Richardson ISD’s six remaining junior highs are on track for expansion into middle schools by 2028, district officials presented to the school board at its Dec. 11 meeting.
The overview
Richardson ISD’s middle school transformation, which transitions sixth graders from elementary to junior high campuses, began with Lake Highlands and Forest Meadow, which opened as middle schools last year.
The 2025 bond that voters approved in November will fund construction on the remaining six junior high campuses to convert to middle schools.
“We wanted to ensure that there was equity across all eight middle school transformations, with Lake Highlands and Forest Meadow being our trailblazers,” Superintendent Tabitha Branum said. “However, every site and some programming that is housed at each campus does influence the design of the building, and each building will have a unique look and a unique identity.”
The details
The junior high campuses require varying levels of expansion, renovation and construction to take on the additional students and programming planned for the middle schools, chief of staff Mike Jasso told the school board. The current designs plan for a 1,000-student capacity across all campuses.
Academic and extracurricular programming expansions for the middle schools include:
Core academic spaces (sixth through eighth grade)Science/labsCareer and technical educationSpecial education and interventionFine arts and athleticsGuidance and counselingCollaborationTeacher support spacesAdministration/clinicCafeteria/kitchenRichardson West, the arts and technology magnet school, will also have culinary arts, robotics, theater and digital communications programming. Westwood, the math, science and leadership magnet, is set to have leadership, health science, computer science and criminal justice programming.
“We are now constructing schools that can compete with any other school in the DFW area,” board trustee Eric Eager said. “It’s going to have long-term impacts for current and future generations.”
Breaking it down
James Watson, RISD’s senior executive director of operations, presented initial design plans and early renderings for each of the transformed middle schools. The major construction plans for each school include:
Apollo Junior High
Building additions for core classrooms, cafeteria, kitchen and gymAdditional parkingNew main entryLiberty Junior HighConstructing new school where track and football field currently sitsReconstructing new track and football fieldNorth Junior HighNew building addition for administration space, cafeteria, library and gymShifting football field north to create additional parking and circulationNew main entryNew pickup and drop-off laneParkhill Junior HighThree-story addition with administration, fine arts and athleticsNew main entryNew parking and circulationNew tennis courtsWest Junior High:Constructing new three-story school on location of baseball fieldBaseball field reconstructed on old building siteAdditional parking and queuing areasWestwood Junior High:Constructing new building where track, football field and tennis courts are locatedReconstructing track, football field and tennis courts where old building sitsWatson said that every school will have longer queuing lanes for drop-off and pickup after the reconstruction.
Students will remain on all campuses throughout construction, with portable buildings used for instruction as needed.
What’s next
This month, the city is reviewing design plans, which are set to be finalized in the spring. School board President Chris Poteet said that people should be prepared for these early design plans to change throughout the process.
Construction is slated to begin in June and projected to last until May 2028, with all campuses planned to open to sixth graders as middle schools in fall 2028.