Northeast Houston high school opens on collegiate-inspired campus (Source: Houston Business Journal)

By Laura Gillespie

Sheldon Independent School District’s new 560,000-square-foot high school facility opened Jan. 8. It replaces the district’s previous C.E. King High School campus but retains the name.

The new and improved C.E. King High School, paid for by a $285 million bond program, is on a 185-acre, collegiate-inspired campus that includes the new Sheldon Lake Elementary at 13002 Sheldon Community Drive. The campus was built to accommodate Sheldon ISD’s rapid growth. The district grew 8 percent last year, twice the yearly growth that Sheldon ISD has seen in past years.

“It’s a significant amount of growth. When you think about 8 percent, in this district that means 800 students or so joining every year,” said JP Grom, vice president at Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, the Houston-based firm serving as program manager on the entire bond project. “So, you’re looking at a situation where you’re effectively having to build a new elementary school to accommodate the number of students that are flowing into the district annually.”

Superintendent King Davis estimates that the district will hit its projected target of 15,000 students by 2025. Currently, it has 10,200. Davis believes the new and improved facilities are attracting families to Sheldon ISD.

The high school opened with about 2,700 students, but it will be able to accommodate up to approximately 3,500.

It also offers new space to support college-readiness program.