Texas City ISD has been selected to receive the Caudill Award, the highest honor in the annual Exhibit of School Architecture competition facilitated by the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) for projects that exemplify excellence in planning and design of the learning environment. The architectural projects were displayed in the exhibit hall and the winners recognized at the 2025 Midwinter Conference in Austin January 26-29.
The winning project received at least four stars from six areas of distinction, making them eligible for the Caudill Award, which is named after Texas architect William Wayne Caudill (1914–1983), whose progressive concepts continue to influence school design.
Texas City ISD won the award for the Marathon STEM and Robotics Center, designed by Pfluger Architects, a premier Texas-based architecture firm with extensive experience in educational facility planning, design, and construction administration.
The school district had a dream: a cutting-edge STEM center to inspire innovation and spotlight its robotics program. Bringing that vision to life meant boldly transforming a lifeless, forgotten storage building into a dynamic educational hub. To meet the growing demand for STEM education, the district teamed up with local community partners to develop a robotics curriculum to increase the number of graduates participating in STEM and engineering programs. The design centers around an open robotics arena surrounded by breakout spaces, classrooms, a makerspace and fabrication lab. A modular layout adapts to diverse learning styles, can host competitions, and supports all students preK-12.
The Exhibit of School Architecture awards are given at the discretion of a 12-member jury: four school board members, four administrators, and four representatives of the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE). The Caudill Award winners were chosen from among 24 projects awarded Stars of Distinction in the areas of design, value, wellness, community, planning, and transformation.
TASA is the professional association for Texas school superintendents and other administrators. The mission of the organization, which focuses on professional learning, advocacy and member engagement, is to promote, provide, and develop leaders who create and sustain student-centered schools and develop future-ready students.
TASB is an association established in 1949 to serve local public school boards. School board members are the largest group of publicly elected officials in the state. The districts they represent serve approximately 5.3 million students. TASB’s mission is to promote educational excellence for Texas schoolchildren through advocacy, visionary leadership, and high-quality services to school districts.
