Leander ISD breaks ground for Early Childhood Center

LEANDER, Texas - Leander ISD has broken ground on the district's first-ever early childhood center.

It's been about two years since Leander ISD voters approved all three propositions of the 2023 bond proposal and now voters are able to see construction start on those projects.

Early Childhood Center

What we know:

The district held the groundbreaking on May 1 for the center, which will house about 600 pre-kindergarten students. The new center will be located in north Leander near the intersection of San Gabriel Parkway and Halsey Drive.

This project has been in the works for years and will hopefully be open in 2026.

Leander ISD interior design students also took part in the excitement. Students in the career and technical education program had the chance to learn about the unique needs of Pre-K students. They’ve been collaborating with O'Connell Robertson on the design of a space in the ECC.

"One of the things that I found out was when you're doing something like this, you have to really look at the design from a different perspective. So, with this one, we created empty maps for our clients, and they basically looked at the design from the perspective of a child, a parent, a teacher, and an administrator, and that was really interesting to see the different perspective," says a CTE Leander ISD student.

Leander ISD residents can also expect to see a lot more construction in the future.

What they're saying:

"It's just so exciting that we were able to have families and kids that will be going to the early childhood center. I mean, this is who it's for, right? It's for our community," said Leander ISD's early childhood director Erin Garner.

"Right now, we have six elementary schools with Pre-K in them in this area. And so those Pre-K students will now come here. So those elementary schools that had the Pre- K programs will no longer have the Pre-K programs," said Jeremy Trimble, chief operations officer for Leander ISD.

Garner says this space is specifically designed and constructed for pre-k kids.

"Leander ISD historically has built beautiful learning environments and the fact that our board of trustees, our superintendent, all of our leaders truly understand early childhood and that they also deserve an environment that's been created for them, it's just been very exciting and it's exciting for our community," said Garner.

The district says they are grateful for the support of the voters for making projects like this happen.

"We're staying aligned with what our goal and our parameters are. And not that we didn't have to have a lot of tough discussions about what would need to be included. And at the end, we were able to accomplish what we needed within budget parameters. And so, this project is set to. To break literal ground in the next few weeks and then it'll open for the 26-27 school year," says Trimble.

Leander ISD 2023 Bond

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Leander ISD votes on bond packages totaling almost $800 million

Voters in Leander ISD voted on Propositions A, B, and C, which fund school infrastructure, technology, safety measures and more.

Dig deeper:

In May 2023, voters passed all three bond packages: Prop A, Prop B and Prop C.

Prop A, the biggest proposition, was a $698.33 million bond package that focuses on school safety and security and being able to purchase more fleets. Prop A passed with 62.05% of the vote.

Prop B called for $50.82 million for technology equipment and infrastructure, including installing interactive LED panels in place of classroom projectors, funding a second broadband network node and other upgrades and improvements. Prop B passed with 64.44% of the vote.

Prop C called for $13.67 million to renovate the school district's older campuses and modernize its two performing arts centers. Prop C passed with 60.53% of the vote.