To help alleviate overcrowding and address the needs of our growing community, a total of nine new schools and a district-wide performing arts center were included in the 2004 and 2008 Bond Programs. Information about all of the new campuses and facilities is provided below. For information regarding attendance boundaries please click here.

2004 Bond Program

• Lance Corporal Nicholas Samuel Valdez Perez Elementary School, located at 7500 S. Pleasant Valley Road. The school opened August 2006. Lance Corporal Perez graduated from Travis High School in 2003 and joined the U.S. Marine Corps in July 2003. He was killed in action while conducting military maneuvers in IraqÕs Al Anbar Province in September 2004. He is the first Austinite killed in the Iraqi War.

• Nan Clayton Elementary School, located at 7525 La Crosse Avenue. The school opened August 2006. Ms. Clayton served on the AISD Board of Trustees from 1978-92, was the longest-serving Board Member, and only the second woman elected to the Board. She is active in a variety of local and state organizations dedicated to education, civic involvement, and quality of life issues.

• Volma Overton Elementary School, located in the Colony Park area. The school opened August 2007. Mr. Overton was a civil rights activist who, as president of the NAACP, led the fight against segregationist practices in Austin. In 1971, he filed a lawsuit to desegregate Austin Schools. He was awarded the 2004 LBJ Award for Leadership in Civil Rights. He died in October 2005.

• Gustavo L. "Gus" Garcia Middle School, located at 7414 Johnny Morris Road. The school opened August 2007. Mr. Garcia was a member of the AISD Board of Trustees from 1972-78 and was the first Hispanic elected to the Board. He also served as a member of the Austin City Council and was Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem of Austin from 2001-03 and 1996-98, respectively. He has served on numerous community boards including the Community Action Network, Greater Austin Chamber, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He has earned numerous awards including Humanitarian Award of the Martin Luther King Association and the Businessman of the Year Award of the Texas Association of Mexican American Chamber of Commerce.

• John C. Blazier Elementary School, located in the Goodnight Ranch area. The school opened August 2007. Mr. Blazier founded the Travis Community Education Foundation and contributes significant time to supporting its educational initiatives, including the establishment of the Institute of Hospitality & Culinary Arts at Travis High School. He served as chair of Austin Partners in Education in 2002-03, implementing a number of initiatives such as seeking logistical technology support for schools from governmental entities and private businesses. He has been awarded the DistrictÕs Partner of the Year Award and the Mentor of the Year Award, as well as the KVUE-TV Five Who Care Award.

• Diane Gorzycki Middle School, located near the intersection of Slaughter Lane and FM 1826. The school opened August 2009. Ms. Gorzycki was a music educator who served the students of AISD for 30 years. She was band director at both Porter and Bailey middle schools and, in 2006, was named the DistrictÕs Administrative Supervisor of Fine Arts. Bands under Ms. GorzyckiÕs direction earned numerous awards and were invited to perform at a variety of music conferences. An Austin native, she was a graduate of Austin High School and earned her degree in Music Education from The University of Texas at Austin. She retired from teaching in 2007 after being diagnosed with cancer. She died in September 2008 at age 54.

• Ross F. Baldwin Elementary School, located at 12200 Meridian Park Boulevard in the Meridian development near the intersection of FM 1826 and Highway 45. The school opened in fall 2010. The 32-classroom school encompasses 14 acres and 86,000 square feet. The school also includes playfields, parking lots, and bus circulation and automobile drives and is expected to earn a three-star rating in Austin Energy’s Green Building Program. The school is named for Ross Baldwin, a long-time AISD mentor and World War II veteran. Baldwin was a student mentor at Joslin Elementary School for nearly 30 years and in 2005, was named AISD Mentor of the Year. A successful business owner, he founded Baldwin Beauty Schools and was an active member of the Oak Hill Rotary Club for more than 25 years. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 82.

• Dr. Janis Guerrero Thompson Elementary School (New North Central Elementary School #1), located on 17.7 acres on Rock Hollow Lane to relieve overcrowding in the north central area of the district. In January 2012, the Board approved the schematic design and the school is currently under construction. The school is anticipated to open in fall 2013 and is named after Dr. Janis Guerrero Thompson. During her lifetime as an educator and education advocate, Dr. Thompson made significant contributions to the profession of teaching and was instrumental in creating systems to ensure inclusive practices for Hispanic and African American students in Texas. Dr. Thompson taught high school in AISD for 17 years and later became the executive director of the planning and community relations department for the District serving all AISD schools, faculty and staff, and its more than 86,000 students. A native Austinite, Dr. Thompson graduated from AISD’s Crockett High School and was an active volunteer in the community. In February 2008, she was named one of the "25 Most Influential Hispanics in Austin.” Visit the project page for the Dr. Janis Guerrero Thompson Elementary School (New North Central Elementary School #1) for current designs and development progress.

• Southeast Bus Terminal, located at 7222 Bluff Springs Road in southeast Austin. The new facility will relieve congestion and over-use of the District's existing bus terminals - Nelson Field Bus Terminal in the north and Saegert Bus Terminal in the south. The location of the new facility will also reduce the travel distance for buses serving students in the southeastern part of the District. Construction is nearly complete and the facility is expected to open in fall 2013. The bus terminal consists of a 9,800-square-foot administration building, a 13,300-square-foot maintenance building, parking for 176 school buses, staff parking, a bus wash bay and a covered bus fueling station. The site and configuration of the facility allow for future expansion of buildings and parking as needed. Visit the project page for the Southeast Bus Terminal for additional information.

2008 Bond Program

• Anita Uphaus Early Childhood Center, located on a 7.4-acre tract of land at 5200 Freidrich Lane, adjacent to Ponciana Park in southeast Austin. The Board of Trustees determined that the most appropriate strategy to address the overcrowding at Linder Elementary School was to provide an Early Childhood Center. The school opened in fall 2012 and was named after Anita Uphaus. Uphaus retired from AISD in 2006 after 32 years of service, which began when she was a kindergarten teacher at both Graham and Cook elementary schools. She also served as a curriculum coordinator, early childhood administrator and facilities administrative supervisor. As the supervisor of Early Childhood Programs between 1981 and 2006, Uphaus managed the development and growth of the district's pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs. Uphaus was also a key administrator in fostering collaboration between AISD and local and state agencies, and her initiatives played an influential role forming the legislation that created the state-funded, pre-kindergarten program.

• New North Central Elementary School #2, based on the needs of the District as noted through the Facility Master Planning process, the new elementary school will be located in north central Austin. Due to limited available land in the area, the Board approved the purchase of a site with an existing building that the District will adapt and repurpose for use as a school facility. The facility is currently in the design phase. Visit the project page for the New North Central Elementary School #2 for more information.

• District-wide performing arts center, located in the Mueller development along Mueller Boulevard between 51st Street and Barbara Jordan Boulevard for the Performing Arts Center. In January 2012, the Board approved the schematic design. The purchase of the site was finalized in March 2013. Construction of the facility is anticipated to be complete in 2014. Please see the Performing Arts Center Task Force page for more information.

• Land for a Future South High School, AISD staff are working with real estate consultants are identify candidate sites. These potential sites will be evaluated, scored, and ranked to identify a set of approximately sites for the Board’s consideration. Staff will discuss these sites with the Board in a future executive session.