Aubrey ISD is building its fifth elementary school and has named the campus for retired custodian Marilyn Hampton. The Guardian and the San Antonio Express-News report that the district announced the name at its October 21 board meeting. Hampton, 76, had been invited under the pretext of discussing a school matter, according to those reports.
Hampton worked for the district for 39 years and retired from custodial work in 2022. The Guardian and the Express-News report that she also helped students with schoolwork, supplied materials to children who needed them and staffed the football ticket booth. The Express-News says she later worked as a substitute teacher at the district’s early learning center and continued attending board meetings.
At the meeting, Superintendent Shannon Saylor credited Hampton with improving school life for generations of Aubrey ISD families and asked her to reveal the school’s name on a red carpet, the Express-News reports. A video of the announcement received nearly 2,000 Facebook likes and 450 comments, the newspaper says. Hampton’s daughter, Stormi, thanked people for sharing memories of her mother.
The Guardian reports that the campus is under construction and is scheduled to open in August. A Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation construction record lists the address as 5000 FM 2931, an estimated cost of $41 million and a completion date of July 1, 2027. That record has not been independently confirmed in full.
Enrollment growth
Aubrey ISD’s growing student population offers context for the planned fifth elementary campus. According to the Texas Tribune Schools Explorer, the district enrolled 4,897 students in 2026, up 111.4 percent since 2016. That increase points to a substantially larger student population, though the figure alone does not establish the district’s specific capacity needs or planning rationale.
Hampton’s school is not the only campus named for a longtime custodian. In Missouri, the Swedeborg School Board voted unanimously in August 2024 to name its primary elementary building after custodian Claudene Wilson, who had worked there for more than 30 years, according to People. The Guardian also identifies an Ann Arbor school that opened in 1973 and was named for longtime custodian Clifford E. Bryant.
