At the Jan. 21 meeting, Construction Manager Jeff Koehn updated the school board on the 2022 bond project, which broke ground last summer.
The addition of the new middle school will help facilitate the district’s 10-year strategic plan, which includes splitting into two middle schools and two high schools.
The new middle school off FM 407, which is expected to cost around $89 million, is scheduled to open in August 2026 and will serve grades 7-8 with a capacity of 1,200 students, according to district documents.
The details
Pogue Construction crews have completed moisture conditioning and forming the building pad for the main campus and are wrapping up moisture conditioning for the new football field and track, Koehn said. After that, they will bring in the granular base and plan to have the area completed and landscaped by summer.
Crews have also begun drilling load-bearing piers for the campus. The winter freeze delayed drilling progress, Koehn said.
“The cold weather and the snow has made the progress a bit slower than anticipated, but as the weather warms, we will have several rigs running at once out there,” he said.
Storm and sewer drains are being tied in on the western side of the site and the paving for the drive along that side should begin in a few weeks, Koehn said.
Why its happening
AISD enrollment for the 2024-25 school year is around 6,100, over 700 more students than the previous school year, according to Zonda Education data.
Next year, enrollment is expected to increase to over 6,600, and the district could serve over 11,000 students by 2033-34, nearly double its current student population. This growth spurred the plan to split into multiple middle schools and high schools, according to district documents.
Argyle Middle School on US 377 once served as the district’s high school before Argyle High School opened in the 2021-22 school year.
The district plans to open the second middle school on FM 407 in 2026 and turn the US 377 campus back into a high school in 2027 to provide enrollment relief. Starting in 2027, the US 377 campus will begin to serve high school students alongside its middle school student enrollment, with more high school grades to be added each year until it can serve as a dedicated high school in 2029.
A look ahead
Over the next month the building piers will be complete and crews will begin moisture conditioning for the tennis courts, Koehn said. Parking lot and fire lane paving will begin at this time along with digging and pouring grade beams for the foundation as well as begin installing underground mechanical, electrical and plumping work.
The concrete slab is set to be poured in March and crews will begin erecting steel beams later in spring, Koehn said.
The district estimates completing the building in summer 2026 ahead of the 2026-27 school year. At this time, the transition to two middle schools will begin.
