The new campus is organized around wings extending from a central core.
Honor Elementary School: Model Learner
With enrollments projected to double by decade’s end, a Texas school district is developing an elementary school design to serve as a prototype for future campuses.
In San Antonio’s East Central Independent School District (ECISD), one of the fastest-growing districts in Texas, educators and designers are collaborating to create an easily tailored, efficient model for new elementary schools.
Honor Elementary School, a new pre-K–5 school, is version 2.0 of that process. Designed around a central core library, the 900-student campus provides flexibility, outdoor learning environments and a focus on an early childhood learning center, creating a template that will be used in at least two upcoming elementary schools.
The model helps reduce the design and construction timeline, simplify cost-estimating and bring predictability to the results. It also provides a sense of equity across the district.
“A big benefit of replicating the architectural plan is ensuring that parity or comparability, even with the existing schools,” says Superintendent of Schools Roland Toscano.
Honor is based on ECISD’s Tradition Elementary School, also designed by LPA, which opened in 2020. Following its completion, LPA conducted a post-occupancy evaluation (POE), gathering feedback from teachers, parents and other users regarding the school’s appearance and function, which provided a foundation for the design of the Honor campus.
Addressing Priorities
The campus is designed like a windmill, with three wings radiating from a central core that contains the school library, the hub of learning. The spokes connect a two-story academic building, a separate early childhood center and a wing for the gym, cafeteria and art facilities. The design is segmented roughly by grade. Pre-K classrooms are located at the end of one wing, separating the young learners from older students; fourth and fifth graders are housed on the second floor of the academic building.
Jim Oppelt, LPA Design Director
“Adding a second level allowed us to reduce the overall footprint and create grade-level connections and community at the same time,” says LPA Senior Project Manager Carlos Constantino.
ECISD educators wanted to reduce the time students were spending traveling to restrooms and various activities. In response, restrooms are situated at the center of each wing, and the art classrooms, gym and cafeteria are clustered together.
Research helped guide the development of outdoor play and learning spaces.
Security was also top priority. A secure lobby and multiple layers of protection requested by the district were included in the initial design concepts.
“LPA was clearly a partner that wants to deliver on our expectations,” Toscano says. “We saw examples of that again and again. They never hesitated to go the extra mile.”
Open spaces like the cafeteria can be easily reconfigured for different uses.
The Next Step
The lessons learned from the Tradition POE helped make subtle but important changes to the design. For example, the library, which was originally open around the perimeter, was fully closed off after educators expressed concerns about noise, corridor traffic and the separation of a second-floor collaboration space. Coworking areas outside of classroom clusters originally programmed with built-in sink and countertop weren’t being used; they were removed to help open spaces for more uses.
“What [the campus and client] are looking for as we continue to evolve their prototype further is value,” says LPA Design Director Jim Oppelt. “We focus on things that are well used and carry those forward.”
Roland Toscano, Superintendent of Schools
Flexibility is a key priority for the district. Spaces are designed for multiple uses, recognizing that the new normal is going to change. Open environments can be easily reconfigured; an office can be a conference room or workspace.
“The community expects adequate form with a heavy emphasis on function,” Superintendent Toscano says. “Within function we wanted flexible spaces to the degree they could be future-proof.”
The library includes nooks for students to find private time.
Collaborative learning spaces were grouped together and arranged to be repurposed and offer access to different groups. “It creates a community of teachers able to operate in a way that says, ‘These kids are all of our kids,’” Toscano says.
The early childhood learning center, with learning environments and equipment scaled to 4- and 5-year-olds, includes an outdoor learning center, with spaces that are purpose built with adjacency and accessibility to that early learning wing. The outdoor spaces were partially funded by Pre-K SA, a City of San Antonio initiative, to help deliver a new generation of early childhood learning spaces. The shaded environments are designed to inspire imagination, discovery and an appreciation for nature.
“The design of those spaces is informed by all of the best research out there on how 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds learn in their natural environments,” Toscano says. “Not only are the spaces conducive to exploration and to creativity and play that is imaginative, but the staff are trained to facilitate those experiences.”
The second floor helped reduce the school's overall footprint.
The Results
Since Honor opened in 2024, ECISD leaders have been able to see how the design elements have affected the campus experience. The school is full but doesn’t feel overcrowded. There is a flow to the movement of students and activities, while the separation between grades is maintained, even in transition periods. “I see a lot of smiling faces and positive energy when I visit,” Toscano says.
Toscano loves watching how parents react when they drop their kids at Honor for the first time. They often comment on the sunny spaces and easy flow within the campus.
“They’re surprised by how beautiful the school is,” Toscano says. “They like how it feels, how it looks and how accessible it is.”
