The first of the new facilities to open, Grand Oaks Elementary School, is located near Cypress Rosehill Road and the Grand Parkway. It will welcome its first students Sept. 8.
The Tomball High School Agricultural Science Project Center has also been completed. It is located behind the high school at Baker and Zion roads.
Grand Oaks is the district's 11th elementary school, and Niesa Glenewinkel will serve as its principal.
"It is the first elementary school located here at the Elmer and Dorothy Beckendorf Educational Complex," Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora said. "As you can clearly see, this is a very exciting time for all of us at Tomball. It represents the growth that continues to happen and the fact that people not only want to stay in our community but want to come to our destination excellence district."
Community Impact Newspaper previously reported Grand Oaks will accommodate 900 students in grades K-4 within its 112,000-square-foot space. Its construction had a total budget of $28.61 million, a decrease from the initial allocation of $31 million outlined in the bond referendum. Grand Oaks is located near Grand Lakes Junior High and the district stadium and community center, both slated to open in 2021.
"These new facilities that you will witness today are a bold reflection of the commitment to education that Tomball has had for years and will continue to have," Salazar-Zamora said.
TISD officials also celebrated the ribbon-cutting Sept. 4 for the agricultural science project center at Tomball High School with students from the district's Future Farmers of America program in attendance.
Community Impact Newspaper previously reported the facility features an agricultural barn and an instructional nature center with two 900-square-foot classrooms. The project had a total budget of $7.08 million, according to district information. Although the center will be a home for students to house their animals for the annual TISD FFA Project Show, the show will continue to be held in the barn on the THS campus, said Allison Suarez, Tomball ISD director of communications and marketing.
