Explore Frenship

Frenship ISD was established in 1935 when four rural communities - Wolfforth, Carlisle, Hurlwood, and Foster - joined together to better serve their students as one district. For nearly 90 years, Frenship has remained a community-centered district, rooted in pride and tradition since the first graduation class of 1936.

Today, approximately 1,400 Frenship staff members serve more than 11,700+ students across 16 campuses in the Wolfforth and Lubbock communities. Designated as one of the fastest growing school districts in Texas, Frenship's enrollment grows approximately 2-5% each year. To accommodate our growing enrollment, Frenship opened its fourth middle school, Alcove Trails Middle School, in August of 2023. Frenship's ninth elementary campus, Ridgewood Elementary, will In August of 2024, and Frenship's second high school, Frenship Memorial High School, will open in the fall of 2025. (CLICK HERE for more on Frenship's bond projects and new campuses)

Join our Frenship Family!

In 2023-2024, Niche ranked Frenship ISD as the #1 Best School District in the Lubbock Area and the #1 Best Place to Teach in the Lubbock Area. Frenship ISD also ranked the #14 Best School District in Texas and Best Place to Teach.

2022-2023 State of the District

Frenship ISD's mission is to educate and develop all students by providing a foundation to empower them to reach their maximum potential and realize their opportunity of choice.

Our Shared Beliefs

Our district puts our learners first.
People are the most important resource.
A passion for learning is essential for success.
A commitment to excellence results in Frenship ISD creating a premier environment for our learners.
Each learner has an opportunity to reach his/her potential.
Frenship is a community-centered district, grounded in our history, our achievements, and respectful of our culture.
Character is essential to the development of leadership.

The Frenship Way - SERVE Model

Frenship ISD is a special place - just ask any of our students and staff! What makes us so special? Frenship has a family-oriented culture characterized by a tradition of excellence, high expectations, and commitment to community, leadership, and service that has defined Frenship ISD for our nearly 90-year history. As a way to define our culture, the Frenship Way Serve Model was created by our Frenship staff, students, parents, and community. (CLICK HERE for more information on The Frenship Way)

The Frenship Way SERVE Model stands for:

Smile

Engage

Respect

Volunteer

Encourage

Vision: "Seek Perfection ... Capture Excellence"

Frenship ISD’s vision of “Seek Perfection … Capture Excellence” originates from a famous speech by NFL Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi. His ability to inspire and motivate turned a losing team, the Green Bay Packers, into the most dominating NFL team in the 1960s. During one of his speeches, he encouraged his players to seek perfection, knowing all the while they could not attain it, but in the process of chasing perfection, they would capture excellence.

At Frenship, we understand no one can be perfect, but each day we see our students and staff striving to be their very best. In that pursuit of perfection, we see them capturing excellence along the way.

"Perfection is not attainable. However, gentlemen, we will chase perfection and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we will catch excellence.”

- Vince Lombardi

Learner and Leader Profiles

Frenship Learner Profile

The Frenship ISD Learner Profile was created through a collaborative process involving 150 teachers, campus administrators, and district administrators. This dedicated group identified the most impactful attributes that learners in our community possess. A learner isn't necessarily a student; teachers, administrators, parents, and community members are learners too. (CLICK HERE for more information on the Frenship Learner Profile)

Attributes of a Frenship Learner:

Academically Equipped
Effective Communicator
Responsible Citizen
Passionate Learner

Frenship Leader Profile

Leadership has been identified through strategic planning as one of the most important attributes of Frenship learners. Our community is heavily invested in ensuring that leadership development for students, staff, and administrators remains a top priority as Frenship continues to grow and change. The Frenship Leader Profile was developed through a collaborative strategic planning effort with the community. It provides the guidance needed for Curriculum and Instruction to support the building of leadership programming across Frenship ISD. (CLICK HERE for more information on the Frenship Leader Profile)

Attributes of a Frenship Leader:

Servant Leader
Visionary and Inspirational
Person of Integrity and Courage
Collaborative and Inclusive
Exemplary Communicator
Champion for all Learners

History of the formation of the Frenship Independent School District

WOLFFORTH, TEXAS

Wolfforth is on U.S. highway 62/82, Farm Road 179, and the Santa Fe Railroad, eleven miles southwest of Lubbock in southwestern Lubbock County. Like many towns of the region, it evolved when the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway built through the area. It was established in 1916 and named for two brothers, George C. (Tildy) and Eastin (Easty) Wolffarth. George Wolffarth, an early rancher in the 1880s, held various county offices and was later president of the Citizens National Bank of Lubbock. Eastin, a Lubbock County sheriff around 1900, had also ranched in the area. Almost immediately confusion resulted over the spelling of the settlement's name. For a time, the post office and the railroad depot (both established in 1923) had different versions. Eventually the misspelled post office version was adopted. Wolfforth was near the Spade Ranch and profited when the ranchlands were sold for farming in the 1920s and 1930s. The Wolfforth school was combined with three other rural districts (Carlisle, Hurlwood, and Foster) in 1935 and renamed Frenship school. A population of around 100 was reported in 1940, when the town had three churches, a school, and a branch library. Five years later the community reported fourteen businesses, five school buildings, and a population of 150. After incorporating in 1950 the town instituted water and sewer service and street paving programs. The population was 597 in 1960, 1,090 in 1970, and 1,701 in 1980, when Wolfforth had thirty-two businesses. In 1990 the population was 1,941. The population reached 2,554 in 2000.

CARLISLE, TEXAS (Lubbock County). Carlisle is on State Highway 114 and the Santa Fe Railroad three miles east of Reese Air Force Base qv and five miles west of Lubbock in west central Lubbock County. It was named for rancher W. A. Carlisle and grew up around a school in the early twentieth century. A congregation of the Church of Christ met there from 1918 to 1923. By 1927 the Carlisle school was one of twenty-six rural educational districts in the county. Carlisle combined with Hurlwood, Wolfforth, and Foster to form the Frenship Rural School District in 1935. The town had two stores and was known as the site of the largest vineyard in Northwest Texas during the 1940s. In 1983 Carlisle was still listed as a community, but on January 27, 1984, it was annexed to Lubbock.

HURLWOOD, TEXAS. Hurlwood is on State Highway 114 and the Santa Fe Railroad, near the Hockley County line twelve miles west of Lubbock in western Lubbock County. It grew up around a railroad switch in 1924 and was named for Claude B. Hurlbut and W. M. Wood, two early settlers. A post office was opened in January 1926, and a school was built by 1928. In 1935 Hurlwood school was combined with three other rural districts to form the Frenship Rural High School District. By 1940 Hurlwood had a population of fifty, two gins, two groceries, a grain elevator, a blacksmith shop and garage, a poultry store, and a church. At the beginning of World War II, the Lubbock Army Airfield (later Reese Air Force Base), an aviation training school, was built there. The town's population was 185 in 1960, 105 in 1970, and 115 in 1980 through 2000.