Austin ISD officials broke ground Nov. 19 at the site of the district's new Applied Technology Center, which is situated on the northeast side of Anderson High School, located at 8403 Mesa Drive.

The 14,500-square-foot center, slated to open in fall 2015, will provide a place for students from throughout the district to gain hands-on experience in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, Anderson High School Principal Donna Houser said. The site will feature a computer science building with classroom and work space and complement the existing Applied Technology facility at Akins High School in South Austin, Houser said.

"To have this center where all of our children can come and have the opportunity to have that much room to grow and move and learn and work with great mentors from all over the city, it's just the best thing that we could have hoped for," Houser said.

Anderson High School senior Alex Price, president of the robotics team, said he is excited his three younger siblings may benefit from the new center.

"I'm not going to be at Anderson [when the center opens] so it's a little bit bittersweet for me," he said.

STEM has been a focus at AISD schools for the past several years, though many campuses in the district lack the necessary space for hands-on robotics and science activities, Houser said.

"The program has given me a lot of opportunities for projects that I otherwise would not have gotten to experience, and I feel really prepared to go on to college," Price said.

The construction cost is $2.5 million, according to AISD. In June the board of trustees approved accepting an anonymous donation of $59,000 to work on the center. The same donor provided a second gift through the Boy Scouts of America National Foundation for construction and other costs. Trustees Cheryl Bradley, Vincent Torres, Ann Teich and Jayme Mathias were among those in attendance at the ground breaking ceremony.

Edmund Oropez, the district's interim chief schools officer, thanked the board for supporting the project.

"This very new approach for AISD that we're using private [and] public funds together [for] the betterment of our children is just an outstanding opportunity for all of us," he said.