The Fort Worth (Texas) Independent School District is building a $41 million performing arts and STEM high school that will open in 2018.
KDFW-TV reports that the I.M. Terrell Academy for STEM and VPA will include a mix of new construction and the renovation of a historic campus, the former I.M. Terrell Elementary.
The campus will have a sweeping view of the city and be home to multiple state-of-the-art theaters.
Baldwin Brown, the school's principal, says the 900-seat performance hall is the campus' crown jewel.
"This is a 65,000-square-foot performing arts center. It will seat roughly 913 individuals,” Brown says. “And there's a black box theater next door that will seat an additional 150 to 175."
The school will focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) and Visual & Performing Arts (VPA). Students also will take part in the Cowan Humanities Academy, which will use a cross-discipline approach to college prep level humanities study.
The school is scheduled to open next year with about 200 ninth-grade students. Additional grade levels will be added in succeeding years. The school will have space for about 800 students.
"We want this to be a campus where students can really come and not only find themselves but develop into what they want to be in the future,” Brown says.
2016 YouTube Video from Fort Worth district:
