NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Nacogdoches ISD is working on its final project as part of their $78 million bond that was passed in 2018. That bond included building a new school as well as expansions and renovations to district facilities.
What is a pile of dirt now is soon to be something the district has never had – a faculty training center.
"We hope to have this done by sometime Fall of 2025," Nacogdoches ISD spokesperson Les Linebarger said.
He added that this new facility will also serve as a conference center for other districts.
"As you might imagine, there are conferences held all over East Texas in the Region 7 area. For the most part, our people have to pack up and go to those," Linebarger said.
Right now, teachers across the district are using school gyms, cafeterias, and libraries as places to host trainings.
"It’s not the best place for professional development classes to take place," Linebarger said. "We make it work as best we can."
With education moving into the 21st century, teachers and staff are taking notes on digital devices. Linebarger said this new training facility will be equipped to handle all that technology plus more.
"Cutting edge (technology) that we still may not have in the district yet, but as they come online and become available, we will be having them here as well," Linebarger said.
The site of this new training facility sits next to the administration building. A new parking lot is being built across the street. District leaders hope this new environment will spawn new ideas and better conversations that will lead to more learning inside the classroom.
"We can bring those teachers together, and we can lay that out, and they can see it and if they can be in a situation where they an focus on learning then they’re going to carry that back to the classroom," Linebarger said. "This will be one of the good supports for what takes place in the classroom."