Crossroads expands to accommodate student growth
Special to Leader-Press
At the start of the 2019-2020 school year, approximately 50 students enrolled in Crossroads High School. By the end of the school year, the number of students more than doubled to 120. For the 2020-2021 school year, the alternative school of choice will be able to accommodate as many as 300 students due to renovations and expansion to two buildings on the campus.
Approximately 5,773 square feet of classroom space expands the former auditorium that has served in recent years as the CCISD District Training Facility along with a restroom addition of approximately 700 feet. Previously, those using the auditorium had to go outside the facility to access the restrooms. With the renovations, the bathrooms are accessible from the interior of the building. An addition of approximately 1,742 square feet was added to an existing classroom building to make room for more students. Additional restroom renovations of approximately 470 square feet serve the D wing that includes the disciplinary alternative education program.
Crossroads High School Principal Patrick Crawley said there is tremendous excitement surrounding the expansion of the campus.
“(We are excited about) not just the new buildings but the potential to more than triple the number of students we serve,” Crawley said. “Crossroads High School affords these students the ability to move through coursework at an accelerated pace and this non-traditional approach is a game-changer for kids who want to move quickly into a career path or technical college. Additionally, we allow students to accelerate and graduate early or catch up to graduate on time with their peers if they have fallen behind. The expansion of Crossroads will make these benefits available to many more students.”
At the May 2020 school board meeting, the board of trustees approved a bid proposal to do the work from Built Wright Construction of $2,845,690. Board members also approved an additional $55,000 to build a covering that connects the D wing to the newly renovated classroom space.
“The campus has also recently incorporated more options to make students more college and career ready. In the new school year, we will offer dual enrollment classes and transportation to take our students to Central Texas College to obtain college credit during the school day,” Crawley said. “We offer an EMT program, welding, carpentry trades, cybersecurity, computer network administrator, and mechanics program as well as all of the basic college courses.”
Copperas Cove High School began its early college high school program in partnership with CTC in 2017 and also offers students dual-credit class enrollment.
The CCISD District Service and Training Facility is now the renovated 4,979 square feet former carpentry shop on the Copperas Cove Junior High Campus. A motorized folding panel partition allows the district to create multiple rooms within the larger facility for training staff and testing and teaching students.