Frisco ISD’s newest principal is heading up the district’s first intermediate school, which opened its doors to students last Wednesday.
In May, the school district announced that Michael Thomas would be the first principal of Shana K. Wortham Intermediate School. Thomas was previously a principal at Hamilton Park Pacesetter Magnet Elementary School in Richardson ISD.
“The first intermediate school in Frisco ISD is a fantastic opportunity to provide elementary students with leadership opportunities and skills to navigate the secondary system,” said Thomas, according to the Frisco Enterprise.
Thomas majored in early childhood education at the University of Texas at Dallas and earned his master’s at Lamar University. Over the course of his career, Thomas accumulated more than 15 years of experience in education.
He said his favorite part of being the new intermediate school’s first principal is that it allows him to “make and keep school fun.”
“I love having fun with students, staff and families. I want students to enjoy the learning process and to be able to see their strengths unfold,” Thomas told the Frisco Enterprise.
In addition to the new intermediate school, the district also built Richard A. Wilkinson Middle School, bringing the total number of campuses at Frisco ISD to 77, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Wortham Intermediate School cost taxpayers $45 million to build. It is located at 7404 Kickapoo Dr. in McKinney. The campus is named after a longtime Frisco ISD employee and will solely cater to fifth and sixth graders.
School officials expect to welcome as many as 568 students to Wilkinson on the first day and 864 students to Wortham, according to Frisco ISD.
Frisco ISD is one of the better-performing school districts in North Texas, with 74% of students scoring at grade level on their STAAR exams during the 2021-2022 school year, and 99% of its graduating Class of 2022 graduated on time. The district performed far better than Dallas ISD, where only 41% of students scored at grade level that year and almost 20% of the graduating class failed to earn a diploma in four years, despite the hard work of its teachers and principals.
A dedication ceremony for Wilkinson Middle School will occur on September 24 at 2 p.m. Wortham Intermediate School will have a dedication ceremony on the same day at 4:30 p.m.
