Hutto names Creekside High, keeps hippo

Hutto ISD has named its second high school Creekside High School and will keep the hippo mascot as the district expands a bond-funded campus in one of the fastest-growing school systems in the Austin area. The name was approved by the Hutto ISD Board of Trustees on May 14, according to district announcements published May 15. Community Impact reported May 20 that a student-and-community committee presented the recommendation during a May 14 board workshop. The new campus is being created by converting the district’s Ninth Grade Center into a full grades 9-12 high school. ### Why did Hutto ISD choose Creekside High School? Creekside High School emerged from a community naming process that generated more than 200 submissions, according to district announcements republished across Hutto ISD school sites. Superintendent Jeni Neatherlin said the name “beautifully reflects the story of our community and the place where Hippo Nation began,” according to the district statement cited by local outlet Huttotopia. (communityimpact.com) Student presenters told trustees the name tied the school to local history and geography. Community Impact reported that the recommendation referenced Cottonwood Creek and other waterways in the district, including Brushy Creek and South Fork Mustang Creek, and was intended to honor Hutto’s landscape and agricultural past. (hhs.hipponation.org) ### Why is the mascot still the hippo? The hippo mascot will remain in place because Hutto ISD had already decided the district’s second high school would share the same mascot. Community Impact reported that district officials had previously said the new school would remain a hippo campus, and KVUE reported in 2020 that the board had designated the hippo as the single mascot for the entire district in a January 2019 decision. (communityimpact.com) Hutto’s attachment to the hippo is rooted in a local legend about an escaped circus hippo reaching Cottonwood Creek, according to Community Impact’s account citing the city’s explanation of the tradition. That history was also part of the naming discussion, with students linking “Creekside” to the place where the story is said to have begun. (communityimpact.com) ### What exactly is being built? The new school is not a separate greenfield campus but an expansion and conversion of the existing Hutto Ninth Grade Center at 301 Destiny Lane. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation project records list the job as “Hutto High School No. 2,” with an estimated cost of $145 million, a start date of April 14, 2025, and a completion date of June 1, 2027. (communityimpact.com) Hutto ISD has said the project is part of its 2023 bond program. Voters approved all three bond propositions totaling $522 million in May 2023, and district bond materials said enrollment had risen 29% over five years and was projected to reach or exceed capacity by 2025 and again by 2027-28. ### When will Creekside High actually open? (tdlr.texas.gov) Superintendent Jeni Neatherlin said in March 2025 that work to convert the Ninth Grade Center would begin that summer. Community Impact later reported that the district expected the second high school to be completed by summer 2027 and to open for the 2027-28 school year. (hipponation.org) January 2026 construction updates showed the high school conversion and Hutto High School renovations were continuing on schedule and under budget, Community Impact reported. That timeline aligns with the state project filing that lists June 2027 as the target completion date. (communityimpact.com) ### Who took part in the naming process? A committee of Hutto ISD students and community members developed and presented the recommendation, according to Community Impact. The district said the final name followed months of community input and a submission process that drew more than 200 entries. (communityimpact.com) May 14 was the key board date in the naming process, and May 15 was the date Hutto ISD publicly announced the result on its Hippo Nation News page. The next milestone is summer 2027, when construction records show the Creekside campus is scheduled to be finished ahead of its 2027-28 opening. (hipponation.org) (communityimpact.com)