Alamo Heights Independent School District
Encyclopedia
Alamo Heights Independent School District is a school district
based in Alamo Heights
, Texas
(USA
). Alamo Heights ISD also serves Olmos Park
, most of Terrell Hills
, and a small portion of San Antonio
.
In 2009, the school district was rated "academically acceptable
" by the Texas Education Agency
.
While the hub of activity for Alamo Heights students centered at Cambridge until the 1950s, the district branched out into the neighboring community at the former cement plant near Jones-Maltsberger Road, also called "Cementville." Known as the "Bluebonnet School, " the Alamo Heights Ward School served children whose parents worked at the plant.
The present athletic stadium was built in 1938 by the Work Projects Administration. Originally, games were played at Howard Field on the present Cambridge site, where former head coach Earl "Mule " Frazier led the football team to a first district championship in 1926 - and lent Alamo Heights its mascot.
World War II was responsible for a very real transition for Alamo Heights from a rural district to a suburban district, accompanied by the baby boom and opening of numerous subdivisions within district boundaries. In fact, the district almost doubled during that time.
To continue to meet the needs of a growing population, the district erected Alamo Heights High School in 1949-50, the original unit of Woodridge Elementary in 1951-52, Howard Early Childhood Center in 1956, Alamo Heights Junior School in 1959, and the former Robbins Elementary School in 1964.
Today, the Alamo Heights Independent School District covers 9.4 square miles and serves students from the communities of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, Olmos Park, and a portion of north San Antonio.
The University of Texas at San Antonio is a repository for a collection of 43 flags (8.5 in x 11.5 in.) created by the students of Alamo Heights Junior School in the late 1960s. The flags, recreations of flags that have flown in Texas over the course of Texas history, were originally hung in the students' classroom, but were donated to be displayed at HemisFair '68
(1968 World's Fair in San Antonio, Texas). The collection was donated by Larrry Williams, the students' teacher at Alamo Heights Junior School.
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
based in Alamo Heights
Alamo Heights, Texas
Alamo Heights is an incorporated town that is completely surrounded by the City of San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County. At the time of the 2000 U.S. Census, this town's population was just 7,319, and 7,477 by 2009. However, its location as an enclave in San Antonio causes it to be a part of the...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
). Alamo Heights ISD also serves Olmos Park
Olmos Park, Texas
Olmos Park is a city located within San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,343 at the 2000 census. The city is the second wealthiest location in the San Antonio metropolitan area after Hill Country Village.- Government :...
, most of Terrell Hills
Terrell Hills, Texas
Terrell Hills is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States, located five miles northeast of downtown San Antonio. It is part of a group of three cities — Terrell Hills, Alamo Heights, and Olmos Park — located between downtown San Antonio and Fort Sam Houston...
, and a small portion of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
.
In 2009, the school district was rated "academically acceptable
Texas Education Agency accountability ratings system
The Texas Education Agency accountability ratings system rates all public schools, charter schools, and school districts in the State of Texas.The criteria are the same for schools and districts, and are discussed below...
" by the Texas Education Agency
Texas Education Agency
The Texas Education Agency is a branch of the state government of Texas in the United States responsible for public education. The agency is headquartered in the William B...
.
History
The Alamo Heights Independent School District traces its history from the year 1909 when the first school, a two-room wooden frame building on Townsend Avenue, was built in this picturesque area as part of a rural county district. A new school building of masonry was later constructed on the site that is now Cambridge Elementary School. In 1923, just one year after the high school building was added to the growing campus, the Alamo Heights system became an independent school district of 300 students.While the hub of activity for Alamo Heights students centered at Cambridge until the 1950s, the district branched out into the neighboring community at the former cement plant near Jones-Maltsberger Road, also called "Cementville." Known as the "Bluebonnet School, " the Alamo Heights Ward School served children whose parents worked at the plant.
The present athletic stadium was built in 1938 by the Work Projects Administration. Originally, games were played at Howard Field on the present Cambridge site, where former head coach Earl "Mule " Frazier led the football team to a first district championship in 1926 - and lent Alamo Heights its mascot.
World War II was responsible for a very real transition for Alamo Heights from a rural district to a suburban district, accompanied by the baby boom and opening of numerous subdivisions within district boundaries. In fact, the district almost doubled during that time.
To continue to meet the needs of a growing population, the district erected Alamo Heights High School in 1949-50, the original unit of Woodridge Elementary in 1951-52, Howard Early Childhood Center in 1956, Alamo Heights Junior School in 1959, and the former Robbins Elementary School in 1964.
Today, the Alamo Heights Independent School District covers 9.4 square miles and serves students from the communities of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, Olmos Park, and a portion of north San Antonio.
The University of Texas at San Antonio is a repository for a collection of 43 flags (8.5 in x 11.5 in.) created by the students of Alamo Heights Junior School in the late 1960s. The flags, recreations of flags that have flown in Texas over the course of Texas history, were originally hung in the students' classroom, but were donated to be displayed at HemisFair '68
HemisFair '68
HemisFair '68 was the first officially designated world's fair held in the southwestern United States. San Antonio, Texas hosted the fair from April 6 through October 6, 1968. More than thirty nations hosted pavilions at the fair. The fair was held in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the...
(1968 World's Fair in San Antonio, Texas). The collection was donated by Larrry Williams, the students' teacher at Alamo Heights Junior School.
Student body
As of 1989 most Alamo Heights ISD students were from upper middle class households, and the schools were mostly White.Notable alumni
- Patrick BaileyPatrick BaileyPatrick Bailey is an American football linebacker who is currently with the Tennessee Titans. He was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2008...
, class of 2004, is currently a linebacker for the Tennessee Titan and won a Super BowlSuper BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009. - Angela BelcherAngela BelcherAngela M. Belcher is a materials scientist, biological engineer, and W.M. Keck Professor of Energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. She is director of the Biomolecular Materials Group at MIT and a 2004 MacArthur Fellow.Belcher grew up in San...
, class of 1985 (attended but did not graduate from AHHS), is the Director of the Biomolecular Materials Group at MIT. - Marie BrennerMarie BrennerMarie Brenner is an American author, investigative journalist and writer-at-large for Vanity Fair. She has also written for New York, The New Yorker and the Boston Herald and has taught at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism...
, class of 1967, is an author, investigative journalist, and writer-at-large for "Vanity Fair" - Christopher CrossChristopher CrossChristopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. His debut album earned him five Grammys. He is perhaps best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme ", the last of which he performed for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore...
, class of 1969, is a recording artist with Top 40 hits including "Sailing" and "Arthur's Theme". - Dayna Devon, class of 1988, is a TV host of the syndicated show- EXTRA.
- Janet KruegerJanet KruegerJanet Eager Krueger is an artist known for her large-scale oil paintings of South Texas ranching life. She is an associate professor of art at Texas A&M International University in Laredo and lives on a ranch in nearby Encinal, Texas, in the southwestern corner of La Salle County just north of the...
, class of 1970, is an award-winning Texas artistArtistAn artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. - Rick RiordanRick RiordanRichard Russell "Rick" Riordan, Jr. is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the Tres Navarre mystery series for adults and helped to edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on the topic of his Percy Jackson series...
, class of 1982, is a San Antonio based novelist of the award winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults and the New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson series for children. - Chris Sifuentes, class of 1999, is a radio personality at KISS-FM.
- Clay TarverClay TarverClay Tarver is an American guitarist and writer.-Music career:He first came to prominence as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the Boston hard rock/punk band, Bullet LaVolta in the late 1980s. They recorded a few records for Taang! RCA and Matador records before disbanding in 1991...
, class of 1984, screenwriter for Joy Ride. - Peter WellerPeter WellerPeter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension...
, class of 1965, is an actor in movies such as RoboCopRoboCopRoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
.