New Braunfels ISD's first district-wide magnet elementary school opens its doors Monday, welcoming kindergarten through second-grade students to a campus built around hands-on lessons in agriculture, culinary arts, STEM and medical exploration. CREATE at County Line is housed inside the former County Line Elementary building and marks a significant experiment for a district trying to hold onto families amid a housing boom that hasn't translated into more students filling classroom seats.
District officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday, August 13, ahead of the school's official opening. Principal April Jones, who also serves as the campus's behavior coordinator, cut the ribbon and told those gathered that “today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter as we are embracing a bold vision for learning,” according to Community Impact. Jones added that the school's mission is to “provide an engaging and innovative learning environment where every student is inspired to grow.”
NBISD Board President Nancy York called the milestone a broader achievement for the district, saying it was “what an exciting and meaningful day this is, not just for NBISD, but for every student and family who will call CREATE their home.” York also credited the wider community, noting that CREATE at County Line “is the result of vision, collaboration and dedication from many groups and individuals.”
Six Pillars Guide the New Curriculum
The campus, located at 1200 W. County Line Road in New Braunfels, organizes its philosophy around six pillars: curiosity, resilience, entrepreneurship, artistry, teamwork and empowerment. Those themes are meant to run through specialized modules that supplement core instruction, including agriculture, culinary arts, digital media, outdoor learning, medical exploration and STEM, per the same report. Despite the experiential focus, the school is still legally required to teach all grade-level Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills core standards, according to New Braunfels ISD, since Texas public magnet programs must meet state academic accountability guidelines.
A Parent Advisory Committee worked with administrators throughout the 2025-26 planning year to help shape the CREATE model and campus philosophy, the district says. That group met regularly during the design year before the launch, feeding directly into the pillars now guiding daily instruction for the school's kindergarten through second-grade students.
Demand Outpaced a Single Neighborhood
Interest in the new magnet reached well beyond County Line's existing attendance zone. Projected enrollment for the campus was set at 312 students as of February, built from 170 new magnet applications submitted from families across every NBISD elementary campus plus 142 returning County Line students, according to Community Impact. Those new applications broke down to 52 kindergartners, 71 first graders and 47 second graders.
That demand reflects a demographic puzzle the district has been wrestling with. A PASA demographic study presented in January found that NBISD's resident population grew by 3,000 to 4,000 people between 2019 and 2025, yet districtwide student enrollment gained only 350 students over that same five-year stretch, per Community Impact's reporting. County Line was chosen in part because its neighborhood elementary numbers were already lower than other campuses, giving the district room to convert the site without displacing large numbers of students immediately.
A Plan Rooted in Years of District Strategy
The magnet framework traces back to Pillar 2 of NBISD's “Future Focused 2030” strategic plan, which directs the district to build hands-on, future-ready learning options, according to the San Antonio Express-News. District leaders formed a Future Ready Learning Implementation Team to draft that vision before CREATE ever had a building assigned to it.
The conversion did not happen without friction. Parents raised concerns about student displacement during initial rezoning surveys, and NBISD adjusted its plan in January 2025 to introduce a phased transition model, allowing students already enrolled in first grade at the time to complete fifth grade at County Line rather than being moved out immediately, according to NBISD.
New Campuses and a Major Bond Made Room
To free up space for the magnet conversion, the district opened two new elementary campuses in 2025: Lamar Elementary, which feeds into New Braunfels High School, and Legend Point Elementary, which feeds into Long Creek High School. Both were built to absorb students rezoned out of other attendance boundaries as the district reshuffled its elementary footprint, the Express-News reported.
Those facility investments were backed by a $313 million bond package New Braunfels ISD voters approved in May 2024, dedicated to school safety upgrades, campus expansions and other major capital projects — one of the largest facility funding programs in district history, per NBISD. That financial footing carried into this summer, when the NBISD Board of Trustees approved a $114.68 million operating budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year in June, including a 2% raise for all staff, a move Hoodline covered in its report on the district's new budget. That budget runs from July 1 through June 30, 2027, and underwrites district operations during the magnet school's launch year.
Logistics for Families Heading Into Opening Day
Ahead of Monday's opening, the district issued a correction to families after an earlier notice contained incorrect scheduling information. CREATE at County Line's daily hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to a post from the Create at County Line NBISD Facebook page. The Community Impact article covering the ribbon-cutting was written by Emily Harter and published in the outlet's education section.
