Dear EMS ISD Families, 

The following information impacts current and future students at all high schools so thank you for taking a few minutes to read closely the details provided below.

As we enter the final weeks of the fall semester, we continue our preparations for the opening of our district’s fourth comprehensive high school, Eagle Mountain High School (EMHS), in August 2024. Opening a new campus, especially a high school, is an exciting time for a school district community. It is also an adjustment as we all work to accommodate the continuing fast growth in our area.

Last year, in September 2022, after months of seeking and reviewing parent and community feedback, the Board of Trustees approved a high school attendance rezoning plan that goes into effect for the 2024-2025 school year. Families affected by the rezoning were notified of the approved plan, which works to balance high school enrollment numbers over time and to provide equal program opportunities for students at all campuses. The attendance zone adjustments include the following criteria: 

• EMHS will open with grades 9-11 and will provide all curricular, extracurricular, and programmatic offerings available at existing EMS ISD high schools. 
• Students currently enrolled at Boswell, Chisholm Trail, or Saginaw high schools who will be seniors in the fall of 2024 may continue to attend the school they are attending in 2023-2024, with the completion of the Senior and Sibling(s) of a Senior High School Designation Form*. Only seniors who reside in a rezoned area must complete this designation form.
• High school-age siblings of seniors in the fall of 2024 may continue to attend the same high school until they graduate, with the completion of the Senior and Sibling(s) of a Senior High School Designation Form*. For example, if an underclassman lives in the zone required to transfer but has a sibling who is a senior in 2024-2025, the underclassman ma­y remain at their original campus through graduation.   

*New Requirement: Parents/Guardians of Class of 2025 seniors who reside in a rezoned area must complete the Senior and Sibling(s) of a Senior High School Designation Form for 2024-2025 to confirm their senior-year campus. This form will be available in Family Access beginning this Friday, December 1, 2023, and will remain open through February 16, 2024.

• Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, all other high school students will be expected to attend the school for which they are zoned. New transfer request applications at the high school level will only be accepted to Eagle Mountain High School and Saginaw High School. Per local board policy FDB, “All students shall only participate in a high school athletic program on their zoned campus” with few exceptions.
• Students currently on an approved transfer who continue to meet transfer eligibility requirements and are not experiencing an attendance zone change do NOT need to submit a new transfer request. Approved transfer requests will automatically renew each year until the student has completed the highest grade level offered at the approved campus.
• All students will participate in the regularly scheduled course selection for next year on their current campus. Course selection information will be transferred to their new high school for building their schedules.
• Since all programs will be offered to students at all schools, students and families are encouraged to continue attending program information nights (i.e., Advanced Academics Night) at their current campuses, even though they will attend a different school next year.

To assist families, several resources have been created:

• A map of the approved 2024-2025 high school attendance zones is available on the district website.
• An address lookup tool, School Zone Finder, is available on the district website. Families can look up the high school they are zoned for under the new attendance boundaries beginning with the 2024-2025 school year.
• Frequently Asked Questions about the high school attendance zone adjustments are available on the district’s Attendance Boundaries page online. Please scroll on the page and click “Expand All” to read the Q&A.

As a reminder, the process to plan for the opening of EMHS started in Spring 2022 with the creation of a preliminary rezoning plan based on enrollment numbers and areas of projected growth. Then, the proposal was shared with the community to gather your feedback. Input was received from three public information meetings in June 2022 as well as through the Let’s Talk online system, email, and personal conversations. District leaders reviewed all comments, questions, and suggestions received. Considering all the feedback, adjustments were made, where possible, in an effort to accommodate community preferences while also meeting the district’s growth and facility capacity needs.  

We realize this is a great deal of information for families to review. We appreciate your support and cooperation, and we are here to address any questions you may have as you work through this transition process. Please reach out to us by email, online through Let’s Talk, or phone so we may assist you.

For inquiries specific to the 2024-2025 Senior and Sibling(s) of a Senior High School Designation Form, please contact our Student Services team at 817-232-0880, ext. 2550 or 2506.

Respectfully, 

Chandra Turrentine
Senior Director of Student Service

The approved plan includes the following criteria: 

• EMHS will open with grades 9-11 and will provide all curricular, extracurricular, and programmatic offerings available at existing EMS ISD high schools. 
   
• Students classified as seniors at Boswell, Chisholm Trail or Saginaw high schools in the fall of 2024 will continue to attend the school they attended in 2023-2024. This means these students will not be required to submit a transfer application to stay at their current campus, but they will be required to complete a Senior Year Attendance Form through Family Access.
   
• Siblings of seniors in 2024-2025 who are entering the 9th, 10th or 11th grade in the fall of 2024 may continue to attend the same high school until their graduation with the completion of the High School Designation Form (mentioned above) through Family Access beginning in November 2023 and ending in January 2024. 
   
• District-provided bus transportation will continue to be provided for the 2024-2025 school year for out-of-zone seniors and siblings who remain at their current high school campus on an approved transfer. District-provided bus transportation for those students will be discontinued beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
   
• Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, all other high school students will be expected to attend the school for which they are zoned. 

The process to plan for the opening of EMHS started in spring 2022 when district leaders created a preliminary rezoning plan based on growing enrollment numbers and areas of projected growth. Then, the proposal was presented to the community to gather feedback. Input was received from three public information meetings in June 2022 as well as through the Let’s Talk online system, email, and personal conversations in conjunction with a community listening initiative during summer 2022. District leaders reviewed all comments, questions, and suggestions received. Considering the feedback, options for the attendance zones were considered and adjusted where possible to accommodate community preferences while also meeting the district's enrollment growth and building capacity needs.
 

With attendance zones now in place, Dr. Ron Gatlin has been named as Principal of Eagle Mountain High School. The school colors are black and gold, and the mascot will be the Knights. 

Anytime attendance zones are adjusted, it is a community-wide process and feedback from our parents, staff and community is important. Please continue to submit any questions or comments using the Let's Talk online system. Additionally, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions below for further details. Thank you for being active and involved in this community conversation as we prepare for the growing future of Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD.

A: Eagle Mountain High School will open with three grade levels: freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. This will allow students to compete in both varsity and junior varsity UIL events (athletic, fine arts, and academic) in the school’s first year of operation. In addition, it will facilitate the school providing a full complement of curricular and extracurricular programming for all students. The first graduating class will be in 2026.  

Q: How does EMS ISD determine where to draw attendance zone boundaries?  

A: EMS ISD partners with leading demographer, Zonda Education, to evaluate long-term growth. Considerations in drawing these lines include:  

• Space Optimization – Efficiently using buildings to reduce overcrowding when possible.  

• Neighborhood Unity – Making the best effort to keep subdivisions together.  

• Natural Lines – Attempting to use natural boundary lines where possible.  

• Growth – Planning for future development so that lines do not need to be redrawn between campus openings.  

• Socioeconomic Factors – Considering the socioeconomic make up of each attendance zone.  

• Transportation Cost – Considering bus routes as attendance zones are developed.  

• Family Impact – Considering the impact that changing attendance zones will have on families.  

• Feeder Pattern Alignment – Bringing EMS ISD closer to the goal of aligned feeder patterns, keeping the majority of students together as they move through elementary, middle, and high school.    

Q: When will the new high school attendance zones be approved?  

A: The high school attendance zone plans were approved during the September 2022 Board of Trustees meeting. EMS ISD collected feedback from all stakeholders in June, July, and August of 2022 and presented a recommendation to the EMS ISD Board of Education in September 2022.  

A: Students classified as seniors at Boswell, Chisholm Trail or Saginaw high schools in 2024-2025 will be able to remain at the high school they attended in the 2023-2024 school year. Class of 2025 seniors will not be required to submit a transfer application, but they will be required to complete a Senior Year Attendance Form through Family Access beginning in November 2023 and ending in January 2024.

Siblings of seniors in 2024-2025 who are entering the 9th, 10th or 11th grade in the fall of 2024 may continue to attend the same high school until their graduation and will be able to participate in UIL activities upon the completion of a High School Designation Form. A family must have a student actively enrolled in the high school for the sibling rule to continue. A break in high school enrollment will revoke the sibling rule. For example: 

• A senior in 2024-2025 with a freshman sibling: The freshman may choose to stay in the original high school attendance zone. 

• A senior in 2024-2025 with an 8th grade sibling:  The 8th grade sibling will move into the new high school attendance zone. 

• A senior in 2024-2025 with siblings in 9th and 5th grades:  The 9th grade sibling may stay in the original high school attendance zone but the 5th grade sibling will move into the new high school attendance zone.

Each sibling of a senior who meets the criteria above will need to complete a High School Designation Form beginning in November 2023 and ending in January 2024.

Q: Will bus transportation be provided?
A: District-provided bus transportation will continue to be provided for the 2024-2025 school year for out-of-zone seniors and siblings who remain at their current high school campus with the completion of a High School Designation Form. District-provided bus transportation for those students will be discontinued beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.
 

Q: Is this a done deal or is this truly a proposal? 

A: Updated 9-27-22: The high school attendance zone plan was approved during the September 2022 Board of Trustees meeting and is now final. The high school attendance zone maps were developed based on space optimization, neighborhood unity, natural lines, enrollment growth, socioeconomic factors, transportation costs, family impact, and feeder pattern alignment. We reached out to our community for feedback and made adjustments to the board proposal based on that feedback, including:  

• Moving the southern boundary line for Eagle Mountain HS from Bailey Boswell Road to Park Drive between Boat Club Road and Old Decatur Road; and, 
• Accommodating siblings of seniors in high school in fall 2024 to continue to attend the same high school until they graduate. 

EMS ISD presented an update to the Board of Trustees in August and a recommendation to the Board for consideration in September.