Honor and Valor: East Central ISD picks names for new schools

East Central Independent School District officials have picked names for two schools being built to accommodate the district’s swelling enrollment.

As part of a $240 million bond approved by voters in 2022, East Central ISD will build three campuses to alleviate student congestion at its existing schools. Two of the schools in the district’s northern corridor now have names: Honor Elementary School and Valor Middle School.

“Our community played a crucial role in this decision,” the district said in a written statement.

The names were approved by the East Central ISD board after receiving recommendations from a naming committee made up of community members, staff and parents.

Both schools are under construction. Honor Elementary School, on North Graytown Road in Saint Hedwig, is scheduled to open in August. Valor Middle School, which is being built a few miles away next to Tradition Elementary School, is expected to open in 2026.

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A Facebook post announcing the names of the new campuses garnered more than 200 likes and dozens of comments, many of which applauded the district’s expansion. Some said more needs to be done to cope with a ballooning student body.  

The largely rural but rapidly changing school district has seen an influx of students from subdivision development on the Southeast Side, even as districts in the city center have been forced to shutter schools amid declining enrollments.

“We’re going to need a new high school soon too,” one user wrote, echoing several other comments. Others asked when the new boundary lines would be released.

The construction of a new high school would require the approval of a another bond package, a district spokesperson responded. It’s unclear whether district officials have any plans to seek voter approval for additional bond money. 

Construction crews are expected to break ground on a second elementary school in November 2024. The three new campuses will each include 40 classrooms, two life skills classrooms, science labs and an art room. 

Other bond projects include the development of a new, multipurpose career and technical education center, additions to several campuses, upgrades to outdoor spaces, across-the-board security improvements and a new transportation hub to accommodate a growing bus fleet. The district provides a timeline of all the projects on its website. 

“The additions of two new elementary schools and a new middle school, as well as numerous renovations, are going to help us effectively address several issues that we’ve been experiencing because we’re growing so quickly,” Superintendent Roland Toscano said in a written statement.

East Central ISD currently serves about 10,000 students on the Southeast Side, but continued residential development is expected to draw in thousands more over the next decade. The district expects enrollment to reach 13,215 students by the end of 2025 and 19,689 students by 2032.

The rapid growth is in stark contrast to the population decline in central San Antonio, where three school districts have been forced to shutter schools and a fourth is considering closures to address half-empty campuses and depleted state funding.

But East Central ISD is not alone in raising more school buildings — and expanding existing ones — to adapt to future trends in the district’s demographics. Southwest ISD is also constructing two new elementary schools to eliminate the need for portable classrooms.