JONT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
With the 2017-18 school year just weeks away, a construction program that has resulted in a new high school continues to transform the Randolph Field Independent School District complex on the far west side of Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.
The new school year will begin Aug. 28 with the Randolph High School construction phase complete: a new school building that greeted students a year ago, new baseball and softball fields and a new multi-use cafetorium/gymnasium facility that opened in March.
Work is underway on a transportation and maintenance facility that will replace the current one, and a middle school addition is on the horizon, said Lance Johnson, Randolph Field ISD superintendent.
“The next piece we will begin design work on in September is an addition to the current middle school building,” he said. “Once that is built out, we will turn our focus to the demolition of the old high school building. We hope to begin construction of the new middle school addition in the late spring or early summer of 2018.”
The two-story, 44,000-square-foot high school facility that was dedicated last August is meeting the district’s expectations, Johnson said. The facility was built behind the old high school, which dates back to the school’s founding in 1962.
“The feedback I get from staff and students while walking the halls is very positive,” he said. “It has enhanced our science lab experiences, computer lab experiences and provides 21st-century space for our students to engage in collaborative settings.”
District officials are likewise pleased with the 33,000-square-foot cafetorium/gymnasium facility.
“It is a multi-use facility, used for theater and other fine arts performances, food services, physical education and athletics,” Johnson said. “The cafeteria will seat 392 inside with additional covered patio seating for approximately 75. The gymnasium will seat 720 and has the capability to run two practices at the same time, then convert to a competition gym for game nights.
“We are very proud of how the facility ended up, and it took care of two core space needs under one roof,” he said.
The district continues to work through a long-range facility plan that will ultimately end up with a new elementary campus, Johnson said.
“We are a few years out from that piece of the puzzle,” he said.