Back to school: New campuses set to open in districts across Tarrant

When longtime educator Sandy McNutt found out she would be seeing a new school in Arlington with her name on it, she was pretty excited.

“Being honored with my name on a school was never even a thought in my wildest dreams,” said McNutt, who was a teacher and principal in the Arlington district from 1978 to 2008 before taking her present position as head of lower school at Trinity Valley School. “Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Who gets a building named after them?’ And then I think, ‘Good gravy, it’s me!’ ”

Sandy McNutt Elementary School, at 3609 S. Center St. on the grounds of Workman Junior High School, is one of two new elementaries in Arlington opening Monday. New schools are also opening Monday or Tuesday in the Birdville, Burleson, Crowley, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Fort Worth, Keller and Mansfield school districts.

The other new school in Arlington is Eddy and Debbie Peach Elementary at 2020 Baird Farm Road. Named after the legendary Lamar High School football coach and his wife, a longtime teacher at several district schools, it will have a Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington branch inside. Construction costs for the club were covered by a $650,000 grant from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation.

“Ask anybody and they will tell you that Lamar High School is the most important thing in north Arlington,” Eddy Peach said at last year’s naming ceremony, deeming the new Boys & Girls Club inside Peach Elementary as “the second most important thing in north Arlington.”

New multipurpose buildings will open at all six traditional high schools in Arlington on Monday as well.

For namesakes, it’s hard to stay away from a new school going up in their honor.

McNutt said she has already driven around the campus “more times than I can count.”

“I walked the grounds before construction began, I drove by two or three times a week, I have baked cookies and taken doughnuts to the people building the school,” she said. “And each time, I prayed for those who would cross through the doors of Sandy McNutt Elementary School.”

Most of all, McNutt’s wish for Sandy McNutt the school is simple: “I hope that the children know that the person behind the name believes in them.”

Fort Worth

The Fort Worth district also has several new facilities opening Monday, including an above-ground Washington Heights Elementary replacing the underground version at 3214 Clinton Ave. The new above-ground Van Zandt Guinn Elementary School will open in January 2017, replacing the last of Fort Worth’s underground schools that were built near Fort Worth Meacham Field to alleviate noise from air traffic.

The new Westpark Elementary School, 10202 Jerry Dunn Parkway in Benbrook, is an 80,000-square-foot facility that will serve 750 students. The original Westpark will be repurposed as part of the middle school that is currently housed in the Benbrook Middle-High School.

Dedication of the new Aviation Maintenance Facility at Dunbar High School, 5700 Ramey Ave., will be held Friday, giving members of the public their first look at the Bell OH-58 military helicopter that is mounted on a large pole outside the building. The full-size aircraft hangar will include more aircraft along with work/classroom facilities for students enrolled in the district’s new aviation gold seal programs of choice.

Students at eight Fort Worth elementaries will have more room this year, with a total of 38 new pre-K classrooms spread between the schools. There will be 51 new classrooms at six additional schools.

Other districts

Additional new and repurposed schools are opening Monday in neighboring districts.

Birdville: The replacement campus for West Birdville Elementary opens at 3001 Layton Ave. in Haltom City. The new facility is part of the district’s 2014 bond program.

Burleson: The district will open three elementary choice schools, one middle school gaming school and a collegiate high school on Monday in repurposed and renovated facilities, often alongside students in the conventional classrooms.

Burleson Collegiate High School, 201 S. Hurst Road, is a partnership between the district, the city of Burleson and Hill College. Courses will be taught by high school teachers and Hill College instructors. The district plans to initially house the school in a repurposed wing of Centennial High School with its own entrance, schedule, parking and dining area.

New elementary schools of choice include the Academy of the Arts at Bransom, 820 S. Hurst Road, offering academic classes along with orchestra, choir, sculpture, drawing, theater, dance, graphic design and radio/TV/film.

The Academy of Leadership & Technology at Mound, 205 SW Thomas St., will focus on rigorous academics, instruction and team-based learning to develop students’ leadership and technical skills.

The STEAM Academy at Stribling, 1881 E. Renfro St., will offer courses that integrate science, technology, engineering and math content with art elements of visual and graphic design.

REALM @ Kerr Middle School, 517 SW Johnson Ave., offers game-based learning theory to help students in grades 6-8 build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Students will take coding and computer science electives and develop their own video games to be presented at the end of their eighth-grade year.

Crowley: The district is launching new choice academies called MyChoice programs in several schools.

They include the Crowley Collegiate Academy (Early College High School partnership with TCC), the Fine Arts Academy for fifth- and sixth-grade students at S.H. Crowley Intermediate School, the STEM Academy for fifth- and sixth-grade students at Sue Crouch Intermediate School, Young Men’s Leadership Academy for sixth-grade students at David L. Walker Intermediate School, Young Women’s Leadership Academy for sixth-grade students at Mary Harris Intermediate School and STEM Academy for seventh- and eighth-grade students at Summer Creek Middle School.

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw: The district is opening its 15th elementary school, Dozier Elementary. Dozier bears a historical name: A pioneer schoolhouse near Dozier Creek opened its doors more than 130 years ago. Dozier Elementary is off Bowman Roberts Road on Redeagle Creek Drive in Fort Worth.

Dozier Elementary will be the first school in the district to feature a new layout concept that includes structural elements and operational systems designed to enhance energy efficiency and provide a greener environment.

The district’s Hollenstein Career & Technology Center officially begins its designation Monday as a national PRIME Network school for the manufacturing engineering program. It is the first school in Texas and one of only about 30 across the nation to receive the designation.

Keller: The district is opening two new schools, including the district’s 23rd elementary campus and its second early-childhood pre-K campus.

The first phase of the Keller Center for Advanced Learning, a career and technical education campus, is opening in the renovated site of the former South Keller Intermediate School. It will offer courses in health science, architecture and construction, photography, law and public safety, computer networking and culinary arts. The center will serve all four high schools as a come-and-go facility, with transportation provided by the district.

Sunset Valley Elementary School is in the West Fork subdivision in the southwestern portion of the district’s . It is the district’s first campus west of Interstate 35W. The school is about 86,000 square feet on a 13-acre site.

Keller’s second Early Learning Center facility, tucked behind Chisholm Trail Elementary School, is a 56,000-square-foot facility that will accommodate pre-kindergarten programs and preschool programs for children with disabilities. The school will serve the southwestern portion of the district, bringing its services closer to many families that qualify for them.

Mansfield: The district is opening the new Glenn Harmon Elementary School, the fourth of five elementary schools being replaced in the district under the 2011 school bond program. The building dedication will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the school, 5700 Petra Drive, Arlington. A reception and tour will follow the program, and the public is invited.

Looking ahead

In Aledo, a groundbreaking ceremony is set for next month for the district’s fifth elementary school, which is expected to open in August 2017. The ceremony will be at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 7 at the site at Walsh Ranch.

This story was originally published August 20, 2016 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Back to school: New campuses set to open in districts across Tarrant."