Tomball ISD held a groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 4 for its prekindergarten center located on Keefer Road behind the staff development center.

A new prekindergarten center was included in the district's 2021 bond approved by voters. TISD has been working toward a full-day prekindergarten program as a result of House Bill 3 approved in 2019.

“This is a dream that came out of necessity, out of growth and out of looking towards the future,” TISD Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora said during the ceremony. “So we are excited to repurpose the name of Early Excellence Academy right here on Keefer Road, where we will educate over 500 of our little Tomball ISD students.”

Construction will begin in January 2023, and the center will open in August 2023, TISD Chief Financial Officer Jim Ross said.

“I want to say how excited we are to be able to create this wonderful space,” Board President Kathy Handler said at the ceremony.

Ross said, when it opens, the prekindergarten center, which can accommodate 500 children, will start with around 350 students.

During its Sept. 13 meeting, the school board approved the recommendation to select Red Dot Building to build the pre-engineered metal building for the prekindergarten center, which will cost $2.15 million and be funded using Bond 2021 funds, according to district documents.