Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

  • By Matt Jones
  • 01/16/26

Key Takeaways

  • Round Rock ISD has completed a new 46,500-square-foot permanent campus for its Early College High School, enabling the program to expand enrollment to 500 students and move out of portable classrooms.
  • The facility, delivered through partnerships with HPM, Bartlett Cocke, O’Connell Robertson, and Rabaa Kistner, includes modern academic, collaborative, dining, and administrative spaces designed to support both high school and college-level learning.
  • Funded through the district’s 2018 bond program, the project reflects Round Rock ISD’s broader long-term investment in campus upgrades, with HPM also supporting the district’s 2024 bond projects.

Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500. The project broke ground in April 2024 and opened to students for the current semester.

The district partnered with program management firm HPM for the entire project. It also partnered with Bartlett Cocke as general contractor, O’Connell Robertson as architect, and Rabaa Kistner as the Geotech and construction materials testing consultant, the news release reports.

Campus amenities include academic classrooms, study rooms and lab spaces, a large commons area, a cafeteria featuring a 12x8-foot video wall, outdoor dining and study areas, and an administrative suite. The school offers a high-school and college-level curriculum, allowing students to graduate with both a high-school diploma and an associate’s degree.

“This facility represents more than just classrooms and labs. It’s a space where students can explore, grow and prepare for their futures,” said HPM’s senior manager of design and construction, Denish Sonani. “Collaborating with the Round Rock ISD to bring this vision to life reinforces our shared commitment to strengthening learning environments that serve students and the community for years to come.”

The project is part of the district’s 2018 voter-approved bond program to fund new construction, renovations, and infrastructure improvements around the district, according to the news release. HPM also partnered with the district for its 2024 bond program and is currently designing more than 15 associated projects.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • TCU Marks Campus Expansion Milestone

    Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a topping-out ceremony to mark progress on a major campus expansion effort including four new residential facilities and a five-story parking garage, according to a news release.

  • Wyoming District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    Laramie County School District #1 in Cheyenne, Wy., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the upcoming Mountain View Elementary School, according to a news release. The facility has an estimated completion date of summer 2028, and it will have the capacity for 650 students in fifth and sixth grade.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.