Students swarm the halls at Hays High School as they search for friends, pick up schedules and try to find their classrooms. Hays CISD saw 14,775 students come through the door on the first day of class. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
Buda girls Madison Rodrigues (left) and Mikayla Verver show off their new school clothes after attending the first day of Pre-K at Santa Cruz Catholic School. Santa Cruz students started school on Aug. 16, a week ahead of Hays CISD. (Photo by Sandra Grizzle)
Though you couldn’t tell it from the thermometer that topped out at a record 104 degrees, Monday marked the end of summer and the return to school for Hays CISD students.
That morning, 14,755 students, ranging from Pre-K to high school seniors, took a seat in their new classrooms. By the end of the week, school district officials say the student body may top out near 15,000.
The district has grown by about 50 percent in the last five years, when students returning for the 2005-06 school year first broke the 10,000 mark. Two new campuses, Carpenter Hill and Pfluger elementary schools, will help accommodate the surging student body.
