SRMS was built in 2021 with a capacity of 900 students. Before SRMS was open, all LHISD students attended Liberty Hill Intermediate for fifth and sixth grades (where Louine Noble Elementary is currently). After that, they attended Liberty Hill Junior High in the current Liberty Hill Middle School building.

When SRMS first opened, there was not a stop light at the Santa Rita Boulevard and Ronald Reagan entrance, Tierra Rosa Elementary had not been built across the street, H-E-B wasn’t nearby, and students could see livestock outside their classroom window. SRMS Math Teacher Kelin Flowers even joked about a staff member being chased by a longhorn on school grounds that first year. Flowers recalled, “The growth has just been enormous in this area with all the different new subdivisions and Santa Rita expanding. It's just been amazing to see the development from when we first opened to where we are now." 

LHISD could see that the growth was coming, and before that first year was over, SRMS was already expanding with a new wing to accommodate 400 more students! Last year, three portables with six classrooms were added to the campus to accommodate the growing student population of more than 1,400. Next school year will bring about some relief from overcrowding as Legacy Ranch Middle School opens in August 2026.

In 2024, Hagerty joined LHISD as the principal of SRMS. “I just really, really loved what I saw in the LHISD schools with my kids,” she said. “I worked in a different district, and so there was always an opportunity to transfer my children into the other district with me, but there was never a question of us not having our girls in Liberty Hill ISD.” 

Now in her second year as principal, she recognizes her role is to keep up that high standard and positive culture on her campus. “I think everybody knows that culture is what sets everything. It is important to set a positive, open, relational and collaborative tone from the beginning,” she said. “I got into this profession because I love kids. I'm going to smile at them, say good morning, and learn names, and then really just celebrate the kids.”

Band Directors John Perrin and Lisa Hill have seen the growth in their own classrooms and band program. Both Perrin and Hill had spent time in LHISD before opening SRMS. They had around 60 kids that first year and today they have three bands – honors, symphonic and concert band, with a total of more than 300 students. After eyeing LHISD for two years, Hill is glad she made the move. She said, “This campus is really good. I love our administrators here, they work really, really hard and Mrs. Haggerty is one of the kindest, most sincere people.” 

Perrin agrees. He had been at Liberty Hill High School and chose to move to SRMS to better accommodate his young family schedule. He believes, “It's the way this community supports the schools and the program that sets Liberty Hill apart.”

While many schools around Liberty Hill are closing, Hagerty recognizes that, “People are coming here because they want to be here. This is a really, really good thing.” LHISD is proud of the programs, students, staff and programs at SRMS and is excited about what is to come in the campus’s future!