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Maddie Coleman

Established in 2019, Bill Hays Middle School is located on Hillcrest Road in Frisco, TX. “I do have a ton of kids here, and we get to serve all those kids which is just great," Principal Zachariah Devito said. The school currently holds a number of 1,900 students.

Hays Middle School is currently the third Prosper ISD middle school, established in 2019. The student population has grown exponentially since, reaching approximately 1,900 students. The school is overcrowded, according to the student body, but maintains a student to teacher ratio of 17 to 1.

The student population at Hays is nearly the same as that of Rock Hill High School. However, Principal Zachariah Devito, is not worried. He strives to have the best school possible for his students and faculty.

“We hire teachers and staff based on the number of students in the building, even though we have more students than we’ve had,” Devito said. “We had 150 more students than last year, we also have an extra assistant principal and counselor to support those students.”

The portable buildings ensure the students are not impacted by having larger sized classes.   Withstanding the exponential growth seen at Hays, the class sizes are the same as they have been in past years. 

“Our school is not really built for this capacity, but at the same time we have some portable buildings that allow us to still serve students,” Devito said. 

Eighth-grade English and Language Arts teacher, Carol Dodgen, has been employed at Hays since the school first  opened.  She has seen the school grow firsthand over the past few years. 

Dogden explained how the classes are at max capacity, and Devito knows this. He loves his students and teachers, and therefore goes out of his way to manage student issues promptly and respectfully. In a stressful time, where the leaders of the school have their hands full, everyone must be taken care of. 

“I do like that I get to serve a lot of families,” Devito said.  

Although the teachers and administrators do everything to make the best for the students, it’s always possible to miss something. Several students say that the hallway traffic is out of control, and people get hurt constantly. 

“People have gotten hurt because they were pushed down and trampled,” Hays student Dillon Coleman said.

The number of students in the classes may not be the biggest problem. Safety is a number one priority, and the admin strives to protect students mentally as well as physically. Student Brooklyn Rogers has experienced firsthand the way bullying is handled at Hays. 

“Bullying is not handled well,” Rogers said. “It’s pushed to the side almost like they are scared to say something to the bullies.”

With as many students as Hays has, bullying is a problem the faculty is aware of, but the larger crowds do make it easy to get away with treating each other poorly. Especially when the students aren’t coming directly to teachers and admin. 

“Our reports are probably at a similar percentage to what they’ve been in the past. And I would actually say we are starting to trend downward,” Devito said

With no phones being allowed in the school, the bullying numbers seem to be dropping according to Devito. Due to the withdrawal of social media, students are compelled to be in the moment and there are less unjustified problems.

“A lot of times our drama and bullying was up, because our middle school kids don’t always know how to use technology appropriately,” Devito said, “our bullying numbers are less, or less reported than what we’ve had. And a lot of times too what’s considered bullying or what’s considered this kid doesn’t want to be my friend anymore, we are learning in middle school.”

The opening of Jones Middle School will relieve the overpopulation Hays currently has. This will take the weight off of many that are attending or employed at Hays. 

“Hays is a good school to go to,” Coleman said, “there’s a lot of people, but the teachers take the time to talk to us when we need help.”