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Six Texas school districts have been selected to receive the Caudill Award, the highest honor in the annual Exhibit of School Architecture competition facilitated by TASA and the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) for projects that exemplify excellence in planning and design of the learning environment. The architectural projects will be on display in the exhibit hall and the winners will be recognized at the 2025 Midwinter Conference in Austin January 26-29.

The winning projects received at least four stars from six areas of distinction, making them eligible for the Caudill Award, which is named after Texas architect William Wayne Caudill (1914–1983), whose progressive concepts continue to influence school design.

Austin ISD won the award for the Rosedale School, designed by Page. For families whose children have significant special needs, the Rosedale School offers one simple message: Your child is welcome here. The school serves students with complex medical and behavioral needs, including medical fragility, autism spectrum disorder, sensory input challenges and visual impairment. The facility includes a community partner complex care pediatric clinic, creating a new model for educational and medical collaboration that serves individuals with significant special needs. Programmed and designed with extensive parent, educator, and community involvement, the physical environment of the school and clinic now fully supports student needs and creates a sense of joy and belonging.

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD won the award for the Discovery Lab Learning Center and Administrative Offices, designed by VLK Architects. Nestled on a rolling hill with an awe-inspiring view of Marine Creek Lake, the Discovery and Learning Center is designed to serve students across the district and provide equitable access to nature. Students guide teachers through a maze of connected trails, identifying elements of nature. Bringing the outside in, natural materials create a ribbon of welcoming corridors reflecting the environment and variety of exquisite views. The environment enhances the learning and working experience by bringing joy and purpose to every day.

Forney ISD won the award for Keith Bell Opportunity Central, designed by Huckabee. Keith Bell Opportunity Central, or “the OC,” houses storefronts owned by local entrepreneurs and run by students. High school classrooms double and triple as higher learning and event spaces. An expansive lawn, collaborative zones, and a central arena are featured. The OC brings 15 years of vision to life by merging career development, college preparation, and community engagement into one education facility, transforming the 21st-century paradigm for what a high school can be.

Round Rock ISD won the award for CD Fulkes Middle School, designed by Stantec. Founded in 1867 as a private school, this facility became the city’s first public school in 1888. The school’s design has evolved from a simple schoolhouse to the complex, multifunctional campus it is today. Understanding each era’s influence helped align the school’s design with the local history and contemporary educational goals. The student-centered spaces support modern learning modes, technology, and hands-on facilities for athletics, fine arts, and career and technical education.

San Antonio ISD won the award for Sidney Lanier High School, designed by LPA, Inc. The campus renovation transformed a massive, 1970s windowless brick building rife with security, daylight and infrastructural issues. The design focused on the power of daylight, the wonder and delight of the local Mexican-American culture, high performance design, and curriculum innovation through flexible space planning. The building is 200,000 sf, has the footprint of two football fields, is over 400-feet long, and is the heart of the campus. The community contributed without limitations to this renovation project, allowing the project to suit the community’s educational goals. The project renovated the first school of 99 in the district with flexible, next-generation learning space types that align with the school’s educational goals.

Texas City ISD won the award for the Marathon STEM and Robotics Center, designed by Pfluger Architects, Inc. The school district had a dream: a cutting-edge STEM center to inspire innovation and spotlight its robotics program. Bringing that vision to life meant boldly transforming a lifeless, forgotten storage building into a dynamic educational hub. To meet the growing demand for STEM education, the district teamed up with local community partners to develop a robotics curriculum to increase the number of graduates participating in STEM and engineering programs. The design centers around an open robotics arena surrounded by breakout spaces, classrooms, a makerspace and fabrication lab. A modular layout adapts to diverse learning styles, can host competitions, and supports all students preK-12.

The Exhibit of School Architecture awards are given at the discretion of a 12-member jury: four school board members, four administrators, and four representatives of the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE). The Caudill Award winners were chosen from among 24 projects awarded Stars of Distinction in the areas of design, value, wellness, community, planning, and transformation.