To address projections that several campuses will be overcapacity in the coming years, trustees approved in December the opening dates for two elementary campuses and one middle school, all of which will be constructed to the west of Barker Cypress Road.
“The growth in the western portion of the district, particularly in the area of Warner Elementary, represents the most pressing need for enrollment relief at the elementary level,” said Pam Wells, associate superintendent for governmental, community and planning initiatives.
Growing enrollments
In 2000, about 3,600 people lived within the boundaries of the 77433 ZIP code, which spans the western portion of CFISD, bordered in the east by Barker Cypress and in the west by Katy Hockley Road. Due in part to the addition of several master-planned communities in the area, census data showed that as of 2010, more than 50,000 people live in the area, accounting for a growth of 1,288 percent.
Last fall, Bridgeland homeowners formed a group called Start 53 Now to address growth at Warner, a school that is approaching an enrollment of 1,400 students. The group had been lobbying for the district to stick with Elementary 53’s proposed opening date of 2013 to relieve crowding at Warner.
Paula Gay Luebsen was one of several residents who spoke in favor of the 2013-14 opening date at a Dec. 12 board meeting. She cited several occurrences from 2011 that may have attributed to student growth in the western portion of the district.
“Who knew Segment E of the Grand Parkway, which bisects the very heart of Bridgeland, would break ground and be set for completion in 2013,” she said. “Who knew when ExxonMobil announced their 360-acre corporate campus…it would create immediate draw into Bridgeland for those couples with one partner employed by Exxon and the other employed in the Energy Corridor off I-10? Who knew Cypress Creek Lakes, the subdivision that surrounds Warner, would start work on its third phase? If you build it, they will come.”
Elementary 54 will open in 2014 among the thousands of acres being developed south of Bridgeland, in the community of Canyon Lakes West.
“This is an ideal location for a school,” Wells said.
Additionally, trustees approved a 2014 opening date for Middle School 15, which will be constructed next to Rennell Elementary in Towne Lake.
Latest Comments