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On April 15, construction began on the residential portion of Valley Ranch’s 328-acre Azalea District, which will also feature health care, dining and shopping options within the master-planned community in New Caney.

Current situation: Design is underway on the medical and wellness portion of the Azalea District, which is expected to feature a multibuilding campus, said Jhanae Kelley—a public relations specialist for Valley Ranch’s developer, The Signorelli Co.—in a May 18 email statement. Company leaders said they are hoping to draw a “well-rounded” variety of medical offerings for the district.

What they're saying: Demand for more health care options in the New Caney and Porter areas is strong enough to potentially draw a hospital to the district, said Greg Wattson, senior vice president of commercial development for The Signorelli Co., via email June 4.

“There is a clear opportunity for a comprehensive health and wellness destination that can meet rising demand and provide convenient access to integrated care and services closer to home,” Wattson said.

99 Karate opened in New Caney in mid-May, according to information on the martial arts studio's Facebook page. 

What they offer: The studio offers after-school and summer programs to teach children the fundamentals of karate in addition to evening classes for students of all ages, officials with the East Montgomery County Improvement District previously said. 

Meet the owners: As previously reported by Community Impact, the business is owned by Christian Auguste and his wife, Carley.

• Opened May 16
• 21042 Loop 494, New Caney

Montgomery County commissioners discussed the status of funding for additional law enforcement for mass gatherings in June and July such as FIFA and Fourth of July events during a June 25 Commissioners Court meeting.

What happened: Several large-scale events are planned in the county for July 4, including the South County Fourth of July Parade. Jason Millsaps, executive director of emergency management in the county, said that as of today during the first pay period in June, the county spent approximately $12,500 of up to $50,000 budgeted for extra law enforcement. He said based on scaling back and pushing through the next two pay periods, he doesn’t anticipate exceeding this amount, so he will not be asking for additional funding.

What else: Commissioners also presented a proclamation announcing June 25 as Jordan Dalton Day. Dalton was recognized for his heroism that saved his mother’s life, according to the proclamation.

Among students learning English in Greater Houston area public school districts, Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic were the most common home languages spoken in the 2025-26 school year, according to Texas Education Agency data.

The breakdown: Emergent Bilingual students are students “in the process of acquiring English and [who have] another language as the primary language,” as previously reported by Community Impact.

In regions 4 and 6—which comprise most of the public school districts in the Greater Houston area—the most common home language spoken by emergent bilingual students was Spanish, according to TEA data released April 27. However, the number of Spanish-speaking students decreased year over year in both regions.

• Vietnamese with 8,742 students across both regions
• Arabic with 5,777 students across both regions
• Urdu with 4,644 students across both regions
• Mandarin with 3,974 students across both regions

Want to learn more about what Community Impact covered last week? Take a look at these five trending stories from June 22-26.

1. Cy-Fair EMS sees 91% increase in calls from assisted living communities

2. New Japanese bookstore to open in Rice Village

3. 7 businesses now open in Sugar Land, Missouri City

4. Conroe ISD reviews impact of new cellphone policy

5. Houston Shock Volleyball relocates to Spring Cypress Road in Tomball

The State Board of Education is nearing the finish line in its massive rewrite of what Texas public school students will learn about world and state history.

The details: The curriculum overhaul would shift the focus in social studies classes to a Texas-centered approach, deemphasizing lessons about world cultures and injecting more content about Christianity’s role in the founding of the United States.

Some educators and students have expressed concerns that the proposal lacks significant teachings about civil rights history, Japanese internment in the 1940s and people of color’s contributions to the nation. Meanwhile, Republican board members have pushed back, saying that the rewrite is necessary to teach students about American exceptionalism and Texas heritage in an attempt to undo what they called “a watering-down of American history.”

What's happening: The board has spent the bulk of its meetings this week making amendments to a 143-page social studies proposal, which includes hundreds of standards that students would be expected to learn each year. If adopted June 26, the new requirements would take effect in 2030.