Tomball ISD set to open three new campuses
The principal and staff at Wildwood Elementary, one of three new schools in the Tomball Independent School District, were hard at work this week organizing classrooms and emptying the seemingly endless supply of boxes in preparation for the first day of school on Aug. 24.
Sherry Baker, the principal at Wildwood Elementary, has hardly been able to take a breath since being handed the keys to the school on Aug. 7.
“Being a principal gives you the opportunity to really impact so many teachers and so many kids,” she said. “I have already met so many parents out in this community and I get excited about the idea of starting this school together, and building this relationship together with the community, and starting the traditions together so that we meet the expectations that parents have… for their students.”
Wildwood Elementary is one of three new campuses that will open doors to students in the district as a result of a $160 million bond that was passed in May 2013.
Oakcrest Intermediate, which is less than a mile from Wildwood Elementary on Shaw Road, and Creekview Elementary in The Woodlands also will open Aug. 24. Creekside Park Junior High, the fourth school authorized
under that bond, is under construction and will open in 2017.
Baker, who was an assistant principal at Tomball Memorial High School last year, worked for 17 years in Cy-Fair ISD, and helped open the Smith Middle School campus in 2010 as an administrator.
In May, Tomball ISD hosted a parent meeting at Tomball Memorial High School for the parents of Wildwood Elementary students, and then on Aug. 6, the district hosted the family enrollment night, which saw the enrollment at Wildwood increase by more than 100 students.
Like the school itself, many students are new to Tomball ISD, having just moved into the Wildwood at Northpointe subdivision.
But others, many who live in Wildwood at Oakcrest across the street from the new campus, attended Rosehill Elementary last year.
A lot of things will be important on that first day.
First impressions of the teachers, principal and the school, and making sure everyone feels welcome and safe at Wildwood Elementary.
During that first week of school, students will be required to wear colored wristbands that let teachers know if the student will be walking, riding a bicycle, riding a bus or taking a car home.
Baker said they will learn how each student is getting to and from school when students and parents come to meet the teachers Aug. 20-21.
With the explosion of new home construction in the southern portion of the district, particularly with construction in Hayden Lakes, and Wildwood at Oakcrest, it may not be long before Tomball ISD has to consider adding more new campuses.
Staci Stanfield, communications director for Tomball ISD, said the district is expecting a robust enrollment in 2015.
“As of right now, we are expecting to have quite a strong enrollment at this campus,” she said. “And we know we’ll have future growth, too, when the Grand Parkway comes through, but right now we are focused on the four schools in Bond 2013, and we are excited to open these schools now.”
Meanwhile, new teachers and staff arrived on the campus Aug. 10, giving them just two weeks to prepare for those students arriving on Aug. 24.
Mary David, a thirdgrade teacher who taught at Rosehill Elementary last year, was lining up student desks and digging through boxes to find the right decorations for the right wall.
David, who has taught for 10 years, said she was looking forward to starting the new school year.
“It’s very exciting,” she said. “It’s fun to be in a new place with lots of people who want to be here. Everyone is excited to be here and everything is fresh and new.”
Since she is coming to Wildwood from Rosehill, David said she expects to see some familiar faces among the students who attended there last school year.
Ashley Nunn, who also taught at Rosehill Elementary last year, also expects to see some familiar faces when she opens her art class to students on that first day.
“I love the idea of opening a new school and being the first art teacher here,” she said. “The idea of trying to figure out the workspace and the flow (of students) is the most important thing. You have to be very organized.”
While teachers are preparing their classrooms, Baker just looks forward to opening those doors the first morning and greeting her students the first day as the very first principal at Wildwood Elementary.
Although she has opened a campus before, Baker said this time feels a lot different to her.
“It’s really different,” she said. “You feel real supported (in Tomball ISD). There is the feel that we are all in this together.”