HOUSTON—Sheldon Independent School District (ISD) recently announced the completion of its new C.E. King High School in the Houston area.

Designed by Huckabee and constructed by Durotech, the school is a flagship campus for Sheldon ISD’s program. The 580,000-square-foot campus is just a mile from Generation Park and will house up to 3,500 students. The school is designed like a college campus, with promenades and quads where students, faculty and community members can interact. The classrooms have flexible spaces where educators can plug and play various teaching equipment based on workforce demand.

The campus features a traditional, comprehensive high school education program, as well as six career and technical academies aimed at helping students become college and career ready. The six academies include: business and industry; human services; public service; agriculture, manufacturing and construction; science, technology, fine arts and math; and an early college academy for traditional academics. The goal for the early college academy is for students to graduate with not only a high school diploma, but an associate’s degree or an industry certificate that can help students continue on to community college, trade schools and traditional four-year college.

Sheldon ISD is one of the fastest-growing school districts in the Houston area. The 9,000-student school district is in the booming petrochemical corridor northeast of Houston. By 2025, Sheldon ISD is expected to have more than 15,000 students. In May 2016, to handle this rapid growth, Sheldon ISD voters overwhelmingly passed a $285 million bond to address student growth, safety and security measures and other potential facility upgrades. This bond program is the largest in the district’s history.

“Sheldon is making a statement with this new high school,” said JP Grom, AIA, vice president at Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN), the firm serving as the program manager for the bond program. “The high school will serve as a visual anchor point for Sheldon ISD. They’re driving a stake in the ground, saying ‘Sheldon ISD is here, we’ve arrived.’”

Other elements of the bond program include the Sheldon Lake Elementary School and Panther Stadium that opened in August 2019, new track, baseball and softball fields, and tennis courts. The bond program also includes additions and renovations to existing middle schools as well as district-wide energy management upgrades.

LAN is a full-service consulting firm offering planning, engineering and program management services for the nation’s heavy civil infrastructure needs.

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HARRIS COUNTY, Texas— On Aug. 15, Sheldon Independent School District (ISD) celebrated the completion of its newest elementary school, Sheldon Lake Elementary School. A ribbon cutting ceremony took place at 6 p.m. at the school’s visitor parking lot.

Sheldon Lake Elementary will open to students and staff members on the first day of school on Aug. 26. Designed by Stantec and constructed by Durotech, the school is the flagship campus for Sheldon ISD’s Compass Schools program. Designed with a strong emphasis on Performing and Visual Arts, the school offers special instruction spaces and programs to attract a diverse student population throughout the school district.

The approximately 88,000-square-foot-facility, which can accommodate more than 700 students, includes a black box theater that converts from classroom to performance space, an art studio, music studio, dance studio and design studio. Each of these spaces are designed in a way that celebrates the activities that will take place inside. The spaces also serve as landmarks, helping to orient students as they move through the school.

Sheldon ISD is considered one of the fastest-growing school districts in the Houston area. In May 2016, Sheldon ISD voters overwhelmingly passed a $285 million bond to address student growth, safety and security measures and other potential facility upgrades. This bond program is the largest in the district’s history.

“The new elementary school is aesthetically appealing and offers unique instructional opportunities for Sheldon ISD students,” said JP Grom, AIA, vice president at Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN), the firm serving as the program manager for the bond program.

Next week, the district will also celebrate the completion of the new 10,000-seat Panther Stadium. The new football stadium, which has no track, will place fans much closer to the action, according to the district. The district will celebrate a ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. at the stadium’s adjacent parking lt. This will be followed by a “Meet the Panthers Night” where the community will get a chance to see inside the stadium.

Other elements of the bond program include a new 560,000-square-foot C.E. King High School that will open in January 2020, new track, baseball and softball fields, and tennis courts. The bond program also includes additions and renovations to existing middle schools as well as district-wide energy management upgrades.

LAN is a full-service consulting firm offering planning, engineering and program management services for the nation’s heavy civil infrastructure needs. With more than 350 employees across the United States, LAN is a national leader in the engineering industry and is consistently ranked among the “Top 100 A/E Firms” according to Engineering News-Record. LAN is a LEO A DALY company, an international architecture and engineering firm.

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The new tech center is part of GCCISD’s $267 million bond program that passed in May 2013. Located in Baytown, Texas, GCCISD is one of the fastest growing school districts in the state. The district projects more than 4,500 new students over the next decade, according to a demographic study. In response to this growth, local voters passed the $267 million bond program. Already, the school district has grown from 21,000 students when the bond passed in 2013 to nearly 24,000 students in 2018.

The 32,400-square-foot, two-story technology center, designed by Huckabee and constructed by Durotech, is situated on an eight-acre tract next to Alamo Elementary School. It showcases 3,900 square feet of training rooms on the first floor, where teachers can learn how to integrate technology and software into their classrooms, and a 2,000-square-foot network operating center with servers on the second floor. It also houses a 1,900-square-foot technology work area, 3,500 square feet of storage space, a warehouse for receiving technology equipment and office space.

“The facility will serve as the “brain center” for the district,” said JP Grom, vice president at Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN), the firm that is serving as the program manager for the bond program. “It will allow GCCISD to store student and teacher data within the district, rather than relying on a third-party data facility. It will also serve as the district’s emergency operations center in the event of a hurricane or other emergencies.”

Other elements of the bond program include three new elementary schools, which opened in 2015, a new transportation center that was completed in 2017, and an agriculture science building that opened in 2018. The bond package also includes additions to four facilities, renovation of STEM labs in five schools and security upgrades. In addition, the bond package has enabled GCCISD to accomplish its goal of retiring $52 million in deferred maintenance.

LAN is a full-service consulting firm offering planning, engineering and program management services.

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