Category: Lake Conroe Area News

Conroe ISD’s newest elementary school will open on the city’s northwest side Wednesday, celebrating the legacy of a 30-year educator in the district. 
Students in pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade will attend Janet K. Bartlett Elementary at 11255 Cielo Drive. The new school is off FM 1484 within the new Cielo community that is scheduled to have more than 830 single-family homes. 
Here’s what to know about the school and Bartlett as school begins this week. Conroe ISD resumes classes at its 71 campuses Wednesday morning.
About the school 
Bartlett Elementary— originally Flex School 23 for the Caney Creek High School feeder zone — was part of the 2019 Conroe ISD bond referendum and cost approximately $39.4 million to build, according to district data. 
It will have a capacity of 950 pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade students and will bring overcrowding relief to Caney Creek and Conroe feeder elementary campuses.
The school colors are maroon and gray, and the bobcat is the mascot. The school will relieve some overcrowding at Austin and Anderson campuses and is situated between the two attendance zones for those schools. 
The Bartlett Elementary attendance zone is bordered by FM 1484 on the north side and runs south of Texas 105 on the southern side. The students at Bartlett Elementary will eventually attend Timber Mill High School on Conroe’s east side when it opens in August 2027. 
Early passion for teaching
Bartlett was two when her family moved to Conroe so her father could work in the Conroe oil field. She’s familiar with the land around Bartlett Elementary because her father worked on wells in the area and some Saturdays she’d tag along. 
She knew she wanted a career in teaching at age 6, she said. 
“I would line my little stuffed animals up and I would teach away,” she said. “My friend across the street, Jimmie, we would play school. She would go in her room and I would go in mine and we’d meet in the street and have recess (for their play classes.) It’s a gift that God gave me and I’m so glad he gave me this gift. There is nothing else I would have done.” 
She was also inspired by her teacher Martha Jones a longtime teacher at Anderson Elementary. 
Bartlett went on to graduate from Conroe High School in 1971 and then Sam Houston State University. 
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Always in the classroom 
Her first teaching assignment was at Runyan Elementary in 1975. A few years later she moved on to teach at the school she attended Anderson Elementary and her final assignment was at Giesinger Elementary School working with principal Bonnie Wilkinson, who also has a school named after her. 
She retired from full-time teaching in 2006 but continued on at Giesinger as a long-term substitute teacher. She said the staff of Giesinger continues to remain a family and they still get together often. 
She also volunteers with Conroe ISD’s Project Mentor and was the Conroe Education Association’s 1993-94 Elementary Teacher of the Year.
“I still have that urge to be in the classroom,” she said. “Kids are kids and they come with this thirst and they’re like little sponges and they need love and need to be loved back.” 
She looks forward to being involved at Bartlett Elementary and especially wants to work with students that need a little extra help. 
On Wednesday, she looks forward to the smiles and young wide eyes she expects to meet as they come to school the first day. 
“I just think so many of them have never seen anything like this,” she said of the beauty of the new school.
A dedication ceremony for the school will take place in October. Bartlett lives in Conroe and has three children and eight grandchildren. Her daughter and daughter-in-law are teachers as well. 
‘It takes a team’ 
When she first learned a new Conroe ISD school would be named after her she had mixed feelings. She wanted to ensure that the community knows her success in the classroom was a team effort. 
“To say a school is named after you is hard to accept. It wasn’t about me it’s about everybody. It takes a village. It takes everyone,” she said. Therefore the glass case at the front of the school contains pictures of her classes and the teachers and staff there with her. She wanted it to be about them, too. 
Conroe Mayor Duke Coon is one of the many in the community who nominated Bartlett for the honor. 
“I was so proud and honored to put her name forward along with many others in the community,” he said. “I have watched her over the years give everything she’s got to this school district and the children within it. She’s an amazing testament to the love and compassion a teacher can bring into a student’s life.” 
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Back to school 
More than 74,000 students are expected at the 71 Conroe ISD campuses Wednesday. The district will see new principals at more than a dozen campuses and 82 buses have been added to the fleet for the new year. 
This year also includes the opening of the district’s new transportation facilities. A $16.5 million project expanded the district’s transportation hub on Gladstell Street in Conroe and adds a new facility to its Caney Creek High School location off FM 1485.
Catherine Dominguez contributed to this report. 

Since being established as a national forest by the Texas Legislature in 1933, Sam Houston National Forest has been home to bird watchers, glampers and Bigfoot aficionados.
The national forest, about 50 miles north of Houston, spans nearly 200,000 acres between Conroe, Cleveland, Huntsville and Richards, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. With land in Montgomery, Walker, and San Jacinto counties, the Sam Houston National Forest is intermingled with privately owned timber lands and small farms, the agency’s website states. 
And as the forest nears its most popular seasons, which tends to be winter and spring, there are several things visitors should know before planning a trip. 
Here are three things to know before traveling to Sam Houston National Forest: 
Lone Star Star Hiking Trail spans 128 miles
The Lone Star Star Hiking Trail, which spans 128 miles, winds through the national forest and has gained National Recreation Trail status, the agency’s website states. The trail consists of three sections — the Lake Conroe, Central Area and the Winters Bayou/Tarkington Creek Area sections.
While the Lone Star Hiking Trail can be hiked all year round, winter and spring are the most popular seasons due to the mild southeast Texas climate. During deer hunting season in November and December, hikers are encouraged to wear highly visible clothing. The trail, typically, isn’t crowded and is home to several native trees, plants and wildlife. 
There is also 86 miles of of single-track multi-use trails. These trails are accessible to hikers, cyclists, equestrians and motorized users. It’s the only national forest in Texas that offers a motorized accessible trail system, according to information from the Sam Houston Trails Coalition. 
Hikers can also get views of several rivers, creeks, lakes and streams throughout the nation forest. 
Popular place for Sasquatch sightings
Visitors may be unaware of the rumors of a giant that may lurk in the forest, which allegedly attacked some explorers in 2015. 
Bigfoot hunters have made their way to the national forest, which is an apparent hotspot for sightings of cryptids (animals whose existence is debated) that attracts hunters from across the Gulf Coast region and beyond.
With 254 square miles of wilderness, a suitable climate and close proximity to reliable water supplies, the woods north of Houston offer a perfect spot for roaming mystery creatures — which might explain the more than two dozen reports the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization has logged in the area. Bigfoot aficionados told the Houston Chronicle in 2017 that Montgomery and Liberty counties may boast more Bigfoot sightings than anyplace else in Texas.
One quick Facebook search will show that some members of the Texas Cryptozoology Network and BFD Bigfoot Discovery Ops of Texas are still inquiring about Sasquatch sightings while also trying to find like-minded individuals. 
Home to North American birds
The national forest is also home to several North American bird species, including a couple of endangered birds such as the bald eagle. Lake Conroe and the surrounding National Forest lands provide wintering habitat for the endangered bald eagle.
During the winter months, the eagle is not an uncommon sight soaring over the lake, perched on a flooded snag or in a tall pine along the shoreline.
Another endangered species, the red-cockaded woodpecker, is found throughout the Sam Houston National Forest and frequently spotted by observant visitors. The small black and white woodpecker with distinctive large white cheek patches is slightly larger than a bluebird. The male has a single streak of red feathers on each side of his head. Its unique high-pitched, squeaky call can be recognized at considerable distances.