School starts in McKinney ISD in about three weeks, and district officials are planning to welcome thousands of students into classrooms. Here are some essentials to know for the upcoming school year.

Important dates:

• First day of school: Aug. 13
• Fall break: Oct. 12-14.
• Thanksgiving break: Nov. 23-27.
• Winter break: student and staff vacation Dec. 21-Jan. 1; staff development/student holiday Jan. 4
• Spring break: March 15-19.
• Last day of school: May 27, last day of instruction for students
• High school graduation: May 28, ceremony for all three high schools at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen

• Elementary school: 8:10 a.m.-3:20 p.m.
• Middle school: 8:50 a.m.-4 p.m.
• High school: 7:20 a.m.-2:40 p.m.
• Lawson Early Childhood School: 7:40 a.m.-2:50 p.m.

McKinney saw 339 homes sold during June, with the most homes sold in the 75071 ZIP code. The city’s median home sale price was $520,000 with an average of 63 days on the market.

The gist: Check out this real estate data for McKinney, comparing data from June 2025 to June 2026 in categories such as:

• Number of homes sold by ZIP code
• Median home sales price by ZIP code
• Average days on the market by ZIP code
• Number of new listings by ZIP code
• Number of homes under contract by ZIP code
• Homes sold by price point

Construction will start on a new apartment complex in McKinney, and a new indoor playground is set to open in Plano. Check out six major North Texas construction permits filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

1. Franklin Branch Apartments: A nine-building apartment complex called Franklin Branch Apartments will break ground in early March 2027, according to TDLR documents. Previous Community Impact reporting states that the apartment complex will offer 288 units. Developer The NRP Group partnered with the McKinney Housing Finance Corp. to build the complex to offer income-restricted rental units.

• Location: 3565 FM 1461, McKinney
• Estimated timeline: March 3 2027-Nov. 4 2028
• Estimated cost: $27.05 million

• Location: 3374 SH 114, Fort Worth
• Estimated timeline: Sept.1- May 7 2027
• Estimated cost: $2 million

Sandy Creek resident Georgia Bishop was out of town when 22 inches of rain fell on parts of northwest Travis County over the July 4, 2025, weekend. When Bishop returned home days later, her community was significantly changed.

What happened: Residents of the hard-hit Sandy Creek neighborhood described a “wall of water” that tore through their community last July, washing away homes, cars and roads. Nine people died in the flooding, including Bishop’s best friend, 16-year-old Felicity Jarmon.

The context: One year later, residents of the unincorporated Travis County community are still working to rebuild from last July’s catastrophic flooding. Central Texas has seen two straight years of intense, deadly flooding in July, leaving some residents on edge as they recover from last year’s disaster and mourn lost loved ones.

Community Impact spoke with Bishop and Kylie Nidever, whose neighborhood in Hunt flooded last year, on July 13, days before heavy rainfall hit large swaths of the state once again. Officials confirmed two deaths due to this year's floods, while 137 people died last July.