Navarro HS construction timeframe remains on schedule
(Geronimo) — Folks can’t help but see purple as they travel toward Geronimo on State Highway 123 North. That purple, of course, is the current façade for what will be the new Navarro High School campus.
Navarro ISD Superintendent Mandy Epley says the structure remains on target to welcome kids this time next year.
“We are anticipating a substantial completion in November which would allow us to stay on our timeline to move the students in in January. So, we will start the school year next year in the current high school facility. That also makes things work with our current athletic facilities at Erwin Lee as we execute the 2024 bond project for the new high school’s athletic facility and then as the students come back from the holiday break in December, we will be starting classes in the new year at the new high school so it’s exciting. We are on track and definitely looking forward to that move,” said Epley.
Epley says the current timeline also allows for the refresh, and remodel of the district’s current high school campus.
“We are going to have that second semester when the high schoolers move into the new facility in January of 2026 – they will be rebranding, cleaning and having some refresh projects with paint and some graphics going on in the exiting high school so that it is ready to go when we open in August of 2026 and then the junior high will move over there. Just the one campus moving in January and then the following school year, the junior high will be at what is now the high school,” said Epley.
Meanwhile, Epley says the new high school building is not the only bond facility in the works. Epley says plans are also in place to begin construction on the district’s new second elementary school later this year.
“We are also working very closely with the city to get the progress going on our Elementary South off East Martindale Road closer to the Seguin ISD border. We are seeing a lot of growth in that area and so, that second grade through fifth grade elementary is in the final design phases and we look forward to breaking ground in August. All of our bond projects are well on their way and this summer, families will see changes at our parking lot that face Link (road.) We are completely redesigning that so that we can get more traffic off of (Link) road and onto our property and then, we are also renovating our playgrounds at the intermediate and the elementary and it should be ready to go for the first days of school,” said Epley.
Although it has its eye on current projects, Epley says the district already has plans for even more facilities down the road.
“We are looking at coming back to taxpayers in approximately four years if the growth continues the way it is. So, the East Martindale property is ready to go and then we have properties for what I refer to as Navarro Elementary North which is off of FM 758 and Huber. Our community really wanted smaller schools and so this is what that long range master planning committee which ultimately became our bond planning committee really advocated for – a smaller size elementary, smaller classes and that does require with our growth spread not only to add that elementary in the south but ultimately that elementary in the north to accommodate anywhere from 250 to 400 projected student growth numbers that we will see over the next at least 10 years. It’s an exciting time for us and we are definitely moving forward in planning for that,” said Epley.
The Navarro Elementary South Campus is set to open in the fall of the 2027-2028 school year.
Again, the district, at this time, also has plans to go out to voters in 2027 for the construction of a third elementary school campus. If successful, the Navarro ISD anticipates the opening of Navarro Elementary North in 2030. That’s just shy of its 10 year – peak enrollment projection of 5,563 students.