Conroe ISD is creating an attendance zone for the district’s new elementary school scheduled to open next year in the residential development of Cielo.
The Woodlands-based Signorelli Co. is developing Cielo, which will span 261 acres and include 858 single-family lots on Airport Road near FM 1484.
Bartlet Elementary, 11255 Cielo Drive, will open August 2024. The school will have a capacity of 950 pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students.
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Chris McCord, assistant superintendent of operations for CISD, said the district has selected a committee of 44 people, including parents, principals and district staff, to develop the attendance zone.
The committee will meet several times over the next four months.
“Our objective is to develop an attendance boundary to populate Barlett Elementary while still preserving some campus capacity for future growth,” McCord said.
The new school will help relieve overcrowding at other elementary schools in the Caney Creek and Conroe feeder zones.
According to information from the district, ten elementary schools are in the Caney Creek and Conroe high school feeder zones. Of those, Creighton Elementary is 152 percent over capacity with 991 students; followed by Runyan Elementary, the district’s smallest school, at 118 percent capacity with 680 students; and Austin Elementary at 116 percent with 1,016 students.
Superintendent Curtis Null said the district is planning a new high school for the feeder zone on Loop 336 in Conroe. The new high school and seven other new campuses are part of the district’s $1.9 billion bond package that will go to voters this November.
McCord called the process “challenging” for several reasons, including the new school being the last elementary school in the northern Caney Creek and Conroe feeders areas for several years.
“This is not the end of this movie as far as building elementary schools to serve this area, however it is for now,” McCord said. “At some point, there will need to be another elementary school in the north (part of the district’s boundaries).”
The committee, McCord said, is considering several factors on how to zone for the school. The most important, he said, was the geographical proximity and transportation patterns, including students who may walk to school.
“Our goal, if possible, is to be able to have kids attend the school and parents attend the school close to where they live, sleep, eat and play,” McCord said.
The district will host four community meetings regarding the zone for Barlett Elementary. They will be 6 p.m. Oct. 10 and Oct. 12 and at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 and Nov. 9. The meetings on Oct. 10 and Nov. 7 will be virtual meetings while the Oct. 12 and Nov. 9 meetings will be at Austin Elementary at 14796 Texas 105 in Conroe.
The district has also launched a website for the process that provides information on the boundaries and allows for comments to be submitted.
McCord said he will bring a recommendation to the board in January for board approval.
