Elgin ISD Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

The Elgin Independent School District in Elgin, Texas, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new elementary school. Harvest Ridge Elementary will be the fourth elementary school in the district and is part of a $183-million bond program that local voters passed in November 2021, according to a news release.

The district partnered with Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam, Inc. (LAN) for the bond program, which includes constructing two new elementary schools, expanding and upgrading Elgin High School, building a new Transportation Center, renovating CTE facilities, and more.

“This is such an exciting moment for the Elgin community,” said Dr. Jana Rueter, Elgin ISD Superintendent. “Harvest Ridge Elementary will provide a safe and nurturing environment for students to learn and grow, fostering a sense of community and collaboration. Future staff and students will benefit from the school’s overall design, which reflects Elgin ISD’s commitment to providing high-quality education for its students. We are excited to celebrate this investment in our community, and our children, and to see this new facility come to life.”

Harvest Ridge Elementary will have a capacity for 800 students and feature amenities like a library, music room, art room, gym, cafeteria, gymnasium, outdoor learning spaces, upgraded technology, and innovative classroom design, according to the news release. The new school is scheduled to open its doors to students in fall 2024.

“We are honored to have been selected as the program manager for the Elgin ISD bond program and are excited to be a part of the Harvest Ridge Elementary project,” said Tim Strucely, AIA, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, LAN Associate and Program Manager. “Our team is dedicated to delivering a high-quality facility that meets the needs of the district and the community.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Myrtle Grove Elementary

    Phased Construction Keeps Students on Campus During Rebuild

    When Escambia County School District needed to replace most of Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., it had three distinct challenges: honor the school's legacy in the community, bring state-of-the-art learning environments to the county, and be seamlessly built on the same site as the active school campus.

  • school building with glowing circuit board patterns

    AI Is Coming to Schools — But Most School Buildings Still Run on Institutional Memory

    As school districts race to introduce AI into classrooms, administration, and curriculum planning, another conversation is happening behind the scenes: How prepared are school facilities themselves for the operational demands AI will create?