What you need to know
The renovation will more than double the campus’s footprint, expanding from 94,000 square feet to 228,016 square feet, according to city documents.
Richardson’s City Plan Commission unanimously recommended approval on a request to rezone the campus as planned development to accommodate the expansion during its Nov. 18 meeting.
The project is part of Richardson ISD’s initiative to transition all of its junior high schools to the middle school model.
Richardson North’s transition will be funded by the district’s bond, which voters approved Nov. 4. The bond will also fund renovations at Apollo Junior High—which the commission is set to review at its Dec. 2 meeting—and new buildings at Liberty, Parkhill, Richardson West and Westwood junior high schools.
The transitions have already occurred at Forest Meadow and Lake Highlands middle schools.
The details
The majority of Richardson North’s main building will remain, with additions to accommodate administration, library, fine arts, dining, athletics, art and career and technical education spaces, according to city documents.
“That existing building has already got great bones for classrooms and academic space,” Stantec Principal Architect Brett Holzle said. “It really makes sense to plug those into that space and move the ... fine arts, athletics, library, media center and those kinds of things out to the northern ends of the site.”
The expansion would add a new gymnasium at the campus’s northeast corner and two additional tennis courts.
Reconfiguration of the school’s two parking lots will add 23 parking spaces, and an additional driveway on Nantucket Drive is set to help accommodate pick-up and drop-off. The transition is expected to generate an additional 857 daily trips to the school, but staff does not anticipate “a significant impact on the nearby roadway system,” according to city documents.
What’s next
Richardson City Council will have final say on the expansion at a future meeting.
If approved, construction is expected to start in May 2026 and last approximately 25 months, Holzle said.
Quote of note
“I attended North Junior High in 1970 ... and it pretty much looks the way it did back then,” City Plan Commission Chairman Bryan Marsh said. “So I'm very excited to see what's planned there.”
