Rummel Creek Grand Opening Is Certain to Impress Visitors

Rummel Creek students on the school's opening day

Rummel Creek grand opening invitation >>

Teachers, staff, students, parents and neighborhood residents are still trying to find the right words to describe the airy, two-story building that marks the 13th and final elementary school to be rebuilt under the $597.1 million bond approved by district voters nine years ago.

Here are a few glowing adjectives and phrases used to describe the new Rummel Creek Elementary School, which opened officially for students and teachers on Jan. 5 – beautiful, spacious, incredible, a dream come true, transforming, top notch, unbelievable.

Several visitors to the shiny new building asked what Shirley Lincoln, the school’s longtime principal, now deceased, would think if she was touring the new facility.

“I think that she’d be looking down in amazement,” said the campus receptionist, Christine Godin, on her the first day in the new school.

That sentiment – amazement – was expressed by many on Jan. 5. “Love it,” said Martin Normand, father of Luc and Zac, who now learn in new kindergarten and prekindergarten classrooms.

“The spaces here are so wide open. Love the library, the classrooms, all the open hallways. I love that it’s so spacious, and I think the students and teacher do, too,” he said. “We’ve all been looking forward to this. It’s like going up from a minor league to a major league school.”

Students and parents are greeted at the door on Rummel Creek's opening day.

The new, two-story building replaces a neighborhood school built in 1962. Due to a combination of low interest rates and low construction prices, SBISD was able to add a 13th elementary school to its original list of 12 new elementary schools under the 2007 bond.

Highlights include walls of glass that open up classrooms, hallways, the library and common areas to the wooded neighborhood and popular walking track, playground and outdoor areas behind the school. A stepped-back building design helps the new school blend into Rummel Creek’s single-story homes. 

“It has everything,” Principal Nancy Harn has said. “Everything that we asked for is here.”

“It’s a dream come true for the whole community and school,” Karen Ross, a PTA past president, said. The Rosses and their children have lived here for more than 20 years. “The transformation between the old school and new is phenomenal – and the kids here have seen it all go up from ground breaking to this today.”

John Maddox, a Rummel Creek graduate himself, followed his prekindergartener, Mason, into a new classroom on Jan. 5. Maddox, who remained in Rummel Creek, noted that the area was a highly sought after neighborhood for families with young children even before the new school opened.

“I can’t imagine what people will say now with the new school. Rummel Creek’s reputation was top notch. It will remain a top school for families – for sure!”
Rummel Creek - Celebrating A New Campus booklet >>