Two months in, Williams Elementary has about 360 students and expects to grow fastest in the district as homes rise around it

Van Alstyne ISD's newest school opened in August to take pressure off its two older elementary campuses. Its principal says it will not stay roomy for long.

About 360 students attend Williams Elementary, principal Holly Haynes told KTEN in a report aired Wednesday. New houses are going up around the campus, she said, and the school is expected to be the fastest-growing in the district.

"So we know that more kiddos are coming our way," Haynes said. Before Williams opened, she said, the other two elementary schools "were feeling that growth and overflowing a bit."

A town that has quadrupled

Mayor Jim Atchison, who has lived in Van Alstyne for 32 years, told the station the city has grown from roughly 2,500 people inside its limits to nearly 10,000. His wife taught sixth grade in the district for 13 years, he said, and both of his daughters went through Van Alstyne schools.

The next school

Williams is the district's third elementary. Land for a fourth has already been donated, according to KTEN, and the school board has cleared the way for design to begin.

At their Oct. 15 meeting, trustees unanimously hired WRA Architects to design Elementary School No. 4 and Cummings-Gallagher as construction manager, according to the district's recap. The district said the two contracts are projected to cost more than $550,000 less than the comparable contracts for Williams. No opening date or campus location has been announced in those sources.

District enrollment stood at about 3,024 students at that meeting, the recap said, and the junior high and the high school are both still adding students.

Sources

KTEN

vanalstyneisd.org