Real Estate Photographer in Liberty Hill, TX

Liberty Hill Independent School District officials have announced several adjustments to the 2025–26 academic calendar following recent winter weather cancellations and the denial of a professional development minute waiver by the Texas Education Agency, changes that will require students to attend school on additional Fridays later this spring.

District leaders said the decisions were made to ensure student safety during hazardous road conditions while also maintaining state-required operational minutes tied to school funding.

Due to freezing temperatures and icy roads across the region, LHISD canceled school on Monday, Jan. 26, and may cancel school on Tuesday, Jan. 27, depending on conditions. District officials said those closures were necessary to keep students and staff off unsafe roads.

The canceled instructional day on Monday, Jan. 26, will be made up on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. If school is also canceled on Tuesday, Jan. 27, that day will be made up on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.

District officials noted that if additional weather-related closures occur, those days would also need to be made up later in the school year.

Beyond weather closures, the district is also addressing a larger calendar issue tied to operational minutes.

Under state law, school districts must provide at least 75,600 operational minutes each academic year to receive full funding. LHISD’s approved calendar was built assuming the approval of a 2,100-minute professional development waiver, which has been granted in previous years.

However, the waiver was denied this year because LHISD operates on an innovative calendar that includes a combination of four-day and five-day student weeks. Recent updates to the state’s School Accounting and Attendance Handbook specify that the waiver will not be approved for districts operating on a four-day school week. While the state does not formally define a four-day week, TEA determined that the district’s calendar did not qualify for the waiver.

District officials said they submitted documentation to TEA explaining their calendar structure, but the waiver was still denied, requiring the district to make up the lost minutes.

To account for the missing minutes, LHISD students will now attend school on the following Fridays: March 6 and 27, and May 8 and 15.

District leaders said the current calendar originally designated May 8 and May 15 as possible weather make-up days, but those days are now being used to recover operational minutes as well.

According to district officials, adding minutes to the daily schedule is an option allowed under state rules. However, feedback from a fall parent and staff survey indicated that many felt the school day was already too long. At this time, the district does not plan to extend the length of the school day.

If LHISD does not meet the 75,600-minute requirement, the district could lose state funding. School funding is based on student attendance within the approved operational minutes, making it critical that all missed time is recovered.

Looking ahead, district officials said they will form a Calendar Advisory Committee to help guide the creation of next year’s school calendar. The committee will include approximately 30 parents and staff members representing different campuses, grade levels and perspectives.

The group is expected to meet in February to review state rules, examine calendar models from other districts and help develop options for the 2026–27 school year.

A district survey conducted during the fall semester showed majority support for continuing an innovative calendar. District leaders said the advisory committee will help ensure future calendars align with both community preferences and updated state requirements.

Parents and staff interested in serving on the committee can submit their names through a district sign-up form. District officials said selections will be made to ensure a broad and representative mix of participants.

#IndependentTogether

A slew of big businesses and projects are setting their sights on Central Texas next year. From Samsung set to fully open its $17 billion chip factory to Tiger Woods' mini-golf chain expanding outside of Austin, there are several major retailers and companies that Texans can expect soon.

This is especially true for North Austin residents living in nearby towns like Cedar Park, Taylor and Liberty Hill that are experiencing massive growth spurts from these projects. Here's a list of all the new developments set for the Austin area in 2026:

Samsung Taylor

In July, a spokesperson for Samsung and a city official confirmed to MySA that its Taylor plant is 'on target' to be operational by the end of 2026. The $17 billion project broke ground in 2022 with plans to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and create jobs in Central Texas.

Find it: 1530 FM973, Taylor, TX 76574

Submersive Spa

Meow Wolf co-founder Corvas Brinkerhoff is planning to create the world's first immersive art and relaxation experience in Austin. Submersive plans to open the first half of the trippy spa at an undisclosed Austin location in 2026, although the full spa won't open until 2027.

Aldi Cedar Park

Earlier this year, Aldi set plans to build a small $1.75 million grocery store in Cedar Park. Although the company has not yet announced an official opening date, construction on the 23,606-square-foot store is slated to end in February 2026, per the TDLR.

Find it:850 N. Bell Blvd., Suite 104, Cedar Park, TX 78613

PopStroke Cedar Park

Tiger Woods' mini-golf chain is planning to open its second Austin-area location in Cedar Park next year. The Florida-based company has not released an opening date, but construction on the 13,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed by April 2026, according to a TDLR filing.

Find it: 817 C-Bar Ranch Trl, Cedar Park, TX 78613

Uniqlo Austin

This popular Japanese clothing brand set plans for its first Central Texas store in October. Uniqlo is building a $2.4 million store at Barton Creek Square, Austin's last remaining indoor mall. Construction is expected to be finished by September 4, 2026.

Find it: 2901 S. Capital of Texas Highway, Austin, TX

H Mart Austin

Korean supermarket chain H Mart is expanding to build another Austin location. Its newest Burnet Road location isn't open yet, but it's marked as "coming soon" online, so it could very well be opening sometime in 2026.

Find it: 5222 Burnet Road, Austin, TX 78756

Costco Liberty Hill

Costco is building a massive $62.6 million warehouse in Liberty Hill, a town about 30 miles north of Austin. The 160,000-square-foot store could potentially open by March 2026.

Find it: HWY 183 & Seward JCT Loop, Liberty Hill, TX 78642

Target Liberty Hill

Liberty Hill is also on track to welcome a snazzy new Target at the intersection of U.S. 183 and Texas 29. This $22 million project will be a 149,000-square-foot store, with construction set to wrap by July 2026.

Find it:351 US 183, Liberty Hill, TX 78642

LIBERTY HILL, Texas (KXAN) — Liberty Hill Independent School District (LHISD) is looking to rezone some students as the district grows ahead of the 2026/27 school year.

When the 2026/27 school year starts, LHISD will open two new school campuses:

When the 2027/28 school year starts, LHISD will open Saddleback Elementary School.

Due to the new schools opening and the student body of the district growing 5-10% annually, LHISD Superintendent Travis Motal said the district must redraw the attendance boundaries to avoid school overcrowding.

“As we open up new campuses, we do have to make adjustments in our attendance boundaries to make sure our campuses aren’t overcapacity,” Motal said.

LHISD has released draft recommendations for how the district might rezone and is gathering community feedback. Two town halls were held in January as part of that process.

Under the proposal, Legacy Ranch Middle School would serve students who live between U.S. Highway 183 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard once the campus opens — a boundary meant to balance enrollment and keep feeder patterns consistent.

The most significant attendance?zone changes happen at the elementary level.

One major shift is the proposed split of the Tierra Rosa Elementary zone, which is currently overcrowded and already closed to new enrollees. A pipeline running through the area would become the dividing line, sending families north of it to Santa Rita Elementary, while those south of it remain at Tierra Rosa.

Click here for a detailed breakdown of how each elementary school could be affected.

“We’ve got a couple of campuses that are at or above capacity right now,” Motal said. “We don’t want to continue with that. It’s not safe for students. It’s not good for the instructional environment.”

The proposed rezoning has left some parents worried about how the changes will affect their kids.

“We’ve got three children going through the school system… currently at Tierra Rosa Elementary, and the move would effectively change our three children to go to Santa Rita Elementary,” said Tyler Chauvin, a parent with kids at LHISD. “That changes them from walkers to car riders going across a busy road. So it’s a pretty major concern for us.”

“My only concern is a few sections are going to be bounced around a little more than the majority of them. So I think that we need to look at how we can bounce around the least,” said Cindy Hauser, a parent with kids at LHISD. “But overall, I think it’s OK.”

High school attendance zones are not affected by any of the proposed changes.

All community input gathered in January will be reviewed before the district presents its final recommendation to the LHISD Board of Trustees on Feb. 16.

District officials say adjustments must be made to meet "operational minutes" standards set by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

LIBERTY HILL, Texas — Another hard freeze Monday night into Tuesday morning prompted many local school districts to cancel class for a second day or opt for a late start.

Liberty Hill ISD students will have to make up the lost time on days they were originally supposed to have off.

District officials say adjustments must be made to meet "operational minutes" standards set by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). If the district doesn't have enough minutes on its calendar, it can lose state funding.

Officials said they filed a waiver to the TEA that would have excused 2,100 minutes of class time, but the waiver was rejected because LHISD does a mix of four and five-day school weeks. Because of that, in addition to the snow days students must make up, the district also needs to add four new school days to its calendar to make up the minutes the waiver would have excused.

Classes missed for Monday, Jan. 26, will be made up on Friday, Jan. 30, and classes missed for Tuesday, Jan. 27, will be made up on Friday, Feb. 6.

The new class days to make up for the rejected waiver are now scheduled for Friday, March 6; Friday, March 27; Friday, May 8; and Friday, May 15.

The announcement sparked a conversation online, with some parents voicing frustration about the sudden change.

Superintendent Travis Motal addressed those frustrations in a YouTube video posted on Wednesday.

"I understand that we could have communication sooner and more effectively," Motal said in the video. "I own that we are in this situation with the calendar, and I accept the challenge going forward to improve our calendar process to make it better for the future."

However, other parents say they don't mind the change.

"I honestly just felt like they were just notifying parents what's going on," Amanda Lemm said. "I think the school did everything that they can possibly do, and they're doing the best they can."

To avoid a situation like this in the future, LHISD is creating a Calendar Advisory Committee that will help the district build its calendar for the next school year. Thirty people will be picked to serve on the committee, and the district wants the committee to include staff from all campuses, parents from different schools and parents with varying ages of students, to represent all levels.

Those interested in signing up to join the committee can click here.

Long gone are the days of tiny Texas towns surrounding the Lone Star State's capital city.

As Austin's national footprint has surged in recent years — compounded by national migration trends toward the South, a pandemic-era tech and remote-work boom and the relocation of key companies to Texas — so, too has the region's overall population size. Among those, one suburban community stands out among the rest for the sheer magnitude of its population growth: Liberty Hill.

While Liberty Hill's population dwarfs that of its weird capital city neighbor, the seismic growth in its number of residents speaks volumes as to what's to come. The city's population grew more than 200% across a four-year timespan, and with it has generated commercial interest from some of the biggest retailers in the game, including beloved warehouse chain Costco Wholesale and Target.

Here's what you need to know about the tiny but mighty Central Texas suburb.

What's the population of Liberty Hill?

Liberty Hill's population hovered just below 12,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 population estimates. Liberty Hill's population experienced a seismic growth of nearly 236%, compared 2020's recorded population estimate of 3,568 residents, making it the third-fastest growing city in Texas in 2025, according to World Population Review.

What are the school districts like in Liberty Hill?

As of January 2026, Liberty Hill ISD is home to 11 school campuses:

Expansion efforts are already well underway in the district, with Liberty Hill ISD poised to open Lariat Trails Elementary and Legacy Ranch Middle School in August, as well as celebrate the official opening of Legacy Ranch High School that same month, after operating out of the Legacy Ranch Middle School campus since 2024. Its ninth elementary school, Saddleback Elementary, is expected to open in August 2027.

Liberty Hill ISD earned an accountability rating of B for the 2024-2025 school year, according to the Texas Tribune. It had a near-perfect four-year graduation rate of 99.3%, toppling the statewide average rate of 90.3%.

How much does it cost to buy a home in Liberty Hill?

The average home value in Liberty Hill is estimated at $475,554, based on Zillow data available through late December 2025. That marked a 4.3% home value decrease year over year compared to December 2024 figures, Zillow analysts noted.

Key neighborhoods in the community reflect a range in home values, from estimates landing around $389,000 in Sun City, approximately $473,000 in Mayfield Ranch Enclave up to almost $672,000 home values in Fountainwood Estates.

What's the average renter cost in Liberty Hill?

Zillow's analysis determined Liberty Hill is experiencing a hot rental market, with the average rent in the city clocking in at $2,150 — up $50 compared to this time last year. Data updated through Wednesday, January 21 found there are approximately 126 available rentals in the community.

When broken down by rental type, Zillow's data revealed an average studio rent in Liberty Hill clocked in at approximately $1,650 a month, while a one-bedroom apartment ran for roughly $1,322 a month. Comparatively, apartments with two-to-four-bedroom floor plans ranged between averages of $1,864 a month up to $2,436 a month, with the average home rental cost registering at $2,150.

What's the typical income in Liberty Hill?

The median household income in Liberty Hill is reported at $120,706, based on 2024 data published by the Liberty Hill Economic Development Corporation. That figure marked a nearly $10,000 uptick from 2023 Census figures, which found the median income in the community was approximately $111,000.

City council breakdown for Liberty Hill

Liberty Hill City Council comprises six council members serving alongside the mayor. Currently, the council includes Mayor Crystal Mancilla alongside Council Members Jacquetta Thayer, Michael Helbing, Diane Williams, Elisabeth Brown, Wade Ashley and Tim Hennessy. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at the city's council chambers and municipal court building located at 2801 Ranch to Market Rd 1869Liberty Hill, TX 78642.

Cost of utilities in Liberty Hill

The average electricity rate and monthly cost in Liberty Hill is reported at approximately $132.59, according to poweroutage.us. Their figures found the average bill in the community is roughly $44 cheaper each month than Texas' state average.

Best places to eat in Liberty Hill

How to get to Liberty Hill from San Antonio

Liberty Hill is located approximately 113 miles north of the Alamo City. Those looking to take a trip to the Austin suburb can take Interstate 35 all the way through Austin until they reach the U.S. Hwy. 183 interchange. Hopping onto that highway, you'll travel and continue on it after it transitions into the 183A toll road. From there, get off at the State Hwy. 29 exit, and you'll be in Liberty Hill.

Is Liberty Hill a suburb of Austin?

Yes, Liberty Hill is an Austin suburb. It is nestled approximately 35 miles north of Texas' capital city.

What towns are close to Liberty Hill, Texas?

Central Texas communities neighboring Liberty Hill include Leander, Georgetown, Bertram, Burnet, Round Rock and Cedar Park.

What is Liberty Hill, Texas famous for?

Liberty Hill is noted for its historic downtown featuring original stone buildings that marries together with its outdoor ambiance in the Texas Hill Country. Its natural beauty is amplified by its International Dark Sky designation, meaning the city has taken measures to minimize light pollution and preserve the natural environment. Liberty Hill is currently experiencing exponential growth in its population, with a slew of major retailers building in the community to capitalize on that population uptick. Those projects underway or nearing the finish line include a Costco Wholesale warehouse, Target and a T.J. Maxx.