Community proud of new elementary school
New Caney school district’s Tavola Elementary, located at 18885 Winding Summit Drive, opened to pupils on Aug. 24.
“We are loving it. There’s a lot of excitement being in a new building,” said Trina Persson, principal. “We have about 200 more students than what we had in our previous building so we have a lot of new faces.”
Tavola, a master-planned community by Friendswood Development Co. located at U.S. 59 and Roman Forest Boulevard, opened in October 2014.
Persson said those who live in the subdivision make up a very small part of the school’s population.
Besides Tavola, the 106,000 square-foot building services children living in the City of Roman Forest, the Woodbranch neighborhood and other areas in unincorporated Montgomery County.
Currently, 844 children attend Tavola Elementary.
Persson said she is still in the process of hiring additional teachers for the campus, because of the continued increase in enrollment.
Jim Grant, executive director of operations for the district, said because Tavola has a greater capacity for pupils, the district readjusted attendance zones to provide relief for other schools in the area.
Grant said some pupils now going to Tavola previously attended New Caney, Aikin and Oakley elementaries.
Oakley Elementary, located at 22320 Loop 494, was almost at capacity, Grant said.
“New Caney is one of the fastest growing school districts in the Houston area,” Grant said as he describes how