Sienna Crossing poised to grow as a community
Sienna Crossing Elementary has seen many changes since it opened in 1998 as the first school in Sienna Plantation, and a classroom addition will mark its next chapter.
“We’ve watched the school grow and change as the community in Sienna Plantation has developed,” said Principal Jeanna Sniffin, who has led the Fort Bend ISD school since 2010. “And as the neighborhood grows, new generations of families have come in.”
Enrollment has increased steadily at Sienna Crossing to 937, which is 141 over capacity, and the campus has had to rely on seven temporary buildings.
Crews will work at Sierra Crossing over the summer to create a 10-room addition.
Sniffen has helped district administrators plan for the expansion.
“It took us about a year to develop all the details and to find the right place for it to fit on campus,” she said. “Everybody is excited about the new part of the building.”
The school was the 27th built in the district and the first built in the 10,500-acre Missouri City community, which has more than 7,000 homes.
As Sienna Plantation has grown, three other elementaries have been added: Jan Schiff, Scanlan Oaks and Heritage Rose. There are plans to add a fifth, Elementary School 48, which is planned to open for the 2017-18 school year. A construction contract for that project may be presented to district trustees for approval this month.
“We have a tradition of success with high student achievement,” Sniffen said of her district. “That’s a draw for people
moving to the area. And we have direct access to the (Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road.) This is really a community of choice.”
Funding comes from a 2014 bond, which reserved $4.6 million for the new addition and upgrades to campus including security enhancements, emergency generators, a new roof covering and exterior doors and improved sidewalks. Goodbye portables
The 2014 bond totaled $484 million and will make it possible for all elementary schools in Sienna Plantation to receive similar 10-classroom additions.
Sienna Crossing is set up with circular pods determined by grade level. The addition will include a large group learning space in the middle with the 10 classrooms surrounding it as well as two rooms to accommodate small-group learning.
Construction will begin this month and take a year to complete. The planned rooms will be available for fifth-graders in the 2017-18 school year.
In the meantime, Sniffen is making plans to keep the campus running smoothly the next school year.
“We’ll have to put new procedures in place to preserve the safety of our students during the construction process,” she said. “For example, there will be new traffic patterns for our students to get to the playground.”
Still, she does not believe that the work on campus will be disruptive since it is focused on the back of the main building.
“The plan is to not have any portables on our campuses and have all the students inside,” said Sniffen, who was part of the bond planning process.
“There were lots of community meetings throughout Fort Bend ISD,” she said. “And we developed a 10-year plan.” Part of bond plan
The bond called for $365.4 million for new construction and classroom additions to support increases in student enrollment and cover needs for major maintenance and renovation items. It included adding four elementary schools in the district as well as providing funding to improve career and technical education.
The bond reserved $26.9 million for safety and security improvements, $15.9 million for new buses, bus cameras and global positioning systems on all buses.
Of the other money, $39.4 million was allocated for technology infrastructure and $36.5 million for land purchases.
The bond was needed to help the district handle rapid increases in enrollment, district spokeswoman Amanda Bubela said.
“We have 75 schools serving approximately 73,800 students,” Bubela said. “Over the last three years, Fort Bend ISD has done extensive work to plan for the future and balance enrollment throughout the district.”
Efforts include the adoption of a district-wide feeder pattern and boundary plan in January 2015 that examined enrollment projections to align high school feeder patterns.
“Our proactive planning also involves an annual enrollment review, which was presented to our board of trustees in late February,” Bubela said. The study confirmed continuing growth in northwestern and southeastern regions of the district.