Student Opportunity Model

Frisco ISD’s student opportunity model is a cornerstone of the District’s philosophy that impacts everything from the construction of campuses to student participation in campus programming.

In some districts with fewer schools and larger programs, there are a few select student leadership roles for drum majors, quarterbacks, student organizations and valedictorians. Frisco ISD operates more elementary, middle and high schools to allow a greater percentage of students to reap the benefits of participation. 

Frisco ISD’s student opportunity model facilitates increased student participation, involvement and engagement in myriad activities from visual and performing arts to athletics and competitive academic events. With more secondary schools, students can participate in more courses and extracurricular activities than at a larger campus.

FISD is committed to maximizing opportunities for students to connect with their school community. By creating personalized learning environments at all levels, students feel connected to their campus community. When students feel connected with the students and adults in their academic community, they are more likely to engage and embrace the Future-Ready Learner focus areas.

Benefits of the Student Opportunity Model

• Increased student engagement and connectivity

• Increased academic and extracurricular opportunities

• A focus on student health and well-being through the Whole Child Model

• Expanded educational experience across the District for all students

• Smaller graduating classes 

• Aligns with the District’s mission of knowing each child by name and need

History Behind the Student Opportunity Model

Prior to the beginning of the major growth in FISD, a group of residents worked to help develop a plan for the size of schools. FISD knew it could not remain a one high school town, so in anticipation of multiple high schools, staff members wanted to determine what that would look like. The overriding concern was ensuring that students would continue to have opportunities to participate and excel in activities and form meaningful relationships with each other and with the adults in the school. Each community has to pick what works best for its citizens — in a neighboring school district, they chose to have one high school; another school district chose high schools with grades 9 and 10, and senior high schools with grades 11 and 12. At the time, Frisco ISD configured its high schools to serve between 1,500 and 1,800 students in grades 9-12. The residents also agreed to build elementary schools to accommodate approximately 700 students and middle schools to serve between 800 and 1,000 students.

Since that time, to provide as much stability as possible, existing high schools and new high schools were modified to functionally accommodate up to 2,100 students. This modification provided additional capacity in the District equivalent to adding two high schools in the former model. Twelve high schools serving 2,100 students serve 3,600 more than the old model.

In the fall of 2023, more than 14,000 parents, staff, students and non-parent community members participated in a survey that asked about the student opportunity model. Results include:

• When choosing Frisco ISD, the student opportunity model remains a significant factor for families (63%) and staff members (55%).

• More than half of each participant group, including 77% of parents/guardians, 65% of staff members and 67% of community members, said FISD should continue the student opportunity model and work to stay within the 5A UIL division.

• More than 71% of respondents noted concerns about a move to the 6A model, including class sizes, student academic opportunities and teacher attention to each student.

The 2023 results affirm the 2017 survey data, where 80% of community members indicated they wanted to continue the model of several high schools focused on student opportunity and said it factored into their decision to move to Frisco ISD.