Originally posted on MyStatesman.com
There is no stopping the growth in Manor, one of the more affordable suburbs of Austin. But the school district is now putting its final touches on a new secondary school building that officials say will make room for more students without losing a close-knit feel.
The district’s plan is for the new campus, Manor Senior High School, to be the home base for juniors and seniors, leaving the old Manor High School primarily for freshmen and sophomores.
The two-campus high school is also an attempt to better engage students and give them more ownership of their studies. Like other recently constructed high schools, the new Manor Senior High has the look and feel of a small college campus: open and collaborative work spaces, large windows and natural light, and charging stations for cellphones and laptops.
Similar in shape to a boomerang, construction is nearly complete on the 215,000-square-foot, 1,200-student capacity school that will initially open with 900 juniors and seniors in August. The $48 million campus is being built with 2014 bond money, initially earmarked for renovations to the original Manor High School. Instead, the district put that money toward new space to keep the high school a more manageable size while the number of students continues to climb.
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