Argyle ISD buys 50 acres, preps for new elementary in Harvest and sets sights on the future

All three developments highlight the rapid growth the district is facing as both housing developments and new businesses continue a building boom in the city.

The explosive growth in Argyle puts the district in the same situation as the Aubrey and Denton districts. Aubrey ISD recently announced the purchase of 71 acres, and Denton ISD will take a $1.4 billion bond package before voters in May to meet rapid population growth in its zones.

Sam Slaton, president of the Argyle ISD school board, said the 10-year strategic plan is the most crucial of the three recent announcements.

“Our role as a board is to set the strategic plan for the district,” said Slaton, who has one child who just graduated from the district and two children currently attending Argyle schools. “Having a living document that the administration presented to the board, and we could approve — it gives us a roadmap of where we’re going.”

That roadmap also offers transparency to the community, as well as to future school board members.

Superintendent Telena Wright said the strategic plan is an extension of promises the district has already made good on through ambitious bond propositions it has taken to voters.

“One of the reasons we’re able to do this, to put a plan out to our community, is because of how the district presented the 2007 bond, the 2014 bond and 2017 bond,” Wright said. “All of those bonds were executed exactly as presented to the voters. That’s built a lot of trust in the community.”

Wright said the voters have seen that the district prioritizes their children, and they’ve met the commitment with support at the ballot box.

“The bottom line is the students,” Wright said. “All of our decisions have to be about the students.”

Slaton and Wright said the community expects three key things from its school district: safe and secure campuses; high-quality teaching; and a menu of fine arts and athletic opportunities for their students.

Argyle families want their children to graduate from high school with a comprehensive education. They want their children to have a firm grasp on the academic basics, they said, but they also want their graduates to compete in a marketplace that demands creativity and problem-solving chops.

Slaton said it can be a big request to bring bond packages to voters, but he said he looks around his children’s schools and sees a vibrant place for students and staff.

“When my daughter started here, the district was around 900 kids total,” Slaton said. “Now we have a district of 5,000. Being able to still see the community involvement, to see the passion for the educational experience for our kids be strong, that inspires me.”

Fifty acres for future Eagles

Argyle ISD bought 50 acres this spring for a new middle school and elementary school — a move that will bring the district to five elementary campuses and two middle schools.

The parcel is on the north side of FM407, in the western part of Argyle. The purchase was funded though the 2022 bond package.

Wright said the district did find it challenging to locate land for the two campuses, especially given the demand for property in North Texas.

“Whenever you hear anything about real estate, it’s always location, location, location,” she said. “And the location of it, whether you’re trying to have a northern, or western, or a southern or an eastern location, but also in terms of proximity to students, it’s a challenge now.”

There are other riddles the district had to solve, like finding land that provides space for buses to get to and from the campuses. And since the campuses are for students who aren’t of driving age, the district had to consider the ease of parents driving to and from campus.

New North Texas schools also require more safety and security standards, and the trend is for public school leaders to search for sites that have room to grow, or have some distance from neighborhoods and business corridors.

“The demand for land is extremely high,” Slaton said. “It’s definitely challenging on the finances of the district, and looking at our future bond packages as well. ... That crystal ball stuff makes me nervous because you just don’t know exactly what’s going to happen down the line. ... It’s important for us to have a plan so that we’re not reactive.”

A new school for the youngest students

Elementary School No. 4 now has a location, as well. The new school will be built in the Harvest community on the west side of Interstate 35W, and officials said the doors will open to kindergarteners through fifth graders in the fall of 2024. District leaders said building crews will start construction this summer.

The school will be built at the northwest corner of 17th Street and Cleveland Gibbs Road. The property — 23 acres — was donated to Argyle ISD by developer Hillwood Properties.

When the project is finished, it will be the second Argyle elementary school in Harvest. Argyle West Elementary School, funded by the 2017 bond, opened in 2019. Argyle South Elementary School opened last fall in Canyon West in Flower Mound.

Planning for a decade of growth

School board members in January approved Argyle ISD’s strategic plan, which outlines priorities for elementary, middle and high school growth.

For high school, the plan would have the district split into two high schools for grades 9-12 when the current campus reaches an enrollment of 2,700. The sole high school campus currently has 1,474 students enrolled.

The plan also sets priorities for buildings and financial management. The plan will repurpose existing facilities and maximize additional space on all campuses. The district will reopen the former Argyle Intermediate School at 800 Eagle Drive as the new sixth grade center this fall.

The plan also manages elementary school growth, where most of the current growth is happening. Elementary school campuses will stay at 850 students each, while new middle school buildings will have capacity for 1,200 students — this is a drop from 1,400 students in earlier plans, a decision officials said is due to rising costs.

One middle school campus will serve students in sixth through eighth grades, while the second campus would use both the sixth grade center and a campus dedicated to students in seventh and eighth grades.

Wright said the district needs more classrooms, which means Argyle voters should expect a bond election in either 2024 or 2025.

Right now, district leaders are planning a bond package that would fund the sixth elementary school campus; the second middle school; and high school additions at the Canyon Falls campus, which is Argyle High School; and at the U.S. Highway 377 campus, which is now the middle school. Those additions would add more desks at each campus, with room for 2,250 students at the Canyon Falls campus and 1,750 at the U.S. 377 campus.

Voters approved the 2022 bond election, which will fund the fourth and fifth elementary schools, the first middle school, a high school stadium and an indoor activity center at Canyon Falls.