Texas District Awards Construction Contract for New Elementary School

The Friendswood Independent School District in Friendswood, Texas, is ready to begin construction on a new elementary school nearly two years after the original bond was approved. The district’s board of trustees selected Satterfield & Pontikes Construction as the project’s construction manager at its board workshop meeting on Monday, Feb. 28.

The facility will serve as a new home for the existing Cline Elementary School. The project comes with a $36-million budget to come from the $127-million bond approved by voters in November 2020.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for March 11, and the project is scheduled for completion in time to open to students for the 2023–24 academic year. The new school’s architect, PBK Architects, has been working to make sure that supply chain issues will not cause any delays in construction.

“It is a nonnegotiable that kids are coming in August,” said PBK Architects partner Melissa Turnbaugh.

The PBK Architects website reports that the new Cline Elementary School will serve students in grades PreK–5 and feature a centralized learning commons for both large group instruction and small reading and study nooks. Each grade level will have its own pod to provide collaboration and pull-out space for each grade. The campus will also include innovation hubs, maker spaces, art and music classrooms, a new cafeteria and new gymnasium.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Texas District Breaks Ground on Second High School

    The Waller Independent School District in Waller, Texas, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for what will become its second high school, according to a news release.

  • Chicago District Completes Construction on New Elementary School

    North Chicago School District 187 in North Chicago, Ill., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Forrestal Elementary School, according to a news release. The new school marks a major investment in military-connected students and families at Naval Station Great Lakes.

  • Miami University Approves New $242M Multipurpose Arena

    Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, recently announced that its Board of Trustees has approved construction of a new multipurpose arena at Cook Field, according to university news. The $242-million project will serve as a new centralized hub for student life and create space for economic development on campus.

  • A digital silhouette works at a computer, immersed in a glowing, interconnected world

    How Will AI Transform Learning Space Design?

    For years, higher education has designed learning spaces around technology as a tool for display, capture, collaboration, and connectivity. AI changes that equation.