GULF SHORES — Construction for the new Gulf Shores High School, located at the County Road 8 and Foley Beach Express intersection, is still on track to open to students by Fall 2026 and has shown significant progress over the last two weeks.

Noel Hand, public works director for the City of Gulf Shores, presented updates on the project at the Oct. 2 Gulf Shores Board of Education meeting. Two weeks later, GCM toured the facilities.

In that time, a lot of HVAC work was completed, ceiling tiles were installed throughout the building, much of the electrical work is now in place, and surrounding roadways have been paved.

All sections of the school consistently undergo — and pass — infrastructure inspections.

As previously reported by GCM, the $137 million project is set to open on the 200-acre site by next spring.

Differences between the current high school and the new one can be found in just about every detail, from the types of classrooms available to extra technology features. New classrooms include a video production space and a black box theater, but just about every existing subject will also be getting classroom improvements.

All classes are designed with open-concept windows separating them from the hallway, allowing passing students and teachers to check out what's happening inside.

Certain rooms are designed with retractable wall dividers, allowing teachers to have the option to combine rooms into one big classroom or have individual, regular-sized rooms. The school also is set up to have some undesignated small classrooms for study sessions, tutoring or to be used by students.

The new school has wider hallways with higher ceilings, opening the space up and, as Superintendent Matt Akin said, encouraging collaboration among students.

Many of the shared spaces and common areas in the new school are based off what students seem to enjoy at the current school, such as eating lunch in a courtyard area.

He said some of the major changes between the schools is the new one has bigger and more classrooms, as many class sizes "are just exploding" at the high school now.

With the high school currently at about 900 students, the new building is set to hold 1,500. Akin's current projection for enrolled students by next fall is 1,000, but he said this number is "so misleading" as it includes many students who are virtual, dual enrollment or hybrid and so are not at the school the entire day.

"It's really been nice to be able to look at what our needs are and build a building based on student needs and not just capacity," he said.

To design the new Gulf Shores High School, school staff and city administrators traveled to find inspiration in schools across the country.
"We knew we wouldn't find Gulf Shores High School out there, but we did get these great ideas," said Kevin Corcoran, school board president, "mostly [about] what it will mean academically for our students."

Despite construction beginning in December 2020, Corcoran said the project has maintained constant changes and improvements to the design over time. He said they have Rabren contracting, "the best contractors" for the job.