Frenship ISD’s brand new middle school to open doors to students Tuesday

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - After years in the making, students will be walking through the doors of Alcove Trails Middle School for the very first time.

Like many other projects, the pandemic put the brakes on Frenship ISD’s Alcove Trails Middle School. Once COVID restrictions subsided, the build went full speed ahead.

“If you would have asked me about six weeks ago, I woulda thought we’re not gonna get done, but they assured me they’d be done, so I trusted that, and they didn’t let us down,” Frenship ISD Superintendent Michelle McCord said.

McCord stated this school is almost exactly like the other middle schools in the district, however this building has more room. The other three school were nearly at capacity.

This new school is only expecting 400 to 450 students on the first day of school tomorrow, but has the capacity to host 950 to 1,000 children, leaving room for growth.

“It offers all the same programs, all the same classes,” McCord said. “It’s to accommodate the growth we had, we’re growing at about 3% every year.”

Teachers who were brought in from all over the district will be entering for the first time as well, including Frenship Middle School Assistant Principal Rebecca Whipkey. She will be taking on the role of principal at alcove trails.

“I want our kids to feel safe to feel love to enjoy coming to school, that’s one of the things I learned as an assistant principal that I will bring with me as principal,” Whipkey said.

After 20 years in the district, Whipkey said she has seen the school grow bigger and bigger. Now, she is excited to open up the brand new middle school as the first principal.

“It’s gonna be a little bit of a learning curve, the processes and the culture of our school, figuring out who we are at Alcove Trails,” she said.

Overall, many people are excited to begin this new school year.

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