French Elementary ready to make Klein ISD debut
When school starts on Aug. 24 in the Klein Independent School District, some students will begin their studies at the new French Elementary campus.
Robert Robertson, associate superintendent of facility and school services, said despite heavy rains earlier this year, construction of French Elementary has stayed on track.
“We had the wettest spring and that did slow us down,” he said. “But the school is still going to open on time.”
Construction began on the $23.6 million campus in May 2014 — and crews are now putting the finishing touches on the building at 5802 W. Rayford Road in Spring.
“Teachers are busy getting their classrooms set up as we deliver furniture,” Robertson said.
French Elementary is the second school in the district to follow the design prototype of Zwink Elementary with a number of updates
made to the original.
“We fully expect French to be the most energy-efficient school in our portfolio,” he said. “We’ve made extensive improvements to make the mechanical system more efficient.”
There have also been a few upgrades in the floor plan.
Robertson said before building a new school, he interviews principals of existing campuses to get their ideas on how to improve the design.
As a result of that input, columns were removed from the cafeteria at French Elementary.
“We modified the design to have trusses instead, and that allowed us to eliminate the columns,” Robertson said. “When they have a performance in the cafeteria, no one will have an obstructed view.”
Another example of the design modifications was the addition of a restroom to the parent workroom in the front of the school.
Robertson explained that re-using a design a couple of times and making only minor modifications allows the district to save on architectural costs.
“When you build a prototype, you can do it at a reduced design fee,” he said. “It’s also more efficient for the contractor, because he knows how to tighten the schedule and save costs.”
French is the 30th elementary school to open in Klein ISD. Robertson said that crews have already begun work on the next prototype campus based on Zwinck, an elementary school slated in the Willow Lake Village subdivision. The campus is set to open in August 2016.
Roberton said the site is currently under development and contractors will start erecting steel next month.
Construction is also ongoing at High School 5. “We’re pouring the concrete for the parking lots and still working on underground utilities,” Robertson said.
In the meantime, French Elementary principal Carole Mason is making final preparations to welcome students to the building.
“It’s a beautiful building,” she said. “It’s a really well-thought out plan. The teachers are so excited, because we have windows and skylights everywhere.”
She said the school will also be equipped with all the latest technology, including less obtuse projector systems and new document cameras.
“All the teachers have laptops, there are two desktops in every classroom, and there are laptop carts, Chrome book carts and iPad carts, which will be dispersed throughout the building,” she said. “We’re also going to be a Google campus. Our kids will be very tech-savvy.”
The school also will feature a unique fine art fusion program — mixing music, drama, creative writing and dance into every day education.
Mason has been in education for 27 years. She began in Klein ISD as a music teacher at Haude Elementary and then helped open Hassler Elementary.
“I always wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “From the time I was a young girl, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
She moved from working as a teacher to the position of principal, because she wanted to be able to impact more individuals.
“I like the fact that I can help parents, I can help kids and I can help teachers,” she said.
Mason served as assistant principal at Metzler Elementary when it opened and then became the principal at Krahn Elementary in 2011.
Mason said that the school was named for the many French families who settled in the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
“There was a school in the Klein area at the turn of the century called French School,” Mason said. “It was a one-room school house, and we think it was active for about 15 years.”
She said that historic photos from these families and the previous campus will be on display in the new school’s rotunda.