After years of planning, Frenship Memorial High School opened its doors for the first time on August 13, 2025, to welcome approximately 1,100 students and more than 170 staff members on the first day of school. This opening marks a historic time in Frenship’s 90-year history as the district expands to two high schools.
“There are so many details to get everything rolling in the right direction. A lot of time was spent, and a lot of heart went into everything here at Frenship Memorial High School,” said Frenship Memorial High School Principal Chelsey Campbell. “It was a very busy summer and completely worth every minute planning it out for our kids.”
The opening of Frenship Memorial will not only help alleviate crowding at the existing Frenship High School as the district continues to grow, but also provide students with twice as many opportunities.
“Frenship will now have two valedictorians, two varsity football teams, two bands, and so on. Frenship Memorial offers all the same opportunities as FHS, and we’re excited to see our students continue to capture excellence,” said Campbell.
During its first school year, Frenship Memorial High School will only have freshmen and sophomores who attended Terra Vista Middle School and Heritage Middle School. It’s these students who played a significant role in making the major spirit-related decisions for Frenship Memorial, including the name of the school, their new Panther mascot, colors, and even helping to create the school and fight song.
“This is their high school experience. Of course, change brings a little bit of uncertainty, but when you bring the students in and provide transparency for them, a little bit of choice, and you hear their voice, they start to feel more confident about what’s coming in the future, and they really want to own that,” said Campbell. “There’s ownership in this and the kids have been a big part of everything that we’ve chosen to do. So, as they walk in, they’re seeing it in real time.”
Campbell says there is a lot of excitement with it being year one. They’re celebrating all the firsts – first wins in sports, first Student Council president, first extracurricular competition wins, etc. – and they’re building new traditions that will last the next 90 years.
“What a blessing it is to be a part of something that is just opening and developing. Everything we do is historical, and it’s a big piece of our history,” said Campbell. “I’m so honored to be a part of it, especially with these kids and the experiences we are creating together. There will be memories forever, they will last forever, and so we cannot wait to celebrate every little thing we do.”
While there will likely be a little friendly competition between the FHS Tigers and MHS Panthers, Campbell says her students and staff have embraced Big Cat Country and how we’re all still part of Frenship Nation.
“It’s been interesting, but it’s been really positive. I’ve seen a lot of respect between Tigers and Panthers already, and that just goes to show that we have a fabulous community who sends their best kids to us, and that makes me really proud,” said Campbell.
Frenship Memorial will graduate its first senior class, the current sophomores, in the spring of 2028.