Construction work is wrapped up at both Bear Creek Elementary School in Southwest Austin and the new Blazier Elementary School relief campus in Southeast Austin. The two new schools were funded through the district’s 2017 bond election to address current overcrowding and future planned housing.
The $36.3 million Bear Creek campus is located in the Avana community along Escarpment Road. Families zoned for the school include a mix of students formerly zoned for Kiker and Baranoff elementary schools. According to the district, the campus will have a capacity of 522 students, with room for future expansion to 696 students.
Bear Creek teachers began moving into the school Sept. 1, and the campus will be ready for teachers to use for virtual learning by the first day of school, Sept. 8, AISD spokesperson Eddie Villa said. The district expects to use the campus for in-person instruction beginning in October, when AISD will begin offering in-person classes to students across the city.
David Crissey, the former principal at Kiker, is now at the helm of Bear Creek.
At the new Blazier relief campus, the school’s principal and staff have been on-site since August, and classrooms are prepared for virtual learning next week as well. Located at a property adjacent to the current school, the new campus building will house students in fourth through sixth grade, according to the district.
The $50 million project is the first phase of expanding the Blazier campus. Many additional, not-yet-funded projects could convert Blazier to a pre-K through eighth grade campus in the future.
AISD is planning virtual grand opening ceremonies in October for the two new campuses as well as for Doss Elementary School in Northwest Austin, which will include videos and photos of the buildings' interiors, Villa said.
