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The Lake Travis ISD board of trustees voted Feb. 18 to name the district's upcoming second high school Highland Lakes High School, with its official school colors being dark green, blue and white.
The school is slated to open for the 2029-30 school year per the latest available construction update, a year later than initially projected.
The update
Per agenda documents, the district received more than 1,950 responses to in a community survey about the name selection between Dec. 3-Jan. 12.
About 450 school names were submitted, Assistant Superintendent for School Leadership Bethany Medford said.
According to Medford, board policy establishes criteria for facility naming based on local residential or geographic areas, landmarks and historical significance, and cannot be named after people in the district.
Trustee Phillip Davis made the initial motion to approve Highland Lakes as the name, saying it would link the school community to the geographic area.
"From my standpoint, of all the names that stood out this one kind of jumped out to me," Davis said. "It seemed fitting for what we are wanting to do. ... Trying to keep it community based and try to make it stand out. It's not like any other name that I've been able to see in other districts in Texas."
Other trustees including Robert Aird and Lauren White also said the name received positive feedback from community members.
Medford said administration looked at neighboring campuses and potential competitive districts before recommending the official school colors be dark green, light blue and white. An official branding process to name the colors will take place later, she said.
"If you notice in the interior images of the building, those are the images that were shared by the architects a year ago," Superintendent Curtis Null said. "This was the natural color palette that they felt like fit the aesthetic of the building. It just so happens that as we went through the colors process, it also seemed to fit."
Looking back
Voters approved construction of the new school as part of the 2022 bond, and its athletic facilities were approved as part of the 2023 bond.
The school is slated to have a 1,500 student capacity with amenities such as a performing arts center, media center, outdoor courtyard and commons area, competition gym, auditorium, practice fields and competition fields with a stadium.
According to previous Community Impact reporting:
Based on this, the district can expect ownership of the building by March 2029 which will allow deliverables to be accepted directly into the building and provide time for technology infrastructure to be installed and furniture and equipment to be assembled.
Development of Reimers Road leading up to the new school site is also still in progress and is expected to be complete by September, Sanchez said.
What's next
According to Sanchez, administration's next steps for Highland Lakes High School will include:
