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Denton ISD Celebrates Historic Growth, Opens 25th Elementary, Flagship High School Starts New Beginnings on Bronco Way
Denton ISD posted its highest student enrollment numbers for the second consecutive year, welcoming 32,500 pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students through campus doors for the 2022-2023 school year. That number eclipsed last year’s then-record first-day enrollment total by more than 1,500 students.
The district continues to rank as the fastest-growing school district in the Dallas Ft. Worth area based on new home closings, far outpacing neighboring school districts in North Texas for new home starts, quarterly new home starts, current new home inventory, vacant developed lots and future lots.
“Our school district sits atop the list of the fastest-growing school districts in North Texas, a testament to our strong sense of community and its support for public education,” said Dr. Jamie Wilson, superintendent of schools. “In addition to the growth in our community, several improvement projects from the 2018 Capital Improvement Plan are drawing to a conclusion. The beautiful new Denton High School on Bronco Way is opening this school year.”
Situated in the ninth-fastest growing county in the United States, Denton ISD has had unprecedented growth for the past five years. That growth has led to the district averaging at least one new school opening since 2008.
Braswell High’s new academic wing, which increases its capacity from 2,200 to 2,400 students to accommodate the growth on that campus, opened. The newly expanded competition stadium at the Carrico Athletic Complex will open at Braswell High for the opening games in the first week of September.
Sandbrock Ranch Elementary, the district’s 25th campus for kindergarten through fifth graders, is located in the Sandbrock Ranch community in Aubrey. Principal Claire Springer opened the doors for the first time with a near-capacity student enrollment of 700 students.
“There has been so much intentionality and planning for SRE, so to see these doors swing open is what it's all about,” said Claire Springer, principal. “I am most excited for the kids, that's why we do this work, and I am extremely proud of our staff. I believe in our work and I will continue to ensure all kids learn at high levels every single day.”
Located in the far northeast corner of the district, just west of FM 1385, the elementary school in the Sandbrock Ranch sub-division in Aubrey is positioned at the southern end of the community development and will accommodate the growth in that part of the district and ease overcrowding at Union Park Elementary.
In the heart of Denton, Denton High School launched its highly anticipated replacement campus for the school that initially opened in 1884. The new facility, the school’s seventh location since its inception in 1884, is situated on approximately 150 acres of land on Bronco Way near the University of North Texas’ Discovery Park. It is less than 1.5 miles from the former location on Fulton Street, which opened in 1957.
The new Denton High, located near I-35 and Loop 288 on Bronco Way, is 490,000 square feet and was designed by VLK Architects and built by Northstar Builders. The campus serves 2,200 students and is one of the key projects that voters approved in May 2018 as part of a capital improvement plan targeting the district’s older facilities.
The new facility is equipped with Geothermal heating and cooling systems and with the latest Control System Technology for maximum energy savings. The new campus building is built with more than one million bricks of locally sourced clay from Denton County, fired at our local ACME Brick plant. The brick blend was hand selected and is known as ACME's “Bronco Blend.”
“When we began our initial planning for Denton High, we spent a great deal of time discussing how to preserve and expand many of the traditions from the Fulton Street campus into this new facility,” said Joel Hays, principal. “Today is the culmination of that vision. This entire week, we’ve seen the joy and excitement in the faces of our students and their parents during campus tours and scheduled class events. It’s safe to say there are a lot of happy students and staff entering the building this morning.”
The anticipation and build-up to making the new Denton High campus home did not disappoint, as the first day of school excitement from students, staff and parents was palpable.
“It’s exciting to have so many students moving into new campuses and new facilities, thanks to the strong support of our community,” said Dr. Wilson.