Sondra Hernandez Staff writer August 12, 2024

Conroe ISD’s newest elementary school will open on the city’s northwest side Wednesday, celebrating the legacy of a 30-year educator in the district. 

Students in pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade will attend Janet K. Bartlett Elementary at 11255 Cielo Drive. The new school is off FM 1484 within the new Cielo community that is scheduled to have more than 830 single-family homes. 

Here’s what to know about the school and Bartlett as school begins this week. Conroe ISD resumes classes at its 71 campuses Wednesday morning.

About the school 

Bartlett Elementary— originally Flex School 23 for the Caney Creek High School feeder zone — was part of the 2019 Conroe ISD bond referendum and cost approximately $39.4 million to build, according to district data. 

It will have a capacity of 950 pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade students and will bring overcrowding relief to Caney Creek and Conroe feeder elementary campuses.

The school colors are maroon and gray, and the bobcat is the mascot. The school will relieve some overcrowding at Austin and Anderson campuses and is situated between the two attendance zones for those schools. 

The Bartlett Elementary attendance zone is bordered by FM 1484 on the north side and runs south of Texas 105 on the southern side. The students at Bartlett Elementary will eventually attend Timber Mill High School on Conroe’s east side when it opens in August 2027. 

Early passion for teaching

Bartlett was two when her family moved to Conroe so her father could work in the Conroe oil field. She’s familiar with the land around Bartlett Elementary because her father worked on wells in the area and some Saturdays she’d tag along. 

She knew she wanted a career in teaching at age 6, she said. 

“I would line my little stuffed animals up and I would teach away,” she said. “My friend across the street, Jimmie, we would play school. She would go in her room and I would go in mine and we’d meet in the street and have recess (for their play classes.) It’s a gift that God gave me and I’m so glad he gave me this gift. There is nothing else I would have done.” 

She was also inspired by her teacher Martha Jones a longtime teacher at Anderson Elementary. 

Bartlett went on to graduate from Conroe High School in 1971 and then Sam Houston State University. 

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Always in the classroom 

Her first teaching assignment was at Runyan Elementary in 1975. A few years later she moved on to teach at the school she attended Anderson Elementary and her final assignment was at Giesinger Elementary School working with principal Bonnie Wilkinson, who also has a school named after her. 

She retired from full-time teaching in 2006 but continued on at Giesinger as a long-term substitute teacher. She said the staff of Giesinger continues to remain a family and they still get together often. 

She also volunteers with Conroe ISD’s Project Mentor and was the Conroe Education Association’s 1993-94 Elementary Teacher of the Year.

“I still have that urge to be in the classroom,” she said. “Kids are kids and they come with this thirst and they’re like little sponges and they need love and need to be loved back.” 

She looks forward to being involved at Bartlett Elementary and especially wants to work with students that need a little extra help. 

On Wednesday, she looks forward to the smiles and young wide eyes she expects to meet as they come to school the first day. 

“I just think so many of them have never seen anything like this,” she said of the beauty of the new school.

A dedication ceremony for the school will take place in October. Bartlett lives in Conroe and has three children and eight grandchildren. Her daughter and daughter-in-law are teachers as well. 

‘It takes a team’ 

When she first learned a new Conroe ISD school would be named after her she had mixed feelings. She wanted to ensure that the community knows her success in the classroom was a team effort. 

“To say a school is named after you is hard to accept. It wasn’t about me it’s about everybody. It takes a village. It takes everyone,” she said. Therefore the glass case at the front of the school contains pictures of her classes and the teachers and staff there with her. She wanted it to be about them, too. 

Conroe Mayor Duke Coon is one of the many in the community who nominated Bartlett for the honor. 

“I was so proud and honored to put her name forward along with many others in the community,” he said. “I have watched her over the years give everything she’s got to this school district and the children within it. She’s an amazing testament to the love and compassion a teacher can bring into a student’s life.” 

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Back to school 

More than 74,000 students are expected at the 71 Conroe ISD campuses Wednesday. The district will see new principals at more than a dozen campuses and 82 buses have been added to the fleet for the new year. 

This year also includes the opening of the district’s new transportation facilities. A $16.5 million project expanded the district’s transportation hub on Gladstell Street in Conroe and adds a new facility to its Caney Creek High School location off FM 1485.

Catherine Dominguez contributed to this report. 

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