Set to open ahead of the 2024-25 school year, the $72.6 million facility will replace the existing Benold Middle School campus, which opened in 1996 at 3407 Northwest Blvd., Georgetown.
The new school—which is funded by the 2021 bond—will accommodate growth in the northwest portion of the district and serve middle school students zoned to attend it. Meanwhile, the old Benold building will be renovated using funding from a future bond election and will be redesigned as an elementary school campus, according to GISD.
While construction of the new school at 1401 N. Parmer Ranch Blvd., is already underway, a public ceremony wasn’t able to happen until now due to road infrastructure in the area being built out, GISD officials said.
The school’s groundbreaking comes two months after the death of its namesake, Dr. Douglas Benold.
“I wish we were quicker getting this done so that we could have had Dr. Benold here, but you know what, he’s here and he’s watching and he’s in heaven and is proud of us all,” GISD Superintendent Fred Brent said.
A physician, Douglas Benold helped grow Georgetown’s medical infrastructure through his own private practice, involvement in the privately owned hospital, establishing a vocational nursing school and forming the clinic that later became Lone Star Circle of Care, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
He also served on the GISD board of trustees for more than 14 years. Current GISD Board President Elizabeth McFarland said during that time he led the district through integrating schools and dire financial conditions.
“Everybody talks about the community of Georgetown and the unique culture we have ... and it was thanks to the men and women like Dr. Douglas Benold, who laid the groundwork, the framework for what Georgetown has become today,” McFarland said.
Members of the Benold family, including his wife, Nell Benold, and son Dr. Stephen Benold, a current GISD board member, were at the groundbreaking. The event was also attended by current Benold sixth graders who will attend the new school for their eighth grade year.
Benold Principal Brandon Jayroe spoke about humility, saying he is humbled to raise his family in GISD and serve in a community that recognizes the importance of education.
“Then I thought about the opportunity to be humble for our students and recognizing the greatness that this group of kids ... and the generations beyond are going to do in that building,” Jayroe said.
Brent said the school’s design—which is similar to that of Wagner Middle School—includes flexible space that will serve the needs of students for years to come. He thanked the community for their support of the 2021 bond election, which he said helps the district secure its future.
“What I love about our bond elections is they’ve been focused on meeting the needs of a changing and evolving community without forgetting about the identity from which we were born,” Brent said.
GISD will break ground on another 2021 bond project—Elementary School No. 11—on May 3. Recently named San Gabriel Elementary, the school will be located in the Santa Rita Ranch development.
