Generations unite at Lance Thompson Elementary School

For kindergartener Emma Hampton, walking through the welcoming doors of Lance Thompson Elementary School —appropriately named after her late uncle — was a dream come true. 

“I love this school a lot,” Emma said. “I like the teachers and PE is really my favorite.”

Last week, Emma started kindergarten on the very same day her uncle, Lance Thompson, would have turned 40 years old. Thompson — a former Northwest ISD resident — died unexpectedly in 1987 at the age of six. His father, Roger Thompson, was a rancher in the Justin area for many years and a Northwest ISD school board member from 1989 to 2001. Lance’s mother, Sharla Stockard, retired from Northwest ISD as the district’s student data services coordinator.

“God wanted us to name the school that,” said Emma. “That way our family is always together.”

Northwest ISD received donated property to build the district’s 19^th elementary school from the Thompson family, and the school board approved the contract agreement on April 11, 2016. The district naming selection committee met and confirmed the name, Lance Thompson, as submitted on the donation deed, meets the criteria specified in the local board policy and made its recommendation to the board to name the school after the child.

“I really like being here in kindergarten and my favorite teacher is Mrs. Walterscheid,” Emma said. “She is so nice!”

Lance Thompson Elementary school, a K-5 building completed in July 2019 located in the Harvest community of Northlake, was the first to utilize the district’s new elementary school prototype design. The school features 156,000 square feet of collaborative learning areas and other unique teamwork-focused features. Outdoor courtyards create usable space that is accessed easily by classrooms. Throughout the building, there are multiple channels of connectivity between peers, teachers, administrators, and the community.