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The Wilson Montessori K-8 campus is beginning to take a new form as crews continue building a three-story addition and gymnasium, both of which are now more than halfway complete.
The Montrose-area school is receiving $18.9 million under the voter-approved 2012 Bond program. The project includes construction of a new three-story addition, as well as renovations to the existing facility, which was built in 1924.
The renovation work, which includes updates to the library, reception area, and other rooms, could be completed as early as this summer. Work on the new addition will continue into the next school year.
The overall target completion date for the project is third quarter of 2018, with doors expected to open to students in time for the start of the 2018-2019 school year.
“The construction crew has been very diligent. I can actually see offices now,” Wilson Principal Merrie Bonnette said. “We are thrilled about the progress being made.”
Design plans call for a two-story library space with large exterior windows to bring in natural light and connect students to the outdoors. Also included will be flexible learning spaces and a new bus loop off Windsor Street that has a covered canopy for students.
Adding a third floor will provide the school with about 58,000 extra square feet, eliminating the need for temporary buildings. The addition will feature a learning center, drama room, multipurpose rooms and a dining area with storefront glass as its north border looking out onto the exterior landscape. Fourth- through eighth-grade students will be housed on the third floor of the new addition, while pre-kindergarten through third-grade students will remain in the existing building.
Wilson Montessori is among 40 schools, including 29 high schools, being rebuilt or renovated as part of HISD’s 2012 Bond program. Active construction is underway on roughly three dozen campuses across the district. Almost half of the schools in the program will be complete and open to students by the end of the summer. Once all work is finished, the district will boast of one of the most modern portfolios of urban high schools in the country.
Go on a virtual visit of the construction site