A sleek, new campus where students’ dreams can take wing
Sterling Aviation High School may be only one in U.S. with own private airplane hangar
Students could not put down their cellphones when they walked into Sterling Aviation High School recently. They took video of themselves walking through the sleek, threestory building, complete with a faux-runway painted along first-floor hallways.
But while the two new gymnasiums, observation deck with views of nearby Hobby Airport and collaborative learning spaces sparked interest among students, the full-sized airplane hangar stole the show.
The new Sterling Aviation High School may be the only high school in the United States with its own private airplane hangar. At 7,100 square feet, the dedicated space will soon house two single-engine planes, which used to bake in the sun as students studied their parts at the old campus next door. Flight simulators will be brought over from the old campus in coming weeks, and 17 engines totaling about $50,000 are mounted to movable stands across the space.
A handful of schools in places like Iowa, Nevada, Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio and New York City have opened aviation technical schools at regional airports, but few, if any, have their own independent airplane hangars financed by public school districts.
Houston ISD and school leaders said building the onsite hangar — which is not adjacent to a runway of any kind, so there will be no takeoffs and arrivals — was more of a necessity than a luxury.
Justin Fuentes, principal at Sterling, said having the hangar on campus means the school is not at the mercy of aviation companies or leases.
“We wanted something sustainable,” Fuentes said. “When we’ve partnered with businesses in the past, some have ended up failing and we’d get cut off.”
Sterling has housed a pilot program for at least 10 years and introduced an aviation mechanic program last year. About 200 students are enrolled in both aviation programs this