Booming Northwest ISD welcomes students to new $51.6M elementary school
Kaiden Hall-Forestier, 10, waves goodbye to his mother, Gretshen Forestier-Muñoz, at Perrin Elementary on Aug. 14, 2024. (Georgie London | Fort Worth Report)
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Colorful sidewalk chalk decorated the pathways to Alan & Andra Perrin Elementary School in northwest Tarrant County, providing students with words of encouragement and greetings.
The pathways led to the smiling face of Principal Carrie Pierce as she propped open the front doors of the $51.6 million school and welcomed excited students and parents.
Chalk art decorates the sidewalk of Perrin Elementary School on Aug. 14, 2024. (Georgie London | Fort Worth Report)
Chalk art decorates the sidewalk of Perrin Elementary School on Aug. 14, 2024. (Georgie London | Fort Worth Report)
About 550 new Perrin Panthers arrived at Northwest ISD’s brand-new campus with high spirits and goals for the school year.
“The goal of the campus is to be able to help our students reach their potential every single day by little actions that we do every day,” Pierce said.
The new school was built to accommodate the district’s influx of students. Without Perrin Elementary, three other campuses — Clara Love Elementary, Hatfield Elementary and Justin Elementary — would have been over capacity this school year.
Kaiden Hall-Forestier, 10, was feeling the nerves of moving to the new school for fifth grade when he climbed the stairs to his classroom.
Forestier, who previously attended Clara Love, relaxed after turning the corner and seeing his teacher, Michael Berthold, giving warm welcomes to other students. Kaiden said goodbye to his mom, Gretshen Forestier-Muñoz, and headed toward a group of students introducing themselves.
Perrin Elementary’s library has leaf decorations and other features made to resemble a jungle, the native habitat of panthers, the school mascot. (Georgie London | Fort Worth Report)
While Kaiden was excited for his favorite subject, math, and seeing his friends that live in his neighborhood, his mom was excited for another reason.
“It is such a cool school and environment,” Forestier-Muñoz said. “It is very inviting and that is what you want for your kids. You want a school that they want to go to.”
A daily schedule for third, fourth and fifth graders might look like going to art, music and P.E. first in the morning, learning math and science, eating lunch, going to recess then ending their days with social studies and language arts, Pierce said.
Younger students in first grade started their day differently. Children wearing bows and velcro sneakers sat in a circle on a colorful carpet. They went around sharing their names, favorite colors and what they had for dinner the night before.
The priorities for younger students are to strengthen their relationships with their classmates, collaborate with other students and learn how to express their feelings and desires, Pierce said.
Principal Carrie Pierce stands in one of the hallways of Northwest ISD’s new school, Perrin Elementary, on Aug. 14, 2024. (Georgie London | Fort Worth Report)
While it was Pierce’s second time opening a campus, she was just as excited to see the fruits of all of her labor.
“I am feeling a huge sense of accomplishment, pride and excitement to have all of our Panthers in the building and to begin making relationships with their families,” Pierce said.
Georgie London is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at georgie.london@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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