Peck Elementary, at 5001 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., is LEED certified, with a projected energy savings of 16.5 percent per year.
HISD Superintendent Terry Grier and Chief Elementary Schools Officer Sam Sarabia joined a host of community notables, activists, elected officials, and former teachers on Jan. 20 to dedicate the new Lora B. Peck Elementary School.
Dr. Grier thanked Peck Principal Carlotta Brown for her dedication and leadership, citing recent challenges with flooding during the weeks leading up to the ceremony. “She was supposed to be celebrating her anniversary, at dinner with her husband,” he said, “but she was here at Peck, making sure each student was safe.”
The dedication program, entitled “Dreams Do Come True,” featured performances by Hanq Neal, minister of music at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, and Ballet Folklorico by Compania Alegria Mexican.
The new Peck campus, which was built with funds from the 2007 Bond Program, is considered a “high-performance” or “green” building, built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
Key features in LEED schools include the installation of water-conserving plumbing, energy efficient systems and controls, improved air quality, and use of natural light. Peck, which will use 38 percent less water than a similarly built, less-energy-efficient elementary school, is projected to have an energy savings of 16.5 percent per year.
| New Campuses, Renovations Across the District Major facility upgrades are happening at schools across the city thanks to the $805 million bond proposal that voters approved in 2007. Thousands of students at 15 elementary schools are enjoying newly constructed campuses, and many more students will have the same opportunity as HISD works to complete six new campuses in 2012 and expands an additional 10 campuses in time for the 2012-2013 school year. To see what’s changing in your neighborhood, visit hisdprojects.com. |