LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Veronica Cantu,

Trautmann Elementary School, “Home of the Mighty Texans,” has a lot to celebrate. First, they were named a 2016 U.S. Department of Education “National Blue Ribbon School.” They were then recognized by the Texas Education Agency as a “high progress, high performing campus.” And now this morning, Trautmann has another reason to celebrate, as the school held a formal dedication for several new construction projects.

“As Superintendent, providing the best educational facilities for our students is of the utmost importance,” said United ISD Superintendent Roberto J. Santos. “The projects at this campus will serve our students for many years to come.”

Special guests, students, faculty, and staff gathered in the school’s new gymnasium for the dedication, which featured student performances from the Trautmann Elementary School Choir and Dance Team. The school also decided to utilize the United ISD’s V-Brick streaming online system, allowing students to observe the program live from the convenience of their classroom.

United ISD’s Board Trustees addressed the audience and reflected on how they worked together to successfully pass the school bond which made construction projects like that at TES, a reality. Third grade student, Sarah D. Collins, spoke about the impact of these new construction projects and the state-of-the-art facilities.

“We can now all be in one building, which makes us feel safe and secure,” said Collins. Prior to these projects, as Collins noted, all first graders were housed in portable buildings outside of the school’s main building.

The scope of the construction projects includes a new 21,000 square foot classroom wing which holds 16 classrooms designed to the latest educational specifications and construction standards. These classrooms have been outfitted with the latest instructional technology and each includes adjustable-height, interactive flat panels. A new 7,400 square foot administrative office and school clinic area were built to better serve the current and future needs of the campus. All offices were relocated to a central area providing improved access for all students, staff, and visitors. At the main entry, a new security station was built to provide controlled entry and surveillance camera monitoring for the entire campus. An enclosed hallway from the new central corridor leads to a new full-sized 10,600 square foot state-of-the-art gymnasium that has been outfitted for school assemblies. The overall construction project also included renovation of the staff restrooms in the lower level of the campus, upgrades and enhancements to the playground equipment for the lower and upper grade levels, refurbishing of the campus irrigation system, new landscaping throughout the campus, complete replacement and upgrade of the air condition, heating, and ventilation systems for all classrooms, installation of a new Internet-Protocol public address system, and upgrades of the fire alarm system with a new voice evacuation alarm system to enhance safety throughout the school.

The two architectural firms collaborating for this project were Munoz and Company and Metaform Studios. Construction of the projects was undertaken by Leyendecker Construction of Laredo.

Located at 810 Lindenwood Drive, Trautmann Elementary School serves over 770 students. Their proud principal is Zaida Gonzalez. Their mascots are the Texans, and the official school colors are red, white, and blue.