the school’s cafeteria.
“We almost doubled the space in the kitchen area, and the area where the students eat is getting a refresh,” Zavar said.
The new kitchen space includes all new appliances and new, seamless epoxy flooring, which is attached to the molding along the walls and expedites the cleaning process.
The renovations to the main building also include new locker rooms for indoor athletics, new art rooms, a dance studio and a new space for the Chaparrals' future wrestling team, which will also be used by the Career and Technical Education program’s fire academy.
The biggest addition to the campus is the school’s agricultural and machinery shop, which is east of the main building and provides space for the high school’s CTE pathways.
The mechanical shop provides a space for students to learn about plumbing, electrical, construction, HVAC, PPE and OSHA regulations, along with a space for woodwork, metalwork and welding.
It has an outdoor space for plant and soil classes and for animal science and indoor classrooms, one of which includes a walk-in cooler to store flowers for the principles of floral design.
AISD lead ag teacher Chelsea Fewell shared her excitement for the updated facility.
“It’s really in line with the industry standard, so our kids can leave the floral classes and go work in a flower shop with their certification,” she said.
She added that the additions mean a lot to the ag staff.
“It feels great to be supported, and it's not like that everywhere,” Fewell said. 'It's really neat to see the tangible evidence that the district is supporting the ag program.”
Fewell highlighted the growth of Aubrey’s ag program and offered a word of encouragement to any students interested in joining.
“We want to make sure we offer different opportunities that reflect our growing population, so we’ll still have our traditional lambs, goats, pigs and cattle, … but we have students who are showing guinea pigs now, and we had three young ladies that participated in a build-off competition this spring, where they built a 16-foot gate, and it was really fun to see,” she said.
Aubrey’s CTE program issued 168 industry certifications last year, and the district hopes to continue seeing that number increase with the addition of a cosmetology salon, which will have spaces for nail technology, hair styling and skincare.
“A lot of our teachers are actually industry professionals who are choosing teaching as a second career, and for this program I had a cosmetologist who is going to come back and teach it here, so we’ll have a professional teaching the course,” Zavar said.
There is also a new space for the principles of law enforcement course that covers various aspects of law enforcement and includes a crime laboratory.
Zavar also highlighted a new professional development space for the high school’s staff and multiple new spaces for the school’s special education, Spanish and American sign language programs, complete with new offices and an entire wing for the freshman class.
“Our goal is everybody graduates with options, and that includes our virtual hybrid school that we’re opening this year,” she said.
Zavar emphasized that Aubrey ISD is doing whatever it can to encourage students to learn.
“Even if we aren’t able to find a particular curriculum or a particular teacher for a topic, but it's something you’re interested in, I’m happy to have those conversations with students,” she said. “I don’t care what it is you like about this school; we will find something you enjoy here so that the students stay engaged and they complete their high school journey, because it's important to us.”
