In the 2025-26 academic year, Prosper ISD will expand from three high schools to four, welcoming the Richland Raiders on the west side of town. 

Richland High School off of Teel Parkway, will be  one of the first high schools on the west side of Prosper. The principal of Richland High, Lute Croy, is preparing for the school’s opening in less than a year. 

Croy began his 22-year educational career as a coach, guiding football, wrestling and track. His passion for inspiring students evolved into his leadership position today.

“I kept coming back to the people who made a difference in my life, which were these coaches,” Croy said. “And then I decided I kind of felt like it was time to explore, expand my leadership or multiply my leadership. As a teacher, you can impact 120, 180 kids a day. But if you are the person impacting teachers, you get to multiply that.”

This current year, 11 months before Richland High opens, is designated as a planning year.  Croy is preparing for the opening of the school while meeting new staff, students and administrators. While Croy has opened schools before as a teacher, this is his first  experience from this side of the desk.

“The beautiful thing right now is I have time to think deeply about what I want it to look like when students walk in the door next August and between now and November,” Croy said. “I’m trying to nail down all of those things.” 

Drawing from the openings of Prosper and Frisco high schools, Croy has picked up ideas and hit the ground running with what he has learned from newer schools and principals in the area. 

“I am reaching out to principals all over that are successful or principals that have opened schools, and I’m just spending time with them,” Croy said. “Yesterday, for example, I went to Allen High School and I spent half a day there with their principal. And what I went there for was he’s got 7,000 kids. In my mind, if he can do 7,000 kids, I can do three.”

Besides meeting new principals, Croy is also meeting with younger students on the west side of town, building Raider pride.

“I’m trying to be around the younger people in our community and the parents of the younger people so that everybody gets excited about being Raider, and I kind of have to brainwash them a little bit.” Croy said. 

The new building, similar to the layout of Walnut Grove High, will have two new programs: cosmetology and electrical engineering. The building’s fully equipped classrooms and labs will offer certifications to prepare students for careers while still in high school.

“We have cosmetology for the first time, which is going to be awesome, and electrical engineering,” Croy said. “We’ll have two complete pathways that kids can go through and obtain certifications and go straight into the workforce right after high school.”

The electrical engineering space will span 6,000 square feet, while the cosmetology classroom equipped with 12 chairs, Richland will offer a $30,000 program to students at minimal cost.

“The content to me is the means by which we get to do this life changing work that is education,” Croy said. “And in doing that, I’m trying to prepare kids for whatever it is they want to do after life after high school.”

During this planning year, Croy is focusing on hiring new staff. As most students will transfer from Prosper High, Croy plans to recruit staff from there as well.

“It’s more just making sure they align with my philosophy and my core values. I want to take a very proactive approach to kind of our underlying theme is that we rebuild champions,” Croy said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 23, if you’re 60, but you just gotta bring the juice every day and be ready to do that work.”

Croy emphasizes that he wants to reinforce building champions through dedicated teachers, not just posters on walls.

“You can be in love with your content and still be mission driven to change kids’ lives,” Croy said. “Finding people who understand that and have the energy required can be exhausting and frustrating because, when you start working somewhere that’s been established, you walk into a culture that’s already created.”

The Richland Raiders mascot, unlike anything the district has seen before, captures the frontier spirit of expansion and excitement.

“I actually got this from the U.S. Marines,” Croy said. “When they talk about Raiders, they’re a force expeditionary in nature, prepared to thrive in uncertain, chaotic and austere environments, determined to excel with unconquerable spirit. That’s what we’re going to rally around.”

Croy aims to instill a champion mindset that students will carry beyond the school walls.

“We want people to be champion husbands and champion wives and champion fathers and champion mothers and champion lawyers or champion cosmetologists,” Croy said. “We want them to be champions in life.”

When Richland opens next August, Croy hopes to unite every student around Raider pride, starting the legacy of a high school dedicated to a  championship of education and opportunity.

“I know everybody that I talk to, I tell them, my goal is to have a world class school and a world class staff that provides a world class education to every kid who walks through a door,” Croy said. “And that’s what we’re gonna do.”