Construction begins at Hamlin Middle School — new gym, improved classrooms on the way

Over the next two years, students at Hamlin Middle School will watch a new school pop up in the field beside their classrooms as they study and learn.

Corpus Christi ISD broke ground Wednesday morning on a new Hamlin Middle School, which will replace the existing South Staples Street school. The school is scheduled to open in August 2025, when this year's sixth graders are entering eighth grade.

The school will lose part of a wing of the old facility during construction and add several portable classrooms. No students will be displaced.

The $72 million project will create a roughly 155,000-square foot facility with a capacity of 750 students. The new building will have a slightly smaller capacity than the current school, and is smaller than other recent CCISD middle schools built to hold more than 1,000 students.

CCISD Superintendent Roland Hernandez said that the new school will be smaller in part due to the constraints of building the new school on the existing property, but also reflects demographic trends in the neighborhood.

"We couldn't be more excited for our students, our teachers and our parents who deserve a new school building and everything it has to offer," Hernandez said. "The new nearly 156,000-square-foot school will include ample natural lighting, science, computer and art labs and a nearly 9,700-square foot competition gym."

The new school will face South Staples Street, with 22 classrooms, two collaboration spaces and a fine arts wing dedicated to choir, drama, orchestra and band. Also included is a about 3,500-square-foot library and a more than 5,000-square-foot multi-purpose cafetorium.

"We couldn't be more excited that the new building will be built on this very same property, allowing our campus to remain in the community in which it was built," Hamlin Middle School Principal Bridget Lamoureux said.

Lamoureux said teachers are excited for larger classrooms, which will allow for more activities, and to say goodbye to loud air conditioning window units.

The school is gaining a second gym, which will allow for athletic events.

Also included in the design are new security features and technology.

The project is funded by a bond proposal approved by voters last year. The old school dates back to the 1950s.

"Buildings that offer new and improved classrooms, contemporary safety features and the ability to accommodate today's technology needs and our blended classrooms are essential to the ever-changing landscape that is education," CCISD Board of Trustees President Don Clark said. "Additionally, we know new school buildings foster student attendance and school pride."

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi ISD starts construction of new Hamlin Middle School