Everyone has heard of the merging of Barton Creek Elementary and Valley View Elementary. But what is really going on, and how much do educators know? Kendra Hendrix, second grade teacher at Barton Creek, gives her opinion on the merge and explains how up-to-date the teachers feel.

Barton Creek Elementary and Eanes ISD are vibrant communities that are welcoming to all. In October 2024, the idea of blending these two elementary schools emerged as a solution to the projected budget deficit.

“Barton Creek has been a really sweet community to my family and my kids, and especially living in the neighborhood, I think it just has a really cool dynamic,” Hendrix said. “We moved here from the east coast where the schools were much bigger and the community was more broadly spread out, so I’ve loved the opportunity to really have a home/school environment. It makes me feel really connected to the area.”

Hendrix has been a long term substitute teacher at BCE, and is now enjoying her first year as a second grade teacher.

“I think as a staff member, especially being a new staff member, I feel like we know who the [new] administration is now, which is a step in the right direction and at least they’re moving fairly quickly,” Hendrix said. “But I think there’s still a lot of unknowns for stuff- we’ve been told that everybody will have a position, which is great. But I think with the unknown of any new endeavor, there’s a lot of uneasiness, and just trying to figure out what’s going to happen next.” 

Hendrix doesn’t exactly know what this will mean for her as a teacher yet, along with many others, and is still trying to work through what it means as far as her family and the dynamic for next year, hoping to still be involved in the school. 

Staff has been told that there will be a new principal and two assistant principals. Beyond that, they don’t know much about the other adjustments, but they do know who the top administration will be.

“I’m in a hard spot too because I’m a parent, a staff member, and a community member because I live on the road, but I think they were as forthcoming as they could be with the information that they were comfortable to share,” Hendrix said. “I wish that we had a little bit more notice to kind of take it all in and let it soak in, mainly as a parent I’d say that because I have kids also in the immersion program, so that was also a big hit for our family, so I think it was just a lot to take in, in what felt like a very short time. But I will say too, as far as a community, that the Barton Creek community is excited to have new students, and excited to embrace that whatever happens as far as the school, I think that they will be embraced full heartedly by the Barton Creek community because that’s just the kind of family we have.”