Facilities, Growth, & Boundaries

Waco Independent School District

On November 2, 2021, voters in Waco ISD authorized the district to issue $355 million in bonds to replace Waco High, G.W. Carver Middle, Tennyson Middle and Kendrick Elementary with new schools built in the same locations and to renovate South Waco Elementary.

G.W. Carver Middle is large enough to accommodate students currently zoned to both G.W. Carver and Indian Spring middle schools. The new Kendrick Elementary will be large enough to accommodate many of the students currently zoned to Alta Vista Elementary, with the remaining Alta Vista Elementary students going to a renovated South Waco Elementary.

The total cost of the four new schools and renovations was estimated at $367.1 million. Following the fire at G.W. Carver Middle, the proposed bond amount was reduced to $355 million to account for an insurance settlement.

Bond Projects

Waco High School

The Waco High School Groundbreaking Ceremony was held on October 7, 2022. The new campus will be large enough to accommodate 2,150 students and it's set to open in time for the 2025-2026 school year.

Groundbreaking Photos

Groundbreaking Ceremony Video.

Waco High School Groundbreaking Ceremony

Project Scope

Size: 370,000 sq.ft.
Capacity: 2,132 Students
Budget: 157.1 M
Completion Date: Fall 2025
Rendering Animation
Construction Site Aerials

Documents

Waco High Schematic Design
Waco High Final Interior Design
Market Overview and WHS GMP
Market Overview and WHS GMP Revised
Waco High GMP 2

In the News

In the News

G.W. Carver Middle School

Waco ISD hosted the G.W. Carver Middle School Groundbreaking ceremony on May 6, 2022. Special guests included the G.W. Carver Alumni Historical Advisory Committee, former G.W. Carver students, current G.W. Carver and Indian Spring students, and many community members.

Groundbreaking Ceremony Photos.

Groundbreaking Ceremony Video.

GW Carver MS Project Photos

Project Scope

Size: 184,000 sq.ft.
Capacity: 1,060 students
Budget: $73.2 M
Completion Date: Fall 2023
Rendering Animation
Construction Site Aerials

Documents

Carver Schematic Design
Design Presentation
Carver GMP 1
Carver GMP 2
Carver GMP 3

Tennyson Middle School

Tennyson Middle School Groundbreaking Ceremony

Groundbreaking Ceremony Photos.

Groundbreaking Ceremony Video.

Project Scope

Size: 184,000 sq.ft.
Capacity: 1,060 Students
Budget: $77.6 M
Completion Date: Fall 2024
Rendering Animation

Documents

Tennyson Schematic Design
Tennyson Design Development
Tennyson Award Contract

In the News
Monthly Report

In the News

Monthly Report

Kendrick Elementary School

Project Scope

Size: 93,000 sq.ft.
Capacity: 750 students
Budget: $47,440,657
Completion Date: May 2025

Beam Signing
Kendrick Elementary Back Amphitheater
Kendrick Elementary Stairs
Kendrick Elementary Neighborhood
Kendrick Elementary Main Entrance
Kendrick Elementary Gym Alt Side
Kendrick Elementary Front Entry and 2nd Story
Kendrick Elementary Cafeteria to Library

Documents

Kendrick and South Waco Update 8-24-2023
Kendrick and South Waco Elementary Design Development
Board Memo

South Waco Elementary

Project Scope

Size: 91,600 sq.ft.
Capacity: 750 Students
Budget: $26.3 M
Completion Date: Spring 2025
Groundbreaking : February 2, 2024

South Waco Elementary Neighborhood Existing
South Waco Elementary Neighborhood Addition
South Waco Elementary Library
South Waco Elementary Corridor
South Waco Elementary Cafeteria
South Waco Elementary Animation

Documents

Kendrick and South Waco Elementary Design Development
Board Memo

In the News

In the News

Construction Updates

Construction Updates

April 10, 2025 - Video
April 10, 2025 - Photos
March 17, 2025 - Video
March 17, 2025 - Photos
January 28, 2025 - Video
January 28, 2025 - Photos
November 13, 2024 - Drone Video
November 13, 2024 - Photos
October 10, 2024 - Drone Video
October 10, 2024 - Photos
September 10, 2024 Drone Video
September 10, 2024 Photos
June 5, 2024 Drove Video
June 5, 2024 Photos
March 27, 2024 Photos
SW Construction Celebration Video, February 2, 2024

Texas Education Code

Texas Education Code - Section 11.253. Campus Planning And Site-Based Decision-Making
§ 11.253. CAMPUS PLANNING AND SITE-BASED DECISION-MAKING.

Each school district shall maintain current policies and procedures to ensure that effective planning and site-based decision-making occur at each campus to direct and support the improvement of student performance for all students.
Each district's policy and procedures shall establish campus-level planning and decision-making committees as provided for through the procedures provided by Sections 11.251(b)-(e).
Each school year, the principal of each school campus, with the assistance of the campus-level committee, shall develop, review, and revise the campus improvement plan for the purpose of improving student performance for all student populations, including students in special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, with respect to the academic excellence indicators adopted under Section 39.051 and any other appropriate performance measures for special needs populations.
Each campus improvement plan must:
1. assess the academic achievement for each student in the school using the academic excellence indicator system as described by Section 39.051;
2. set the campus performance objectives based on the academic excellence indicator system, including objectives for special needs populations, including students in special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;
3. identify how the campus goals will be met for each student;
4. determine the resources needed to implement the plan;
5. identify staff needed to implement the plan;
6. set timelines for reaching the goals;
7. measure progress toward the performance objectives periodically to ensure that the plan is resulting in academic improvement;
8. include goals and methods for violence prevention and intervention on campus; and
9. provide for a program to encourage parental involvement at the campus.
In accordance with the administrative procedures established under Section 11.251(b), the campus-level committee shall be involved in decisions in the areas of planning, budgeting, curriculum, staffing patterns, staff development, and school organization. The campus-level committee must approve the portions of the campus plan addressing campus staff development needs.
This section does not create a new cause of action or require collective bargaining.
Each campus-level committee shall hold at least one public meeting per year. The required meeting shall be held after receipt of the annual campus rating from the agency to discuss the performance of the campus and the campus performance objectives. District policy and campus procedures must be established to ensure that systematic communications measures are in place to periodically obtain broad-based community, parent, and staff input, and to provide information to those persons regarding the recommendations of the campus-level committees.
A principal shall regularly consult the campus-level committee in the planning, operation, supervision, and evaluation of the campus educational program.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 510, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1202, § 3, eff. June 18, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1365, § 1, eff. June 19, 1999; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, § 4.003, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Improvement Plans

Elementary Campus

Elementary Campus

Secondary Campus

Secondary Campus

District Improvement Plan

2025-2026
DIP Purpose

2025-2026

The WISD District Improvement Plan (DIP) is prepared annually in accordance with requirements of Chapter 11, Subchapter F, of the Texas Education Code, specifically §11.251 and §11.252. These requirements are also contained in WISD policies BQ(Legal) and BQA(Legal).

Each school district shall have a district improvement plan that is developed, evaluated, and revised annually, in accordance with district policy, by the Superintendent with the assistance of the district-level committee. The purpose of the district improvement plan is to guide district and campus staff on the improvement of student performance for all student groups, in order to attain state standards with respect to academic excellence indicators.

2025-2026 District Improvement Plan

DIP Purpose

To document a Comprehensive System for Continuous Improvement for the district.

The system is accomplished at the district, campus, and individual employee levels, through establishment of policy, and delivery of a number of long-range, ongoing, and annual actions. An integral feature of the system is the alignment of all district planning efforts with the Strategic Plan.

District of Innovation

Overview
Amended 2022 District of Innovation Plan

Overview

Waco ISD was one of the first school districts in Central Texas to take advantage of a new state law and become a designated “District of Innovation,” gaining more local control over the educational process in our community.

In March 2017, the Waco ISD Board of Trustees adopted the district's first District of Innovation Plan. The plan must be reviewed and renewed every five years, and in May 2022, the school board renewed it.

The Texas Legislature during the 84th Legislative Session passed House Bill (HB) 1842, which provides the opportunity for Texas public schools to be designated as Districts of Innovation.

Districts of Innovation may be exempted from a number of state statutes and will allow a local school district to consider pursuing specific innovations in curriculum, instruction, governance, parent or community involvement, school calendar, budgeting, or other local district concepts and ideas. HB 1842 allows for a local public school district to develop a plan which may have greater local control and the ability to gain exemption from many Texas Education Code requirements.

The Districts of Innovation legislation provides for a local public school district to develop a plan which includes exemptions from many of the state laws that are not applicable to open enrollment school districts (charter schools). Laws that may be exempted include:

Site-based decision making processes (to the extent required by state law)
Uniform school start date
Minimum minutes of instruction
Class size ratio
The 90 percent attendance rule (compulsory attendance still applies)
Student discipline (code of conduct and restrictions on restraint and seclusion still apply)
Teacher certification (federal law still applies)
Teacher contracts
Teacher benefits, including state minimum salary schedule, duty-free lunch, and planning periods
Teacher appraisal system

Amended 2022 District of Innovation Plan

Long-range Facilities Planning

LRFP Overview

Beginning in January 2021, the Waco ISD Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and district staff began meeting publicly to study the WISD's facility needs and help develop the Facilities Long-Range Master Plan.

A Facilities Master Plan is a 10 to 15-year strategy for Waco ISD for alignment of education vision and facilities while accommodating student enrollment and demographics as well as addressing on-going maintenance and operational needs.

Over the course of eight meetings, the CAC reviewed and discussed data and reports from staff on facilities conditions, educational suitability, and educational vision. In addition, the CAC reviewed the district’s bond debt capacity and demographic trends and predictions. The process concluded with final recommendations by the CAC on Monday, May 24.

Early in the committee’s process, CAC members began focusing on some of the district’s oldest buildings: Waco High School built in 1961, G.W. Carver and Tennyson middle schools built in the 1950's, and Kendrick Elementary built in 1952. While all four campuses had some renovations in the intervening decades, the committee concluded that the buildings do not meet the educational needs of today’s students and that it makes more sense to replace the existing campuses with new buildings at their current location than to incur the high maintenance costs anticipated over the next 10 to 15 years.

In some cases, the committee also discussed replacing existing campuses with larger buildings that could serve more students and, in doing so, offer more academic programs while reducing administrative costs. One possibility discussed was to build a replacement for G.W. Carver Middle that would be large enough to accommodate the students currently attending both G.W.Carver and Indian Spring middle schools. Another was to build a larger Kendrick Elementary that could also serve many of the students currently attending Alta Vista Elementary.

Architects from O’Connell Robertson presented the Facilities Long-Range Master Plan, including committee recommendations, to the Board of Trustees at the Regular Meeting on June 10th.

Attendance Boundary Process

To view an interactive map of the March 27, 2025 Approved Waco ISD Attendance Boundaries, click here:

Interactive Map

In November 2021, Waco citizens passed a $355 million bond, earmarked to open the new G. W. Carver Middle School that also serves the former Indian Spring Middle School student population (opened in August 2023). The bond funding also replaced Tennyson Middle School with the new state of the art facility that opened in August 2024. Kendrick Elementary and Waco High as well as the extensive expansion and renovation of South Waco Elementary are also part of the bond package. These three schools are scheduled to open in August 2025. Due to the new, larger Kendrick Elementary and expansion of South Waco Elementary, new attendance boundaries for Alta Vista Elementary students were required and the school is scheduled to close in June 2025.

Through implementation of the long-range facility master plan across Waco ISD, a committee of parents representing every campus in the district city and community representatives, along with teachers and departmental staff are participating in a series of public meetings throughout the fall of 2024. The committee's goal is to make recommendations to the Waco ISD Board of Trustees so that the District can provide timely communication to students and their families by April 2025.

All committee meetings are held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Waco ISD Conference Center, 501 Franklin Avenue. Public forums are scheduled February 18 at Tennyson Middle School, February 20 at G.W. Carver Middle School, and March 25 at Alta Vista Elementary School.

The committee will review several scenarios before presenting its proposals to the WISD Board of Trustees no later than April 2025. The Board is responsible for the final decision on the attendance boundaries.

Facilities Long-Range Master Plan

Community Advisory Committee Members

2020-2021 Waco ISD Board of Trustees
Campus Representatives

2020-2021 Waco ISD Board of Trustees

Campus Representatives

Waco ISD Board of Trustees (as of May 13, 2021)
Parent and Community Representatives

Waco ISD Board of Trustees (as of May 13, 2021)

Parent and Community Representatives

John Bible
Josh Blake
Taylor Bledsoe
Josh Borderud
Gretchen Braunstein
Josh Caballero
Vera Castillo
Andre Chapa
Dustin Chapman
Anna Clark Martinez
Jackye Clayton
Kris Collins
Malcolm Duncan
Rick Dunn
Deidra Emerson
Francene Francis
Felicia Goodman
Keith Guillory
Rich Haskett
Peaches Henry
Tiffany Hogue
K. Paul Holt
Emily Iazzetti
Marlon Jones
Jessica Juarez
Ben Lacy
Stephanie Mabry
Jennifer Manning
Robin McDurham
Johnnette McKown
Dillon Meek
Hope Mustakim
Amber Nava
Kris Olson
Rachel Pate
Suzii Paynter March
Clint Peters
Sarah Pullen
Randy Riggs
Misty Rodriguez
Hazel Rowe
Ashley Royal
Ilda Sabido
Tonee Shelton
Alfred Solano
Tom Stanton
Joy Summar-Smith
Ford Taylor
Aaron Zimmerman
Andrea Zimmerman

District Level Representatives