The Austin Independent School District’s Board of Trustees voted Monday on names for two new schools in the district. Bear Creek Elementary will be the name of the new school being built in Southwest Austin. Norman-Sims Elementary will be the name of the new, modernized building at the former Norman Elementary site.
Trustee Yasmin Wagner, who represents Bear Creek, showed the board a photo of the view from the new building, which looks out onto the creek that is the school’s namesake.
“Bear Creek runs about half a mile south of the school,” she said. “It’s a view of a creek that the children are going to be looking out every day from their classrooms.”
Bear Creek is expected to open in August.
Norman-Sims is a combination of Norman Elementary and Sims Elementary, the two school communities that will be attending the new site.
The new school names were the popular choice among their naming committees, which were made up of community members.
Bear Creek Elementary was built to address overcrowding in South Austin schools. The Norman-Sims merger comes as a result of dwindling AISD enrollment in East Austin. Sims Elementary is one of four schools that the board voted to close last year as a way to save money. Students from Sims have already been attending school with Norman students.
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