Students, staff and alumni gathered at Haas Middle School for one final walk through the hallways before the campus closes its doors for good.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Months after the Corpus Christi Independent School District Board of Trustees voted to close seven campuses as part of districtwide consolidation efforts, students, staff and community members are now saying their final goodbyes.
Several of the campuses held final community walks this week, giving former students, teachers and families one last opportunity to walk the halls before the schools close permanently.
At Haas Middle School, generations of Warriors gathered to reflect on memories made inside the campus.
It’s a story 3NEWS has been covering since the very beginning, when these school consolidations were first proposed, to community input meetings and the board meeting that decided to close seven campuses.
Families, students, alumni and staff walked through the halls together one final time before the school closes in just a few weeks.
Principal Danny Noyola Jr. said one of his proudest memories was helping improve the school’s academic standing.
“Inheriting a targeted improvement school and then turning it around in one year. Haas Campus is now a B,” Noyola said.
He said each person returning to visit has their own special memories.
“It’s the city championships they won over the decades. It’s the awards and recognitions in the band and the choir, the academic success they’ve had over generations, the millions of dollars donated by the Paul Haas Foundation for scholarships,” Noyola said. “The friendships that people might have had just in the hallway.”
Among those revisiting the campus were former classmates Ronny Wilson and Don Parish from the Class of 1968, the year the school first opened its doors.
“I can’t believe it’s been so many years, but hopefully we’ll see some old friends while we’re here. There may not be too many of us left,” Wilson said.
Although he no longer lives in the Coastal Bend, Parish said the school still carries deep personal meaning for him.
“I still get back here occasionally from time to time, and I always drive by Haas Junior High. It’ll always be Junior High to me,” Parish said.
The evening was also emotional for longtime staff members, including teacher Debra Gonzalez, who has worked at the school for 35 years.
“Brooke was my student, and then Brooke became my coworker because she worked here as well,” Gonzalez said while pointing to a photo from the first class she taught at Haas in 1990.
Former student Richard Guerrero, who attended the school in the 1980s, said returning brought back memories he had not revisited in years.
“Quite a shock to come back after all these years and you see things that are sort of familiar, but through, you know, the lens of time, it’s a little fuzzy. It just takes a few minutes for it to come back,” Guerrero said.
Noyola said that while he doesn’t know what will come next, he is grateful the final walk brought together generations of the Warrior community one last time.
“Emotional not just for them, for us, but emotional for the entire community that we’ll all remember for the rest of our lives,” Noyola said.