Opening a New District High School

Summary

This research brief explores opening a new comprehensive high school in the district. Five profiled districts opened a new high school within the last six years and one profiled district will open a new high school in 2021. This brief provides considerations on program and building design, student placement, staffing, and community engagement.

Key observations from our research

1. Administrators at some profiled districts provide the same programming at the original and new high school, while administrators at other profiled districts provide varied offerings.
2. Administrators at profiled districts pursued innovative building design for the new high school to build momentum for the school opening.
3. Establish a community-wide redistricting committee to determine student placement at the new high school and garner buy-in for new attendance boundaries.
4. Hire the new high school principal at least one year in advance of the opening to establish a strong, positive school culture.