PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Bob Hope Charter School has had issues with its growing numbers for years. In 2020, the school will make their 2nd expansion in the past two years.
The Bob Hope High School held their groundbreaking ceremony at 4545 Hwy 73 in Port Arthur, which is the location of the soon-to-be high school.
Currently, the Bob Hope School campus holds middle and high school students in one building. The school started out with 250 students, according to Daniel Cruz, the campus director for Bob Hope High School. Now the school serves nearly 800 students.
The Bob Hope High School is scheduled to be in session by August 2020. Administrators and students are excited for what the expansion will bring.
Bob Hope School band director, Austin Jay, states the significance of having two separate schools.
“Having a separate identity between middle school and high school is very important. They can take ownership over the space with the distinction between the two,” Jay said.
A Bob Hope band student said he’s excited for the new building and hopes the band increases in size.
“I’m hoping there will be more students to come next year to see how we play this year. We’ve been getting more instruments this year and last year. And now we have a new band teacher that’s been really good to us,” said 17-year-old Enrique Resendez.
With the expectation of growth in the department, the school will need storage space. Jay says, this is a positive element that comes with the expansion.
“For band, right now we have about 100 students between 6-12. I’m looking to, of course, increase that, but we just have one room that all the students use so being able to have two areas means more equipment that we can get, more instruments and different kinds of instruments they can play, more advanced literature that they can perform,” said Jay.
The current campus will serve as the middle school after the transition. Bob Hope first expanded in 2018 with their elementary school in Beaumont.
Although the district is continuing to make room for students who want to attend, the combined students for the Bob Hope School waitlist is more than 1,000 students.
Students like Resendez will be the first of his three siblings to graduate from the high school.
“My other siblings they were here as well. And we’ve always been in the same schools. I’ve always seen them around in the hallways and what not. And now in this new building, the last one, I’m going to be here. It’s just going to be exciting,” Resendez said.
