5 new high schools opening in suburbs

Manvel High School in the Alvin Independent School District will open its doors to students for the first time today. The $52 million campus is located at 19601 Texas 6.

The 220,113-square-foot school is expected to have about 650 students this year, all of whom will be freshmen and sophomores, principal Darrell Alexander said.

The school's second phase of construction, which will cost an additional $28 million and provide space for 1,000 more students, is slated to begin soon after the school year starts.

Manvel High joins Alvin High as the district's only high schools. Manvel is northwest of Alvin in northern Brazoria County.

School colors are red, white and blue with a silver accent.

Magnolia West

Magnolia Independent School District will open Magnolia West High School this year, the second high school in the 10,000-student district in southwest Montgomery County.

Designed for 2,000 students, the $44.9 million school will house almost 600 ninth-graders for the 2006-07 school year. The two-story building at 42202 FM 1774, has been divided in quadrants and more students will fill the facility with each additional grade level that will be added each new school year.

Principal Rob Stewart said the incoming freshmen will set the tone at the school for the next four years.

"They get the opportunity to set a standard that every generation after will strive to overcome," he said.

The school will be complete by the district's Aug. 16 start date. School colors are maroon and gold.

Travis

Fort Bend Independent School District's newest high school, Travis, is in Richmond at 11111 Harlem Road and covers 367,210 square feet.

The two-story building, which was funded by a 2003 voter-approved bond issue, cost $54.1 million.

It features 130 classrooms, including two gyms. The high school also has a library, auditorium and field house.

Principal J.J. Kyle expects 1,048 students to attend Travis this year when it opens Aug. 21. The staff includes 72 teachers, two librarians, two counselors and three administrators.

School colors for the Tigers are scarlet, gray and white.

Atascocita

Humble Independent School District will open its first traditional high school in more than 25 years this fall.

Atascocita High School, located on West Lake Houston and Will Clayton Parkway, will open Monday with an estimated 2,000 freshmen through juniors. When the school adds a senior class in 2007, it will house about 2,900 students.

The 425,000-square-foot campus cost $44 million to build and $7 million to furnish. The bond issue passed in 2005 to build the school also included major renovations to Kingwood and Humble high schools. Those renovations are under way this year.

Boundaries for Atascocita High School are roughly most of the Atascocita area from Beltway 8 north to the San Jacinto River, west along FM 1960 and east to Lake Houston.

School colors are red, white and blue.

Cypress Woods

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District will be opening its eighth high school campus when school begins Aug. 16.

Cypress Woods High School, located at 6825 Spring Cypress Road in Cypress, is a 504,626-square-foot campus.

The $50.9 million building sits on a 182-acre site. The building features a central commons area, auditorium, music facilities, library, full athletic facilities, industrial technology and auto mechanics shops, a multipurpose gym, drill team room and color guard room.

Principal Sue McGown expects 2,100 ninth- and 10th-grade students to attend Cypress Woods, which will add a grade level each year until it serves grades 9-12.

The school's 140-member staff will include about 100 teachers.

Dubbed the Wildcats, the school's colors are crimson red and gold.