Stephen F. Austin High School has gone through many different buildings and locations, with many inside and outside of Austin High saying the current campus is the worst. While Austin High’s campus has been on Lady Bird Lake for almost 50 years, many of the school’s alumni come from one of the other six previous campuses. The current campus is often ridiculed for its concrete outside and boring look. However, students, faculty, and staff alike are working diligently to change this fact.

Many argue that the current home of Austin High is poorly constructed and does not reflect the hard work that goes on inside it. Austin High moved to its current campus in 1975, but this campus was not its first. The school has gone through a whopping seven different campuses since its establishment in 1881, changing looks each time. The first, which opened in 1881, was located on 11th Street and Rio Grande Street. However, this was not only home to Austin High at the time. Due to serious growth in Austin’s population, instruction had to be taught elsewhere at the First Baptist Church, Smith Opera House, and even the temporary State Capitol. Austin High got its first dedicated campus in 1900 on 9th and Trinity Street, but swapped with the former John T. Allan Junior High School in 1925. Then from 1925 to 1975, Austin High was located at 1212 Rio Grande Avenue. Finally, in 1975, Austin High moved to its current home and began classes that same year. The current campus’s close proximity to Lady Bird Lake and downtown Austin gives Austin High a really unique feel not found at other neighboring schools. However, many remark that the current campus does the incredible location injustice.

Austin High students, faculty, and staff are working hard to improve our campus for the better. Kristi Moore, a sophomore chemistry teacher, heads the Austin High Beautification Club. She works with students to plant flowers and vegetation around the school, featured at both the East and West side entrances, adding extra life outside her classroom.

Roger Steele, a Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher, has also contributed to bringing greater life to the campus. Steele hopes to bring avian friends to Austin High by providing bird feeders to faculty and staff members. The location of Austin High offers a great sanctuary for wildlife to survive and thrive, with the surrounding environment featuring a bountiful water supply and vegetated areas. As for the types of birds he looks to invite through providing the bird feeders he says, “All birds, but again I’m personally somebody who is beholden to doves. Last Friday at first I saw two white doves lift off from our trees from Austin High, and then the third white dove followed it.” Offering food and water to these feathered friends brings life and beauty to campus. 

Austin High’s campus is not the only place that needs students’ help. Austin High is situated right next to Lady Bird Lake, a beautiful body of water that offers recreational activities such as paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, rowing, and more, and also the popular Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail. Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) also takes place near Austin High just across the water at Zilker Park sitting alongside Lady Bird Lake. This popular event draws approximately 450,000 people each year, and along with the celebration comes a lot of waste from plastic bottles to glass and more. The accumulated waste on the lake throughout the year and the abundant waste ACL creates ultimately winds up in the water or along the trail near Austin High. Many Maroons have taken notice, and taken action. Austin High’s Academy for Science and Innovation (ASI) has held multiple field trips throughout the years focused primarily on cleaning up the junk littered along the water and foliage. These efforts have facilitated the clean-up and removal of heaps of waste, but unfortunately, these efforts are still not enough. Students with the Trash Cleanup and Environmental Club are also taking part, with the Environmental Club setting out to clean up once a week after school. Students from all academies and grades meet up as they try to make a lasting difference for this place they love together. All these efforts are significantly helping to clean up Austin’s beloved Lady Bird Lake, and with greater student involvement, more progress will come.

A school’s look both inside and out is an integral part of its environment for all those on campus. It is where students, faculty, and staff spend and dedicate a great deal of their time, and the outside of a campus should reflect the enthusiasm within its walls. A well-crafted outside can instill greater school pride, a sense of community, and a welcoming atmosphere. Whether you are interested in joining the Beautification Club on Thursdays during lunch or lending a hand in another way, take an active role in aiding this place as Maroons spend so much time together.