Leander ISD August 2007

Leander ISD August 2007

Tuesday, 07 August 2007

New facilities in the area

Sommers Elementary

• Serving Students from: Davis Springs, Avery Ranch, Pearson Place, Ranch at Brushy Creek and Walsh Trails
• 16200 Avery Ranch Road
• Cost: $16,209,000
• Money from: Proposition two
• Opening: 2008-2009 school year
• Size: 95,000 sq. ft.
• Capacity: 900 students
• Expected enrollment: 650
• Grades: K-5
• Design: Intentionally mimics Union Hill Elementary, which saves money on design plans.
• Location: The Avery Ranch developer offered the site to the district.

Area growth means new schools

Editors note: Although the majority of students in the Leander and Cedar Park area attend Leander Independent School District, a portion of the expanding Avery Ranch subdivision is in the Round Rock school district.

As the number of homes in Avery Ranch increases, so does the number of school-age children. The entire district is growing by 1,200 to 1,500 students per year.

In 2007, there were 400 Avery Ranch homes in the Round Rock school district. The district anticipates the addition of another 300 homes within the next year and a half.

In November 2006, Round Rock voters approved a $267.6 million bond package that addressed the district’s increasing student population and other immediate needs.

More than half of the approved bond money will fund the building of five new schools for the district, one of which will be located in Avery Ranch.

Joylynn Occhiuzzi, RRISD spokesperson, said the district has three ways of addressing growth: adding new schools, portable buildings and redrawing school boundary lines. However, many school sites have run out of room for portable buildings, she said.

“We are at capacity in a lot of our schools in different pockets of the district. In order to keep up with the demands, the district has to put new schools on the ground,” Occhiuzzi said.