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When Sam Houston State University finishes its estimated $13 million-$14 million renovation to The Woodlands Center, nearly 25% more nursing students will be admitted per cohort, said Dr. Devon M. Berry, director of SHSU’s School of Nursing.

The gist: Once the expansion is completed in fall 2029, the school’s total enrollment will have grown by around 70%, increasing to a total headcount of around 720—up from 425.

Quote of note: “We’re just responding to the need in Texas for nurses,” Berry said. “For us to be ... responsive to that, we wanted to find a way to increase our enrollment.”

Some context: Texas is projected to need 307,520 registered nurses by 2038, and a shortage in licensed vocational nurses is projected to begin in 2028, per the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis.

Chick-fil-A Grand Parkway at Tomball Parkway opened June 25, according to a June 23 news release. 

The details: The new restaurant is locally owned and operated by Cindy Smith, who began working with Chick-fil-A in high school and has been with the brand for more than a decade, according to the news release.

The restaurant serves Chick-fil-A’s menu of chicken sandwiches, nuggets, salads, breakfast items and more. The location offers dine-in, drive-thru, carry-out, delivery and mobile thru service.

• 25527 Tomball Parkway, Tomball

The Texas Education Agency released results for the spring 2026 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, on June 16. Tomball ISD was able to surpass or match a majority of the test scores within the district compared to last year and outperform statewide results.

The outlook: TISD surpassed spring 2025 test scores in fourth-, fifth- and eighth-grade math, as well as in fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade reading. The highest test scores the district earned were 98% in both the Biology and U.S. History EOCs, or end-of-course exams. The lowest test score for TISD was in seventh-grade math at 62%, which is a 1 percentage point drop from the spring 2025 score of 63%.

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

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is planning an expansion along Hwy. 288, with a new agricultural and livestock complex expected to add more than 1 million square feet of event and programming space.

What we know: The organization announced June 24 that the project will be the largest single facilities investment in the rodeo’s more than 90-year history. Construction is expected to take several years, with the goal of opening the complex in time for the 2029 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The new facility is designed to support livestock shows, horse show competitions, junior and open breeding shows, archery competitions, agricultural mechanics, commercial auctions and educational contests, including 4-H and intercollegiate programming. Some livestock events will continue to be held at Reliant Center, according to the release.

Diving in deeper: Outside of the annual rodeo, the complex is expected to host year-round educational programming, committee meetings, fundraisers, auctions, galas and other agricultural, youth and Western heritage events.

Texas' Republican-led State Board of Education approved a sweeping rewrite of the state's social studies curriculum standards and a list of dozens of books that students will be required to read each school year, both of which are infused with biblical references. The new requirements will begin rolling out to public school classrooms in the 2030-31 school year.

The details: As many as 25 texts will be read each year in early elementary school grades, with about 10 books required in later grades. The reading list was created under a 2023 state law requiring “at least one literary work” per grade.

The new social studies curriculum standards will expand lessons about Texas and American history, deemphasizing some teachings about world cultures and people of color. The standards also expand the amount of content students will be expected to learn each year.

The debate: Proponents of the new standards and reading list said they will teach students to love their state and country, while critics said the policies do not include diverse perspectives.