Almeta Crawford High School sets a new precedent for Fort Bend ISD. The new school is a modern space where designers took an underdeveloped area and created an intuitive campus that pays homage to the deep roots of the district’s history. For nearly four decades the school’s namesake, Almeta Crawford, was an inspiring and highly respected educator at Fort Bend ISD. She taught for more than 30 years at Dulles High School and received numerous awards, including the 2018 Jan DeBlance Memorial Award for Instructional Excellence.

This Pre K-6 school serves children and families from Districts 3, 4 and 5 of the Gila River Indian Community. Located in District 5, the school is surrounded by cultivated farmland and in a region which has historically been the agricultural hub for the Akimel O'otham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) peoples. The school focuses on student's global readiness while maintaining the Akimel O'otham Ñeo'ok and Himdag. The campus provides an immersive cultural experience, helping to preserve the languages, stories, and traditions of the tribes. The layout of the campus takes inspiration from the agricultural fields that sustained the Akimel O'otham and Pee Posh and the canals they were so skilled in devising and constructing. Classroom clusters and core/community buildings are organized around a central ribbon of green space. The campus includes indoor and outdoor commons areas that provide each grade level cluster space for flexible instruction.

Jefferson Early Childhood Center encourages exploration, environmental education, and peer interaction for students of all developmental stages. Evidence of the facility’s focus on early learners appears in everything from the playful facade and classroom window placement to the energetic color scheme and quiet HVAC system. The efficient design reduces construction costs, and an energy-efficient geothermal system lowers heating and cooling costs. Legat Architects’ designers drew inspiration not only from administrators, teachers, and parents, but also from community members and specialists ranging from physical and occupational therapists to speech and language pathologists.

The feelings of a child experiencing each moment of life are robust and alive. It is this essence of whimsy and the joy of learning that is captured in the design of the new Early Excellence Academy, a learning environment to serve the earliest learners of Tomball ISD. DLR Group’s design is rooted in biophilic elements that evoke curiosity and connection to the natural world. With a design concept centered on scale and growth, an immersive experience takes the learner through the space. Careful consideration to create a physical environment that engages the user in their surroundings affords the learner and educator the opportunity to use the school as a tool for learning. This innovative environment inspires wonder and discovery through an educational journey that is founded in creative imagining. Research-based design strategies incorporated into each learning pod support the specific needs of early childhood learners.