ARLINGTON (1080 KRLD)- The Arlington Independent School District will break ground on its second school in a week Wednesday. Last week, the district started construction on a replacement for Thornton Elementary; Wednesday, the district will break ground on a new Berry Elementary School.
"This is critically important, especially here on the east side of town," says Arlington Mayor Jim Ross. "The school didn't fit what the students were capable of."
"It has been an expectation that we provide the very best for our students everywhere in Arlington," says Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos. "We know the building is a building. It's important, but what's most important is who occupies the building and what they engage in every single day, what they aspire to, what they dream, what they learn, their celebrations and disappointments. The building houses our most precious, precious resources. Those are our teachers, our administrators, our students and our families."
Berry Elementary was built in 1955. Cavazos says the school had aged beyond the ability to keep patching up the existing structure.
Ross says a new campus with modern tools to help kids succeed will benefit the city long-term.
"We're going to have the ability to match the facility with the kids' potential. When you're able to do that, the economic development is unlimited," he says. "Everything fits together: workforce development, economic development, education, it all starts to come together. I'm very, very excited about it."
Arlington has launched an education coalition which includes school districts serving the city, private schools, charter schools and homeschooling groups. Ross says the coalition also includes Tarrant County College and the University of Texas at Arlington.
Ross says that can ensure kids will graduate prepared for college or with a skill they can use to join the workforce.
"We bring them all together, and we talk about how we can work collectively for the betterment of all our kids," he says. "There's nothing more important than workforce development and the ability to work together."
Voters in Arlington approved a total of four new schools in the 2019 bond. Berry and Thornton Elementary Schools should open in the summer of 2023.
Construction at Webb Elementary started in the spring, and the school should open in the fall of 2021. A rebuilt Carter Junior High is being designed now and expected to open in 2025.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow NewsRadio 1080 KRLD
