Sam Houston Elementary is about to get a serious size upgrade. Maryville City Schools plans to launch a phased expansion this summer that will add roughly 25,000 square feet and space for about 160 more students, boosting the school's capacity to around 660. The project calls for new classrooms, a gym, and an enlarged cafeteria, with part of the existing parking lot turned into a construction zone to keep work as far from classrooms as possible. District leaders say the primary goal is to ease overcrowding at nearby Foothills Elementary, a move that will come with targeted rezoning and staff shifts if the plan wins final approval. Families can expect construction activity over the summer and carefully staggered work during the school year so students stay in class.
Construction schedule and first phase
Officials say the buildout will roll out in phases, starting with the parking lot, so heavy equipment is buffered from learning spaces from day one. "The very first phase is the parking lot... that's going to be ready to go by the time you come back to school," Sam Houston Principal Molly Rice told families at a public meeting last Tuesday. The district is already taking contractor submissions and plans to stage crews so day-to-day school operations continue, according to The Daily Times.
What's being built
Current plans call for roughly 10 to 11 new classrooms, a hardwood-floor gym, and an expanded cafeteria redesigned for two-sided serving lines to move kids through faster. The existing gym would be partially converted into a new library space, and the current stage would be removed. The playground stays where it is under the present design. In all, the project adds more than 25,000 square feet and brings the campus close to the 100,000-square-foot mark. Those details appear in district planning materials and earlier coverage from Maryville City Schools.
Bids, safety measures and timeline
Maryville City Schools plans to accept bids for the expansion on March 3 and hold a called school board meeting on March 9 to review submissions. Construction is scheduled to start this summer and is expected to run roughly 15 to 18 months. At a public meeting, district staff said new windows and doors in the project will include ballistic film on the interior side, and that all construction workers will have to clear mandatory background checks. Administrators did not name a final contract amount at that meeting, although they have identified millions in fund balance to help pay for the work, according to The Daily Times.
How students and teachers will be affected
If the plan moves ahead, district staff estimate they will shift students primarily from Foothills Elementary to Sam Houston at a rate of roughly 100 students per grade, and reassign about one teacher per grade to fill the new classrooms. Sam Houston currently enrolls about 479 students, and the added space would raise capacity into the mid-600s while easing crowded rooms elsewhere in the system. District leaders say they will create a central information hub on the Sam Houston webpage and keep families posted on bus routes and enrollment options as rezoning maps are finalized. For rezoning maps and more details, see Maryville City Schools.
Next steps
The school board will review contractor bids and any required approvals in early March before crews gear up for summer work. Administrators say they will keep families updated on traffic shifts, bussing plans, and construction staging as the timeline firms up. If the board signs off on contracts, the district will release public renderings and a detailed construction phasing plan, and expects to sequence the work so it clashes with the school calendar as little as possible. Neighbors and parents looking for the latest schedule or bus information are being urged to watch district and school communications for the coming information hub.
