Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Texas City ISD Completes New STEM, Robotics Center

  • By Matt Jones
  • 01/30/24

The Texas City Independent School District near Houston, Texas, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new STEM and Robotics Center geared towards students across grades K–12, according to a news release. The district partnered with Pfluger Architects and Bartlett Cocke for the project’s design and construction. It involved the conversion of a vacant storage building into a STEM lab for both educational and competitive use.

The building features an open arena to host robotics competitions, as well as a control room where students can manage video and audio. It also offers a fabrication lab for metal and woodworking, classrooms, and a maker space for elementary-school students.

“Working with Texas City ISD to bring the STEM Center to life has been a remarkable journey,” said Raleigh Sullivan, managing principal at the Houston office of Pfluger. “Their vision and leadership significantly contributed to this project's success. We're proud to have contributed to a space where so much learning and discovery will unfold.”

Local industry partner Marathon Petroleum Corporation donated $1 million to the project’s construction. Funding also came from a portion of a $158.6-million bond package passed in 2022. Marathon played an active role in shaping the building’s design and curriculum to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM.

“This state-of-the-art facility, the first achievement from the 2022 bond referendum, is the result of collaborative efforts, dedication and the unwavering support of our community,” said Dr. Melissa Duarte, TCISD Superintendent. “I want to thank the architects at Pfluger and the team at Bartlett-Cocke for bringing this dream to life. Together, we have created an environment that will not only satisfy the curiosity of our students, but will also serve as a catalyst for stimulating creativity and advancing critical thinking skills.”

About the Author

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

Featured

  • 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.

  • Photo credit - Chuck Coates

    Florida District Modernizes Central Energy Plants at Two High Schools

    Flagler Schools, a public school district in Flagler County, Fla., recently partnered with Matern Professional Engineering to modernize the central energy plants at two of its high schools, according to a news release. The project is part of a larger, district-wide effort to reduce energy costs and operational expenses.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • California Middle School Breaks Ground on Major Renovation Project

    The Hillsborough City School District (HCSD) in Hillsborough, Calif., recently began construction on new multipurpose and administration facilities for Crocker Middle School, according to a news release.