Drive for Excellence Has Created State-of-the-Art Schools in San Marcos
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Serving approximately 7‚200 students‚ the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District has received national recognition for innovation and excellence. The district’s facilities‚ however‚ were nothing to write home about – until now.
“All of our schools were very old and outdated‚” says Iris Campbell‚ public information officer for the district.
That hasn’t affected the school’s performance. Indeed‚ the district was cited by Newsweek as one of the nation’s best for the past three years.
But in 2004 and 2007‚ the community passed bond initiatives to fund a com prehensive building campaign that will be completed in 2009. Bowie Elementary School was the first to be rebuilt‚ and three more schools are currently under construction or renovation.
“Basically‚ all our campuses are either being rebuilt or upgraded or renovated or expanded. It’s been a huge undertaking‚ but we’re very excited about it‚” Campbell says.
The new San Marcos High School‚ situated on a picturesque hilltop near I-35‚ is the centerpiece of the building campaign. The school offers more than 347‚000 square feet of space and opened for instruction in 2007.
“The [original] high school was 45 years old‚ and its layout was more like a little junior college: big separate build ings with sidewalks connecting them; not very security-conscious‚” Campbell says.
Now‚ a single entrance/exit‚ security cameras and enclosed courtyard increase safety without sacrificing access to the outdoors. There are also specialized classrooms and labs for criminal justice‚ culinary arts‚ marketing‚ journalism and the performing arts. Athletes are able to stretch their legs on ample practice fields‚ and finance students learn from specially trained instructors at an on-site‚ fully functional credit union.
The school also features an exhibit of large‚ oyster-like fossils found when contractors were excavating the building’s foundations.
“It’s one of those situations that’s common to the Hill Country‚” Campbell says. “We have these lovely hills that stick up across the plains‚ and when you’re on the top of the hill you find that it used to be the bottom of the ocean.”
The new facility is so impressive that visiting students and education professionals regularly ask for tours.
“Before we started building‚ our school board visited other communities to get ideas‚ and now we see teams from other communities coming in to see our facilities and what they would like about them for their schools‚” Campbell says.
The building campaign has given San Marcos a renewed sense of pride in its schools.
“One of the administrators would use the expression that our students are walking tall these days‚” Campbell says. “The district is very progressive and on-the-go. … It’s the source of pride that we’ve got world-class schools for world-class students.”
Story by Kathryn Royster
Photo by Brian McCord
