School in the Hills students sing a song during their tour of the new River Place campus, which is a few weeks away from opening.

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The new School in the Hills Montessori at River Place will open in several weeks and future students of the new campus recently toured the construction site.

This is the second campus for the locally-based school which was launched in 2008 in Steiner Ranch by Alicia and Daniel Marker of Steiner.

The River Place campus is a 16,000-square-foot facility that features a 2,000-square-foot activity room and sits on 3.7 acres at 10911 RM 2222. Plans are for the school to be open by the end of the month.  

School in the Hills students tour the new school in River Place, which will have students up to 3rd grade.

Continue reading →

By CASSIE MCKEE, FOUR POINTS NEWS

House District 47 is affluent, highly-educated and politically conservative. It is the only Republican-held seat in Travis County.

The seat has been held by Rep. Paul Workman since 2010, when he narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Valinda Bolton.

HD 47 became an even more Republican-leaning district in 2012 after district boundary lines were redrawn by the Texas Legislature, according to James Dickey, chairman of the Travis County Republican Party. Dickey said the redistricting resulted in two unfortunate but foreseeable outcomes.

“One, it pretty much guaranteed that each term the incumbent in that district would be challenged, especially to the extent they could in any way be painted as being less conservative than the Republican party voter base, and two, it unfortunately changed (HD)48 from a previously possibly winnable race for a Republican to a district that has almost no chance of being a winnable district for Republicans.” Continue reading →

TX House District 47 map

Texas House District 47

By CASSIE MCKEE,  Four Points News

Early voting is underway for the March 1 Texas Primary election, and one race “worth watching,” according to The Texas Tribune, is that of Texas Rep. Paul Workman (HD-47). Workman is being challenged by River Place resident Jay Wiley, who ran for Austin City Council in 2014 but was defeated by current council member Don Zimmerman.

Four Points News sent the following questions to both Workman and Wiley. The following are their unedited responses. Continue reading →

By KIM ESTES, Four Points News

Construction of Cardinal Point, the new affordable housing community in Four Points, is still in the design and permit phase, reported Walter Moreau, executive director of Foundation Communities, the project developer.

The multi-housing Cardinal Point plans include 120 apartments on an 8.5-acre tract at 11011 Four Points Dr., which is at the intersection of River Place Boulevard. Continue reading →

Leander ISD superintendent, Dr. Bret Champion, makes the 2015 State of the District presentation behind a display of awards earned last year by the district. The luncheon event was held Friday at Hill Country Bible Church.
Photo by Kim Estes

By KIM ESTES, Four Points News

Dr. Bret Champion, superintendent, laid out results of planning and programs in Leander ISD telling an audience of some 250 that, “Student learning is at the center of everything we do.”

Champion’s remarks were part of the annual LISD “State of the District” meeting sponsored Friday by Leander ISD Educational Excellence Foundation at Hill Country Bible Church, Lakeline.

“Running a school district is like running a small city,” Champion said. Continue reading →