DTX-MCK: Impact 10/8/2025

🌳 City leaders have signed off on an agreement with a local nonprofit to build a community farm at Gray Branch Parkland in McKinney.

What happened: McKinney City Council members approved the license agreement during an Oct. 6 meeting for the Seed Project Foundation to construct the community farm. The agreement enables the foundation to construct and maintain a community farm on 62 acres of parkland purchased by the city in 2016.

The details: The community farm will be named “McKinney Roots at Gray Branch Park.” McKinney Roots is an initiative of the Seed Project Foundation that distributes fresh produce to local nonprofits and churches within Collin County, according to its website.

The timeline: The agreement will last 10 years and includes an option to extend by an additional five years. Either city or the nonprofit would have the ability to terminate the agreement if construction has not started by Feb. 1, 2026, according to the agreement.

☕️ Ugly Mug Coffee House recently held a soft opening in McKinney’s Shoppes at Stonebridge, owner Jeffrey Poe said.

On the menu: The food menu features sweet and savory options, including brownies, cinnamon rolls, bagels, kolaches and more. The business sells a variety of drinks, including:

• Hot and cold espresso
• Tea
• Soda
• Lemonade
• Energy drinks

🚌 Interested in the latest news from McKinney ISD? Check out these five recent education-focused stories, including a planned review of the district’s attendance zones and the expected launch of a collegiate academy.

1. McKinney ISD officials to launch collegiate academy in 2026: McKinney ISD officials will launch a collegiate academy in the 2026-27 school year, which will give participating students the opportunity to graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate degree.

2. McKinney ISD gets ‘B’ rating from TEA for 4th consecutive year: McKinney ISD received an overall B rating from the Texas Education Agency for both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. The agency’s accountability ratings for the 2023-24 school year were released Aug. 15.

⛳️ The Cowboys Golf Club plans to reopen in late October after a multimillion-dollar renovation. According to the website, it is the first and only NFL-themed golf club in the world and is the only all-inclusive world-class golf course in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

What's happening? The renovations include a new driving range with Toptracer that also includes 50 yards of game-used turf from AT&T Stadium and a goal post, new greens, bunkers, tees, cart path, landscaping and an 18-hole putting course, according to the website. Renovations on the project started in June, according to a spokesperson for the golf course.

What else? According to previous Community Impact reporting, the Texas Department of Transportation and the city of Grapevine started a road renovation project on Fairway Drive that is supposed to conclude in December. 

The background: Arcis Golf owns 18 locations in Texas and nine in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to its website. The Cowboys Golf Club opened in 2001.

Odyssey, a New York-based tech company, has been selected to manage Texas’ $1 billion education savings account program, the state comptroller’s office announced Oct. 6.

The overview: Odyssey will work with the comptroller to launch the program, deemed “Texas Education Freedom Accounts,” ahead of the 2026-27 school year. Families can begin applying for the program early next year, and those accepted will receive thousands of dollars in state funds to send their children to private school or homeschool them.

Zooming in: Odyssey will develop and manage an online platform to administer Texas’ education savings account program. State law also tasks the company with:

• Collecting applications and determining which families are accepted to the program
• Approving vendors for education-related materials and services, such as textbooks, transportation and tutoring
• Reviewing inquiries and complaints about the program
• Advertising the program and communicating with interested families