Construction projects at JHS are beginning to wrap up, giving students and staff more space for a better learning environment. Two new facilities are being completed during the 2025-2026 school year. The first, which has already opened, is a fine arts addition. The second is an academic wing, which is expected to be ready in time for next semester.
The fine arts addition is complete and has been used by students since August. That addition includes a new band hall and a fine arts gym that is shared by dance, color guard, and band.
“The new band hall is very big, it has a lot more rehearsing space for a much bigger program,” senior Henri Cooke said. “In our old band hall, there was not enough space to rehearse during the season, which made it hard scheduling time to rehearse in the competition gym.”
The new band hall also includes special features to help students rehearse.
“[It has] more practice rooms…you can change the setting to make it sound like different places, from a formal concert hall to a football stadium. The possibilities are endless,” sophomore Sophie Ozuna said. “Another thing is that [the band hall] has football yard lines marked, so during marching season we can work on our show inside during unfavorable weather conditions.”
The new academic wing is expected to be open by January. It includes new facilities for culinary arts, floral design, and veterinary technology programs. There will also be a barbering classroom, which will likely be used as a cosmetology space. The wing also adds covered outdoor patios, 12 classrooms, and eight science labs, two of which will be used by JHS’ biomed program. Four classrooms in the current school will be converted into connecting corridors on the second and third floors, meaning that the addition will only add a net of eight classrooms.
The academic and fine arts additions are being funded by Hays CISD bonds approved by voters in 2023. The total cost of these improvements is more than $60 million.
Although 2023 bond projects are coming to a close, students and staff will still have to contend with construction happening on campus. In 2025, voters approved bonds to build a multipurpose activity center, a new weight room and a road to connect JHS to the Carpenter Hill neighborhood. These construction projects have already begun.
Once the new academic wing is complete, construction equipment will move out of the staff parking lot and teachers will be able to resume parking there. This will free up more space for student parking, which was in short supply during the 2024-2025 school year.
The spaces opening this year are necessary for JHS to accommodate the growing student population. Once the new academic wing is complete, the school’s functional capacity will be 2,800, up from the school’s original capacity of 2,250. Current enrollment hovers around 3,000 students.
