Coming in the fall of the 2021-2022 school year, Denton ISD announced that the Lagrone Advanced Technology Complex will have a program where students will learn all of their core classes and also continue to pursue their career on that campus. Learners are getting all of their education at the complex, unlike the past where they could go for 2 blocks and return back to their home school.

“The classes will be more student centered,” ATC Guidance counselor Susan Reyes said. “Whereas at a regular high school campus, you typically don’t have the opportunity to have more one on one action with your teachers.”

This school is unlike any other with the chance to have students’ classes personalized to the career path they choose when they begin their high school career and when they fill out their schedule. For example, kids who want to be in the Cosmetology program have the chance to have their schedule and the type of core classes more focused on the cosmetic and other events that relate to the path.

“This new school gives kids who want to focus on their career path,” DHS Career Counselor Jewels Holladay said. “A chance to pursue that and have more of the classes favorable to them. It’s something kids here at DHS have expressed interest in, and should be very beneficial for their future.”

The amount of programs available at the ATC are going to stay the same, while some classes like HVAC among a few will still have locations only at the main school campuses. Most of the change comes in the core classes like English and Math that will be introduced unlike before.

“There will not be a change in the HVAC class when it comes to being at the new ATC school,” DHS Head HVAC instructor Michael Brucia said. “Unlike others that will be offered full time. It’s not as easy to have it in both locations, and kids that are coming to do HVAC here are usually fully invested and if they follow through, they have a terrific path to a successful career like the kids who will be at the ATC school.”

With the different environment, some classes like fine arts and foreign languages will not be offered at the program, and that is expected with the limited number of students that will be enrolled.

“We are expecting something around 400 or so students to start,” Reyes said. “And with the small amount of programs offered, that number will probably stay the same. Kids should be able to start if transferring at the beginning of the year, but other situations are still being worked out because of the newness to the developments.”

Although the official date to join the program for the 2021-2022 school year has concluded, there should be more chances for incoming juniors and seniors later on.