New Yes Prep campus, once a hospital, debuts after quick renovation

Math teacher John Smith leads a group of sixth-grade students through a tour of the new Yes Prep Northline school Monday. The school used to be a hospital six months ago, and welcomed its inaugural class made up of 157 sixth-graders. less Math teacher John Smith leads a group of sixth-grade students through a tour of the new Yes Prep Northline school Monday. The school used to be a hospital six months ago, and welcomed its inaugural class made ... more Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Staff Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Staff Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close New Yes Prep campus, once a hospital, debuts after quick renovation 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Yes Prep Northline Principal Brittany McGruder walked into her future school in January, puzzled by how it would be ready for students in just six months.

Renovations of the new campus, once home to a hospital, hadn't yet begun on Houston's north side. Classrooms looked like patient rooms. Fire-suppression systems and oxygen piping stuck out from the walls. The roof needed an overhaul after decades of neglect.

"We couldn't get pretty far into the building because it was basically in disarray," McGruder said.

Yet seven short months later, the Houston-based charter network debuted its 17th school Monday, welcoming its inaugural class of approximately 160 sixth-grade students.

The reconstructed campus remains a work in progress - the gym, permanent cafeteria and many rooms for future classes aren't open - but Yes Prep officials were enthusiastic.

"Even though it was a little nerve-wracking, here we are," McGruder said.

It took months of planning and half a year of construction to prepare the school, about three miles north of the I-45 and I-610 interchange.

When completed, the 101,000-square-foot campus will serve students in grades six through 12 in a diverse, lower-income area.

At neighboring Northline Elementary School, part of the Houston Independent School District, about 92 percent of students were deemed "economically disadvantaged" and 67 percent were English Language Learners in 2015-16, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Built in the early 1960s, the facility was long home to a single-story hospital, complete with patient and operating rooms.

In the foyer where students filed in Monday, greeted by a welcome sign held up with blue electrical tape, medics once rushed in patients needing life-saving procedures.

In the early 2000s, the nearby St. Stephens Baptist Church scooped up the facility, using the southern wing as an area for community and church gatherings.

Then, in 2016, Yes Prep homed in on the building as the network sought to expand in the area, where two of its nearby charter schools had hundreds of students on their waiting lists.

Although the facility needed extensive renovations, it checked off three primary needs for Yes Prep: a location in an area of need; building space exceeding 80,000 square feet, and land totaling at least two acres.

"We just took everything out and turned the demolition crew loose," said Keith Weaver, the managing director of operations. "Of course, the time line was a little short to turn it around that quick, but we opened up everything we needed to be able to start school on time."

The facility remains sparse. Classrooms walls and the blue-and-white halls are relatively bare. A well-lit trophy case sits empty.

The building's many courtyards - a remnant of the hospital's multiple expansions - need attention.

But for now, it's enough to get kids in the door and in front of a teacher.

"Due to the need in the area, I wouldn't have wanted to wait anymore," McGruder said. "I think we do have what we need to get started and we're excited to be here."