Eastwood H.S. set for $93 million renovation; some students will be moved during construction

Big changes are coming to Eastwood High School next fall.

The east El Paso school will be renovated thanks to voters passing Yselta Independent School District’s $430 million bond last year. The district plans to spend $93 million to turn Eastwood into a state-of-the-art high school.

It will be a little tricky though. Some of the students will take classes at another school during construction, while others will be hitting the books in portables.

Associate Superintendent Pat O’Neill explained not all students will be staying on campus through the expansion and upgrades.

“Next year, all ninth grade students will be attending Eastwood Middle for the next two years while we rebuild Eastwood High School. The 10th, 11th and 12th graders will stay on campus and we will have them in portables for part of the building,” O’Neill said.

We asked students at Eastwood how they feel about the construction set to start next fall.

One student we talked to had mixed feelings.

“Because we are going to be stuck in portables. Well, I’m kind of excited and sad at the same time.”

Another student said she wasn’t worried about the construction impacting her studies.

“I don’t think it will affect us at all. The faculty at Eastwood is very attentive to students. I really don’t think it will impact the studies we have here,” said the student.

The district plans to leave 125,000 square feet as is, but it will demolish some areas of the school, rebuilding a three-story classroom wing, a new athletics area and increased parking. More than 250,000 square feet will be added.

Some parents worry their kids may miss out some on the high school experience, such as sports, when the orange construction cones appear.

“We talked to several different venues that we can possibly use with the baseball, softball is off campus, so that is not an issue. We are only going to tear down one of the gyms,” O’Neill said.

Construction is expected to be finished in Aug. 2019.

This year the school lost about 100 students. Officials said they expect to lose more during renovations.
When the school done, YISD anticipates enrollment to be bigger than ever.