Hollibrook Elementary School hosts first district groundbreaking

Improvements to all SBISD campuses will be made through the $597.1 million bond plan, which will also pay for new classroom technology and school buses, among other district-wide upgrades.

During the next 18 months, students, staff and parents at Hollibrook Elementary will watch as a new, 105,000 square feet, one-story campus rises like a phoenix from the grass next to the current facility, a low-ceilinged, 50-year-old building that by some accounts tends to drip inside when it rains.

The new building at 3602 Hollister will accommodate up to 800 students in three classroom wings. The new Hollibrook will include special music, art and science classrooms and a large modern library that will function as a campus hub for student learning and teaching, as well as a key access point for information sources ranging from traditional literature to digital technologies.

The 4 p.m. groundbreaking attracted about 150 people, including the Spring Branch ISD Board of Trustees, Hollibrook Elementary students, parents and teachers, and community members who have served on the district’s Long Range Facilities and 007 Bond committees, or others who serve now on the district’s Bond Oversight Committee. Read the Bond Oversight Committee co-chair’s statement here.

“After almost 12 years, we’re breaking ground on a new school in Spring Branch,” Superintendent of Schools Duncan Klussmann told the outdoor gathering. “I would not have dreamed four or five years ago of transforming our system by replacing 12 of our old elementary schools, or of doing renovations on all of our school campuses.”
“Because of the work of all these community members, staff and community members and taxpayers, to help support our Bond program, we’re truly going to be able to transform our school system. This project represents the first project in that transformation,” he said.

SBISD Board of Trustees President Susan Kellner credited Board of Trustees members for being involved in and understanding Spring Branch’s community needs.

“We understand that the community and schools are inextricably linked. We can’t have one without the other. We could not do any of this today without our community, and I think that there is no better way to honor our students and families and staff than by rebuilding our schools and investing in our neighborhoods,” Board President Kellner said.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this. Thank you for coming out today and being a part of this momentous occasion,” she also said.

During a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony, the Board of Trustees turned soft dirt  with golden shovels at the outdoor pavilion site.

Speaking on behalf of Hollibrook Elementary were Principal Elsa Delgado and prekindergarten teacher and former student Diana Navarro. For them, looking to the future is mixed with obvious emotions.

“Our excitement is bittersweet as we merge the old with the new, the past with the future. There are many years of history here, such as our 80-plus year old retired crossing guard who has been at Hollibrook Elementary since the 1980s, teachers who have 20-plus years at Hollibrook, and ex-alumni who now teach at their old elementary school,” Principal Delgado said.

“As we hold tight to traditions, we are committed to providing the best education for this community. We look forward now to new and improved facilities, which will help prepare our students for success in the 21st century,” she said.

Prekindergarten teacher Dianna Navarro recalled her own mixed emotions about a school where she walked the halls with friends as a young child, but where she may soon teach in a shiny new classroom. As a child, she attended Hollibrook for five years.

“I am overjoyed to know that the present and future students of Hollibrook will have a campus with a roof that can withstand rain, classrooms that don’t flood, and hallways without buckets to catch the rain,” she quipped.

“Our students will soon have a science lab that will feed their curiosity and imagination, as well as music and art rooms adequately supplied to invigorate learning and classrooms designed with them in mind.

“But the truth is that they will have much more than that. They will have a campus that they are proud to call their own, a safe haven away from home, and an opportunity to return in the years to come and make a difference to future generations,” Navarro said.

A dozen elementary schools built between 1938 and 1967 will be replaced under the 2007 Bond plan.

Students will remain housed at the current Hollibrook Elementary during the next 18 months while the new building is erected directly to the east of the present elementary building. The projected date for staff to move into the new school is May 2010.

Architect for the Hollibrook Elementary project is SHW Group. The building contractor is Gamma Construction. The project cost is about $16.5 million. For more detailed information, please visit the district’s Bond Update website at http://www.springbranchisd.com/bond/bond.htm.