Alamo Heights Independent School District Explained

Alamo Heights Independent School District
Region:ESC Region 20[1]
Grades:Pre-K through 12
Superintendent:Dana Bashara [2]
Students:4748 (2010-11)
Teachers:335.62 (2009-10) (on full-time equivalent (FTE) basis)
Ratio:14.2 (2009-10)
Schools:6 (2009-10)
Conference:UIL Class 5A Football & Basketball[3]
Colors:  Blue, Gold[4]
Mascot:Mules
Free Label:TEA District Accountability Rating for 2011-12
Free Text:Academically Acceptable[5]
Coordinates:29.4925°N -98.4667°W
Location:7101 Broadway St.
San Antonio, Texas
Country:USA

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.

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 (1968 World's Fair in San Antonio, Texas). The collection was donated by Larry Williams, the students' teacher at Alamo Heights Junior School.

Finances

As of the 2010-2011 school year, the appraised valuation of property in the district was $4,838,847,000. The maintenance tax rate was $0.104 and the bond tax rate was $0.013 per $100 of appraised valuation.

Academic achievement

In 2011, the school district was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency. Forty-nine percent of districts in Texas in 2011 received the same rating.[6] No state accountability ratings will be given to districts in 2012.[7] A school district in Texas can receive one of four possible rankings from the Texas Education Agency: Exemplary (the highest possible ranking), Recognized, Academically Acceptable, and Academically Unacceptable (the lowest possible ranking).

Historical district TEA accountability ratings

List of schools

In the 2011-2012 school year, the district had students in six schools.

Regular instructional
JJAEP instructional

Special programs

Athletics

Alamo Heights High School participates in the boys sports of baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, soccer, and wrestling. The school participates in the girls sports of basketball, softball, soccer, and volleyball. For the 2012 through 2014 school years, Alamo Heights High School will play football in UIL Class 4A. in 2006 AHHS won state in football div. 4A.

Notable alumni

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Texas School Directory 2012. Texas Education Agency. 11 August 2012. 19 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120219235251/http://mansfield.tea.state.tx.us/TEA.AskTED.TSD/TSDfiles/tsd2012/not_tagged/texas_school_directory_2011-12.pdf. dead.
  2. Web site: Superintendent.
  3. Web site: UIL Alignments. University Interscholastic League. 11 August 2012.
  4. Web site: Alamo Heights High School. CBS Interactive. 11 August 2012.
  5. Web site: Texas Accountability System District Ratings for 2004 through 2011 . . 11 August 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120702090716/http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/accthist_new.srch.html . 2 July 2012 .
  6. Web site: Texas Accountability System Summary of Ratings for 2004 through 2011(as of November 2, 2011) District Ratings by Rating Category (including Charter Operators) . . 11 August 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120807004303/http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/summaryxyrs.html . 7 August 2012 .
  7. Web site: Accountability Rating System for Texas Public Schools and Districts . . 11 August 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120824231856/http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/ . 24 August 2012 .