Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands has announced a number of performances planned in 2026 as well as a free holiday concert happening on Dec. 8 featuring local students.

What to expect: The Dec. 8 Holly Jolly Jingle will feature Conroe ISD students from The Woodlands High School, College Park High School, Conroe High School, Oak Ridge High School and Grand Oaks High School in a free performance with familiar holiday medleys.

Upcoming shows in 2025-26:

• Dec. 8: Holly Jolly Jingle, featuring Conroe ISD musicians, 7 p.m.
• Feb. 14: Valentine’s Gala, featuring Barenaked Ladies 
• April 19: Rod Stewart, 7:30 p.m.

Sam Houston State University began a renovation this November of The Woodlands Center to increase the capacity of its nursing school, SHSU School of Nursing Director Dr. Devon M. Berry said.

In a nutshell: While the campus's footprint will not be expanding, its interior space will be renovated, approximately tripling the amount of space for the School of Nursing. The project will increase the number of simulation and skills labs, and the number of active learning classrooms.

Quote of note: “It was our desire to see what we could do to help reduce the need for nurses,” Berry said. “So that meant for us, asking, ‘What can we do to expand our enrollment? Can we graduate more nurses per year to try to meet those workforce needs in Texas?’”

At a glance: The renovation is estimated to cost around $13 million-$14 million. Berry said SHSU has been planning the renovation for around 2 1/2 years.

Next fall, Tomball ISD will launch a new program for students who are aspiring to be educators, called Tomball Academy of Future Educators, or TAFE. The program—in partnership with Lone Star College-Tomball—will serve as the district’s second P-TECH, or Pathways in Technology Early College High School. 

What you need to know: P-TECH is an open-enrollment high school that allows students to achieve a high school diploma in addition to industry-based certifications, level one or two certificates and an associate’s degree, according to the Texas Education Agency.

How we got here: TAFE is the second program of its kind since TISD launched its first P-TECH program, also in partnership with Lone Star College-Tomball, focused on health care in fall 2023, per prior reporting.

Looking forward: Applications for the TAFE program opened Oct. 20 and close Dec. 5.

Waymo is gearing up to roll out fully autonomous driving in Houston and Dallas.

The gist: The move comes as Waymo begins driverless operations in Miami, with launches planned in four additional cities—Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Orlando—over the next several weeks, according to a Nov. 18 news release.

Waymo leaders said expanding to new markets has become increasingly streamlined thanks to its “generalizable” Waymo Driver and a consistent operational playbook.

According to the company, the shift to fully autonomous driving—once viewed as a major technological leap—has become routine as its safety systems and deployment strategy mature.

Diving in deeper: The company reports its vehicles have already shown strong safety performance, with 11 times fewer serious-injury collisions compared with human drivers in its current operating areas.