Belton ISD Breaks Ground on 12th Elementary School
Construction is officially underway on Belton ISD’s 12th elementary school, a campus that will help alleviate overcrowding in the northern part of the district as enrollment is projected to continue to climb by almost 800 students each year.
District officials, community leaders and students gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday morning at the site of the new school, which has yet to be named. The school is located at 8104 Glade Dr. in Temple.
In May, voters approved a $173,825,000 bond to address growth, aging and evolving facilities, program equity and safety and technology. Elementary #12 is the first of two elementary schools being built with the funds. The estimated cost is $40,064,028.
The new school was designed by Huckabee Architects with input from students, parents, teachers and staff. A team of adults met last August and September to provide their thoughts on the design. Then in October, third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students spent a day weighing in on what was most important to them in a new school’s design.
Taking into account the input provided by stakeholders, architects created a school design that features a centralized cafeteria and gym, comfortable seating options and ample parking.
“We believe that with spaces that are intentionally designed to create something exceptional for kids, we can do something amazing for each and every one of the students that we serve in our school district,” said Superintendent Matt Smith. “This starts the project today. This gets us kicked off, a design and space that will create experiences for generations to come.”
The 105,775 square-foot school, which is being built by Cloud Construction, will have the capacity for about 800 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
“I see a lot of familiar faces today that spent hours and hours with us in the fall to create a bond package that our community supported,” Smith said. “Your work and your support does not go unnoticed, so thank you for all that you do for Belton ISD.
A 13th elementary school is also planned for the southern part of the district in the Hubbard Branch subdivision.
Jeff Norwood, president of the Belton ISD Board of Trustees, thanked the community for its support of the school district.
“Great communities have great schools, and great schools have great communities,” Norwood said. “That’s what we have in BISD. We are blessed to have this community.”