Jan 16, 2025
New middle school will be ECISD's first in more than 40 years
With the turn of some dirt and the turn of a few phrases, a new middle school for Ector County students is on its way to becoming a reality. Ector County ISD leaders hosted the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new middle school to be built on South Tripp Avenue. It will be the first middle school built by ECISD since Crockett, in its current location, in 1981, and it will be the first middle school outside of Loop 338.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Keeley Boyer, School Board President Chis Stanley, and Bond Committee/PAC Co-chair Sara Moore spoke, each thanking the community for its support of Bond 2023, which included this project, and its excitement over adding this new campus to the west Odessa community.
“We have over 3,000 elementary students in west Odessa,” said Dr. Boyer. “So, this is going to be a beautiful facility for the families and the kids very close to home.”
Mr. Stanley said, “Strong voices and powerful advocates” for ECISD’s 33,500 students made this success possible.
The new middle school will encompass about 195,000 square feet, serve approximately 1,000 students in 6th through 8th grades, and has an estimated cost of $120 million. A committee is at work deciding on the school’s colors and a separate committee that includes families will be created to select a mascot. The new middle school is scheduled to open in Fall of 2026.
Mrs. Moore described this as a day of celebration. “All of the campuses across the city are really landmarks in or community. Icons,” she said. “I’m so happy when I drive by a campus where I attended school, and I am thrilled to see those campuses alive and thriving even today. And now we are going to do this for west Odessa.”