(Seguin) — The Navarro ISD is really “digging” the future of its school community. The school district Wednesday morning broke ground on its future $97 million high school building. The 213,832 square-foot campus is being built south of Link Road, just next door to the existing campus off of State Highway 123.
With shovels in hand, district officials, students, and the community celebrated the long-awaited start of the project approved by voters in November 2021.
Leading the celebration of these new beginnings was Navarro ISD Superintendent Mandy Epley.
“It’s always a big deal when you have the concrete poured but I think when the walls start coming up, it’s going to be an awesome site, and just the closer that we get to that and knowing that those things are going to be there for this community, it is super exciting. It’s just an awesome day to know that we are headed in that direction. I think somebody told me that they had goosebumps just thinking ‘Here, it is!’ It is happening.’ So, it’s pretty cool,” said Epley.
Epley says although the campus will be larger, its prominence will center around the new opportunities that this new campus will afford its students.
“It’s definitely bigger. It is a really an elevated concept of those higher levels of learning that you see 9th through 12th grade so you are going to see those environments that are much more tailored to those diverse areas of coursework so that our students who are engaging in agriculture, in technical elements, in the arts, in athletics, are really getting more specific areas that are customized to really maximize that learning environment for our students. So, they are really going to see this elevated space that allows for our kids to have more opportunities to really engage with those things that are pathways for their future whether that’s a career, whether that’s a career, whether that’s college,” said Epley.
However, the construction of the new high school is not just about celebrating the area’s rich history. Epley says it’s also about welcoming the new families who are moving into the district.
“The growth is continuing. As infrastructure continues to improve in the area, we are going to see families coming here. This area is a gem of an area between the relatively affordable housing, the family friendly atmosphere and the values and the priority that is put on educational opportunities for students. You are going to see more and more families moving here. It is a very attractive area,” said Epley.
Epley adds that the construction of the new high school is only a turning point for the rest of the district’s future. She says it’s only the first of many more great things to come.
“Moving our 9th to 12th to that facility really allows us to then transition our junior high to the high school which is still an amazing facility. It will be a high-quality facility for junior high and will give us that great atmosphere for those kids to be prepared and continue on to high school. That will hopefully allow us to see some relief in the traffic areas that we see at Link and 123 but also give this opportunity in our collaborative visioning committee to look at what we will do with this land and the facilities moving forward because the growth will continue and we as a community need to make a really solid five-year strategic plan and start talking about the next steps whether that is a bond for additional buildings. Our growth and our demography are showing young families so seeing a lot more students come in at those younger ages,” said Epley.
But most importantly, Epley says the new Navarro High School will serve as a symbol of achievement.
“I think that it is absolutely a symbol of the achievement and the community and the learning that happens here and I think that what is really going to be outstanding about this building is that it is a true gathering place for the community. The opportunity to have a true auditorium, to have these open spaces where the community can come and gather and celebrate our students and the great things they are doing academically in athletics, in fine arts, in our career and technical areas, I just think that it’s going to be such a point of pride for this community to be able to have that building, to meet and really engage with students and really see the future of this community come together,” said Epley
The new campus will be constructed to serve up to 1,100 students. The district hopes to open the campus by the Fall of 2025.
Photos courtesy Navarro ISD.