Elementary being built in Meridiana
Alvin ISD plans to open campus in new master-planned community in 2016
At the construction site of Meridiana Elementary, the inaugural campus for Manvel’s Meridiana master-planned community, steel rods can be seen connecting the frame of the two-story school, scheduled to open in August 2016.
The school’s beginning stages of construction are part of the first phase for the master-planned community, which began development in April 2014 and is set to open in January. The elementary will be Alvin Independent School District’s first school south of Texas 6 and east of Texas 288 and will be near Manvel High School.
“We are very excited that Alvin ISD chose Meridiana as the location for its next elementary school,” said Dan Naef, president of Rise Communities, the developer of the community. “The opening of the school ties in very close to when we will be having our grand opening (for the Meridiana community). We have worked very closely with the school district for this.”
When it launches next year, the 2,700-acre master-planned community will include about 15 model homes, an amenities complex, landscaping and a community entrance, Naef
said. It will be accessible through a planned Meridiana interchange at Texas 288.
Naef said Rise has mainly been clearing dirt in the community and preparing for landscaping over the past year. More details for the community, such as what amenities the complex will offer, will be available in September, he said.
More than 5,500 singlefamily homes will be built in Meridiana, and the community will take about 15 years to complete, Naef said.
Construction for the community has been delayed about three months because of recent bad weather, but Naef said January is still a realistic date for the grand opening.
Rise is also developing Katy’s 1,100-acre Cane Island master-planned community. The company previously worked under a different name in southern Nevada, where it developed more than 14,000 acres of master-planned communities.
Since mid-May, Meridiana Elementary’s building pads have been constructed, the foundation pillars have been drilled and concrete has been placed for its beams, according to Jeff Couvillian, Alvin ISD’s director of building programs.
Upcoming work will focus on the building slab, underground utilities and the water line, Couvillian said.
“We’re monitoring the progress of (Rise Communities),” he said. “Sometimes building a school within a master-planned community takes less planning from our end because a lot of things are already in place, and we trust the developer.”
As it waits for residents to fill the planned community, Meridiana Elementary will mostly receive pupils from surrounding communities and crowded neighboring schools, such as Savannah Lakes and Don Jeter elementaries, according to Daniel Combs, Alvin ISD’s director of communications.
Combs said a school boundary committee will be formed soon to decide factors such as the school attendance zone. Once the boundaries are set, all other aspects related to opening the school will swiftly be decided on.
“Traditionally, for an elementary campus, the principal has been hired about six months out, and that individual will then be highly involved in staff hiring. Enrollment numbers will be dictated by the attendance boundaries,” Combs said. “It’s a domino effect. You first establish the boundaries, which will dictate enrollment, which will dictate the number of teachers and staff hired. Keeping open communication with everyone involved is critical.”
The elementary will be the only school for now in the master-planned community. The central location of a library on campus is intended to highlight a dedication toward education, Combs said.
According to Alvin ISD’s website, the school will cost more than $17 million to build, will cover 12 acres and will have a capacity of 800 pupils.