30,000-square-foot project to add chapel, educational spaces

St. Gabriel's Catholic School, located at 2500 Wimberly Lane, Austin, is expected to complete a 30,000-square-foot expansion by the start of school in August 2015, Head of School Daniel McKenna said.

The $6.6 million project will add a chapel, a performing and visual arts area, a science lab, a multimedia library and research center, and an indoor sports practice center to its current 58,500-square-foot facility, he said. The project is a continuation of the school's strategic plan that was adopted more than 15 years ago, he said.

The school opened its 32-acre campus in 1999 with 327 students in grades ranging from prekindergarten through eighth grade, Director of Institutional Advancement Alicia Robertson said. The campus dedicated a middle school building nine years later, she said.

"This is the last time we can expand on this campus due to impervious cover restrictions," Robertson said. "When the middle school opened, we had some breathing room to expand. A wait pool [of student applicants] would be anticipated if we continue to grow."

The expansion, which is expected to begin this fall, will allow for additional differentiation within the school's curriculum, she said. For instance, 2015's eighth-graders will be able to choose among four different math courses offered, she said.

In the 2012–13 school year, 393 students were enrolled in the school, and enrollment increased to 438 students for the 2013–14 school year, Robertson said. However, St. Gabriel's is not at full capacity and continues to accept student applications for the 2014–15 school year.

St. Gabriel's board of trustees convened at the beginning of 2013 and decided to re-energize the school's strategic plan based on increased enrollment and growth in the western Travis County area, she said. Town hall sessions with teachers and staff allowed more input into the expansion design.

The expansion project's funding campaign began in spring 2013 and raised about two-thirds of the money necessary to complete the expansion, Robertson said. Additional financial support for the project came from one-third of the families with children at the school and staff contributions of more than $10,000, she said.

"It's going to take a village, and I know our village will support that goal," Robertson said.

The design includes flexible and glass walls that will enable staffers to open up shared spaces, McKenna said.

"The 21st century learning spaces are built to encourage collaboration [through] these types of spaces," he said. "The [design will] help drive the pedagogy of collaboration, creativity and critical thinking."

The Maker space

St. Gabriel's Catholic School's 2015 expansion will include a Maker space room, Head of School Daniel McKenna said.

According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's June 2014 newsletter, the Maker Movement was popularized by a 9-year-old who constructed a large arcade out of cardboard boxes in his father's auto parts store. A filmmaker customer discovered the arcade and created a short documentary based on the child's work.

The movement includes do-it-yourself projects and hands-on activities that promote innovation and creativity, the newsletter said.

"The Maker movement is something that will be infused throughout our program," McKenna said. "It allows children to collaborate and create. It's about children discovering how things work and why things don't work—discovering their passion."