American Constructors is proud to announce the completion of San Gabriel Elementary School, Georgetown ISD’s first school in the Santa Rita Ranch community. This impressive 124,625 square-foot campus spans two stories and can accommodate up to 850 students, serving Georgetown ISD’s growing student population.
We sat down with project manager Keegan Ferguson to learn more about his experience building this exciting project.
AC: What design features stand out to you about the Georgetown ISD San Gabriel Elementary School project?
Keegan: There are many unique qualities about this campus, but there are a few that stand out to me. The exposed structural steel throughout the interior of the building, suspended learning stairs, and large exterior sun canopies are all distinctive features. The size of the campus, spanning nearly 125,000 square feet, is also particularly large for an elementary school.
AC: How does the school promote an innovative and collaborative learning environment?
Keegan: All the classrooms have folding partitions and connect to larger, open collaboration spaces that can be used by the entire grade level for a variety of purposes. This gives teachers and faculty the ability to customize the learning environment based on their needs for each day.
AC: How will the school positively impact the Santa Rita Ranch community?
Keegan: San Gabriel Elementary is the first Georgetown ISD school in Santa Rita Ranch, so it will allow the community to remain close by instead of taking the bus to campuses further out. Kids will be able to stay closer to home, walk to school, and build a stronger community with other students in the neighborhood.
AC: What are some of the challenges the team faced on this project? How did you overcome those?
Keegan: The biggest issue we faced on this project was coordinating all the structural elements of the architectural design in a way that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. By collaborating closely with our subcontractors, we were able to propose cost-effective and sensible solutions to overcome these challenges with the design team, creating a truly unique end result.
AC: What was your favorite part about working on this project?
Keegan: This project marked American Constructors’ first partnership with Georgetown ISD and Huckabee Architects. Building and fostering new relationships is one of the best parts of our job, and we are thrilled to soon be working again with Georgetown ISD for an upcoming middle and elementary school project.
Thank you to Keegan and the rest of the project team for all your hard work on this school, and congratulations to Georgetown ISD and the San Gabriel Owls! We can't wait for you to experience your new school when it officially opens this fall.