Lamar CISD is seeking zoning input ahead of opening three new Fulshear secondary schools.

The context: At a Feb. 17 meeting, Lamar CISD board of trustees voted to approve three rezoning options as the district prepares to open Dresner Middle School, Urbanski Junior High School and Williams High School in Fulshear ahead of the 2027-28 school year.

By the numbers: The opening of the new schools will help to reduce the populations of Roberts Middle School, Leaman Junior High School and Fulshear High School to prevent overpopulation as the area continues to grow, officials said.

“These new schools are part of our continued effort to stay ahead of the growth and ensure we maintain manageable class sizes and equitable access to resources,” said Jonathan Maxwell, executive director of enrollment management for LCISD.

What happens next: The attendance boundary committee will meet in March to share opinions on the zoning options and rank the options before sending their findings back to the board, Maxwell said. Final board recommendations are scheduled for May.

A 2-mile extension of the Westpark Tollway extension project opened around noon Feb. 28, more than eight months ahead of schedule, Fort Bend County Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales announced in a Facebook post.

The project aims to help provide congestion relief for drivers and avoid the stoplight on the intersection with FM 1463, officials said.

Zooming out: The opening is a part of a larger $72 million project by the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority to extend the tollway by 4 miles to bring the Westpark Tollway's end to Charger Way, Community Impact reported. The extension is funded by toll revenue from area users.

Looking ahead: The extension to Charger Way is expected to be completed this fall, officials said. Future segments are planned with the tollway expected to extend as far as Simonton in the future, but talks continue before the project can move forward.

Katy ISD will relocate its Opportunity Awareness Center in the 2027-28 school year.

The big picture: At a Feb. 23 meeting, the Katy ISD board of trustees voted 4-3 to approve the design for a new $10 million Opportunity Awareness Center, or OAC, as the district looks to expand the growing Miller Career and Technology Center in its former space. 

The OAC, which is the district’s disciplinary alternative education program, serves students in kindergarten to 12th grade who have broken the Texas Education Code or the district’s student code of conduct, Principal Janelle Coleman previously said.

The new building, which will be funded by the district’s capital funds, is set to be located along Katy Fort Bend Road, not far from the current one in the Miller Career & Technology Center.

What’s next: The project is slated to be completed by June 2027, with classes beginning in the new building in the 2027-28 school year.

Fulshear Fight Club has opened its doors in Fulshear offering martial arts classes for kids, teens and adults.

Meet the owner: The martial arts school is owned by David Crain, or Coach DC, who also teaches kickboxing and Muay Thai at the facility, according to Fulshear Fight Club’s website. 

Before opening the facility, Crain competed in 12 contests, started a kickboxing program for kids in the foster care system and was head striking coach at three Houston-area gyms.

In their own words: “My love and my goal is to give everything I’ve learned to my students and see them empowered by the lessons within martial arts,” Crain states on the website. “I cannot express how it changed my life.”

• 30415 5th St., Fulshear

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Dozens of Texans shared their feedback Feb. 25 on the current phase of a lengthy revision of the state’s social studies curriculum standards. Parents, educators and students urged the State Board of Education to slow the revision process down and give those drafting the new curriculum more time to work.

The overview: The state is currently overhauling the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for social studies, which are the standards dictating what public school students should learn at each grade level. The board is expected to adopt the new standards this summer before they are rolled out to classrooms in 2030.

“We have one opportunity to get this right for an entire generation of students,” said Meghan Dougherty, an Austin-area social studies specialist involved in the revision process.

Zooming in: Several educators involved in drafting the new curriculum plan said current proposals included "too much content" with a heavy emphasis on Texas history, while some appointed content advisers and SBOE members argued schools should teach lessons focused on "American exceptionalism [and] Texan exceptionalism."