ABBOTT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1959
3601 Barnes

Built by Chaneyville ISD in 1912, this school was deeded to the City of Houston in 1914. It was one of several in the district that derived its name from a bordering street. Abbott Elementary School closed in 1959.

ALAMO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1980
201 East 27th

Formerly known as Sunset Heights Elementary School, this school was named for the structure in San Antonio that played a pivotal role in Texas’ fight for independence from Mexico. It opened in 1913 and closed in 1980.

ALCOTT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5859 Bellfort

Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) is remembered as the author of beloved children’s novels (such as Little Women), as well as her work in the suffrage and temperance movements. The school that bears her name was built in 1954.

ALLEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2009. See Kennedy ES
400 Victoria

Charlotte B. Allen (1805–1895) Elementary School is named for the wife of Augustus Chapman Allen, one of two brothers who founded the city of Houston in 1836. Opened in 1907, the campus was originally located at Elgin and Chenevert. In 1956, it moved to its present location (400 Victoria Street) in north Houston.

ALMEDA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
14226 Almeda School Road

One of the founders of Almeda, Texas, named the town after his daughter. The school was built in 1901 and became part of HISD in 1936. A new school was erected in 1981, and was replaced with a new facility in 2011.

ANDERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5727 Ludington

Ralph A. “Andy” Anderson was a reporter for the Houston Press for 34 years until his death in 1956. Anderson was also a humanitarian who gave unsparingly of himself in helping children, senior citizens, people with disabilities, and needy people of all ages. The school was built in his memory in 1960.

This school was named for a nearby plaza in the community it served in southwest Houston. It opened in autumn of 1999 in what was originally a roller-skating rink in a shopping strip. It expanded its offices and classrooms by purchasing adjacent spaces that previously housed (respectively) a dollar store, a fitness equipment store, and church offices.

ASHFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
1815 Shannon Valley

Built in 1971, this campus is named for the community in which it is located. At the turn of the century, the entire area was part of a farm owned by a family named Ashford.

ASKEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
11200 Wood Lodge

Jewel Askew served HISD for 35 years as teacher, assistant superintendent of education, director of elementary school education, and consultant for elementary curriculum. She also taught at Sam Houston State College and the University of Houston, founded the Texas Association for Improvement of Reading, and enjoyed national acclaim as a lecturer. The campus named in her honor opened in 1977.

ATHERTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
2011 Solo

Charles H. Atherton came to Houston from his native Jamaica in 1880 and began a distinguished career in education, serving as principal of several schools and as professor, dean, and chaplain at Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University). What had originally been a county school was relocated to its present site (2011 Solo Street) in 1927 and renamed in Atherton's honor in 1929.

BARRICK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
12001 Winfrey

This campus was named in memory of Charles Emery Barrick, a 15-year employee of HISD and one-time principal of Luther Burbank Elementary School. Barrick died in August 1942. The campus named in his honor opened in 1949.

BASTIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5051 Bellfort

Mamie Sue Bastian was a respected Houstonian who devoted 46 years to serving HISD as teacher and principal. The campus that honors her opened in 1950 at 7350 Calhoun. It was replaced with a brand new facility at 5051 Bellfort Avenue in 2007.

BELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
12323 Shaftsbury

This school was built in 1978 to honor Kate Bell, known as the “first lady of education in Texas.” During her long and distinguished career, Dr. Bell served as teacher, principal, director of elementary schools, assistant superintendent of schools, and president of the Texas Retired Teachers’ Association. She was also one of the first honorees inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame.

BELLFORT ACADEMY—See Bellfort Early Childhood Center

BENAVÍDEZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
6262 Gulfton

This school was named in honor of Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavídez (1935–1998), a Green Beret in the U.S. Army and native Texan who fought and survived against incredible odds in Vietnam. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1981. The school named for him opened in 1992.

BENBROOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4026 Bolin

Joyce Benbrook Elementary School, constructed in 1966, is named for a noted professor at the University of Houston. Dr. Benbrook trained many teachers and was the author of a number of books on mathematics for children.

BERRY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
2310 Berry

James A. Berry (1809–1876) fought for Texas’ independence and later served as treasurer and commissioner of schools for Harris County. His sons donated the land on which the original school was built in 1910. The campus moved to its present location (2310 Berry) in 1950, and a brand-new facility was completed in 2011.

BLACKSHEAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
2900 Holman

The son of two slaves from Montgomery, Ala., Edward Lavoisier Blackshear (1862-1919) served as the first principal of Emancipation Park School before becoming the principal of Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University), a preparatory school for black teachers. This school named for him was built in 1916 and expanded in 1960, 1965, and 1980.

BONHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
8302 Braes River

James Butler Bonham Elementary School is named for an attorney from South Carolina who lost his life at the Alamo in 1836. The campus was built in 1962.

BONNER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
8100 Elrod

Melinda Bonner taught her children at home until she and her husband built the first schoolhouse in Angelina County and personally paid teachers’ salaries. In 1929, her son donated the land on which the present school was built.

BOWIE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—RENAMED 2006. See Paige ES

BRAEBURN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7707 Rampart

This campus opened in 1956 under the principalship of the late Dorothy Swope, a leading Houston educator for more than half a century. During the 1950s and 60’s, many streets and residential developments in southwest Houston were given Scottish names such as braeburn, which means “hillside brook.”

BRAYS BAYOU ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1966
Almeda Road near Main Street

This school was named for one of the three main tributaries that drain into Buffalo Bayou. Braes Bayou (previously referred to as Bray’s or Brays Bayou) runs through what is now the Texas Medical Center. The school became a part of HISD in 1913 and closed in 1966.

BRECKENRIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—RENAMED 1955. See Langston Early Childhood Development Center

BRIARGROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
6145 San Felipe

Opened in January 1958, this school is named for the residential development it serves in west Houston. It is located just nine blocks away from Henry Grady Middle School, which served as a temporary campus that year until construction of the new school was completed in September. A new facility was completed in 2007.

BRISCOE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
321 Forest Hill

Andrew Briscoe (1810–1849) was a leader in the battle for Texas’ independence and later chief justice of Harrisburg. The school named for him was erected in 1928.

BROCK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2005

Richard Brock (1814–1906), a former slave, opened a blacksmith shop in Houston and became the first African-American to earn the rating of master mechanic. Throughout his life he was a leader in civic and religious organizations and was instrumental in buying Emancipation Park, which was later turned over to the city. The school named for him was constructed in 1967.

BROOKLINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
6301 South Loop East

Brookline Elementary School, one of several campuses named after a residential community, was located on Telephone Road when it first opened in 1914. The new building on the South Loop was built in 1953.

BROWNING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
607 Northwood

Robert Browning Elementary School, built in 1927, is one of several campuses named for major literary figures of the nineteenth century. Browning was a British poet who lived from 1812 to 1889.

BRUCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
510 Jensen

Built in 1920, this school was named after Blanche Kelso Bruce, a distinguished former slave who founded a school for blacks in Missouri during the Civil War. Bruce went on to hold a number of important political posts before becoming the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate (1875–1881). He subsequently served as registrar of the U.S. Treasury until his death in 1898. A replacement facility was completed in 2007.

BURBANK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
216 Tidwell

Luther Burbank (1849–1926) was a horticulturist who developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants during his lifetime. Among his most well-known creations are the Burbank potato, which helped alleviate the food shortage during the Irish Potato Famine, and such things as the spineless cactus, white blackberries, and the Shasta daisy. HISD named a school for him in 1927.

BURGESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1969
4040 Blackshear

This school opened in September of 1962. It was named for George O. Burgess, the first mayor of Independence Heights, Texas. It closed in 1969 and the building became a part of the Booker T. Washington High School campus.

BURNET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5403 Canal

David G. Burnet was the first president of the Republic of Texas. The school that bears his name was constructed in 1926.

BURRUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
701 E. 33rd

Originally opened in 1899 as Independent Heights County School, Buress was renamed in 1924 after James Dallas Burrus (1846-1928), a former slave who became a successful African-American educator. Born in Tennessee, he went on to become the first African-American professor of mathematics at Fisk University in 1882. 

BUSH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

13800 Westerloch

Barbara Pierce Bush (born 1925) has had the honor of being both the wife and the mother of a U.S. President. Her husband, George Herbert Walker Bush, was President from 1989 to 1993, while her son, George W. Bush, became President in 2001. The school named in her honor opened in 1992.

CAGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4538 Leeland

In 1894, philanthropist and school board president Rufus Cage donated the land on Telephone Road where the Kirby School was erected in 1902. A newer structure was built across the street in 1906 and renamed in honor of Cage when he died in 1923. The school moved to its present site on Leeland Street in 1983.

CALDWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—See Hines-Caldwell ES

CARNEGIE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2002
10401 Scott

Andrew Carnegie Elementary School was erected in 1963 in memory of the famous Scottish immigrant who rose to become a steel tycoon and philanthropist.

CARRILLO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
960 S. Wayside

Edna M. Carrillo Elementary is located on the site of the former Parker Memorial Methodist Church, previously known as the Sims Estate. The school was built in 1993 and was named after Edna Moreno Carrillo, one of Houston’s most innovative educators. She pioneered the “open concept” model classroom and served as principal of Benjamin Franklin Elementary School from 1972 until her death in 1975.

CHATHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED SUMMER 2006
8110 Bertwood

Robert C. Chatham Elementary School was built in 1965 in memory of a prominent black educator who served as teacher and principal at several HISD schools. One of his nieces became a teacher in the district, and another is a former principal.

CLEVELAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1977
320 Jackson Hill

William Davis Cleveland (1839–1912) was an Alabama native who moved to Texas at the age of 20. A Civil War veteran as well as a prominent Houston businessman and civic leader, Cleveland was also one of the founders of the Houston Cotton Exchange. The school that bore his name opened in 1927 and closed 50 years later.

CLINTON PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2005
158 Mississippi

In 1941, HISD opened this campus to serve the Clinton Park housing project, located in east Houston. A newer building was constructed in 1958. It closed in 2005.

CODWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4103 Brisbane

During his 40 year career in HISD, John Elihue Codwell served as teacher, principal (Phillis Wheatley and Jack Yates High Schools), deputy director of the Education Improvement Program, and Area IV superintendent of instruction. Dr. Codwell retired in 1976, and a school was named in his honor the next year.

CONCORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—Renamed May 2006. See Concord Early Childhood Center

CONDIT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7000 South Third, Bellaire

In 1909, the newly founded community of Bellaire built its first school. The campus moved to a new site on South Third Street in 1914, and an addition was built in 1927. At that time the school was named for AI J. Condit, a Bellaire civic leader.

COOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7115 Lockwood

Felix Y. Cook was a teacher and administrator at HISD for 36 years, starting in the 1940s. He served as a teacher and coach at E. O. Smith Junior High and Phillis Wheatley High School and as the principal of Sharpstown High School. Cook also served for 12 years as a deputy superintendent. The school named for him was built in 2006 on the site of the old James Sanderson Elementary School. It opened in August of that same year.

COOLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1980
300 West 17th

Daniel Denton Cooley, sometimes called “the father of the Heights,” was a land developer who came to Houston in 1890. His home at 1802 Heights Boulevard was one of the very first residences built in that neighborhood. Cooley, a lifelong champion of education, also helped establish some of the first schools in the Heights area. Now called the Cooley Center, this building currently houses the district's Alternative Certification Program headquarters.

COOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
10130 Aldine Westfield

Ethel R. Coop was a trustee of the HISD Board of Education from 1928 to 1942, and then worked for the Food Services Department. The school named for her was built in 1950.

CORINTHIAN POINTE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—See Hines-Caldwell ES

CORNELIUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7475 Westover

John Paul Cornelius Elementary School, constructed in 1960, is named for a teacher and administrator who served HISD for 28 years. He was principal of Charles Hartman Junior High School at the time of his death in 1957.

CRAWFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2011
1510 Jensen

It was the first principal of this school, built in 1917, who suggested that it be named for Joseph H. Crawford, a professor of science at Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University) and a former HISD teacher.

CRESPO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7500 Office City

Manuel Crespo (1903–1989) was a native of Spain who moved to America following the death of his father when he was 16. He settled in Houston in 1923 and became the city’s first Hispanic police officer in 1940. Crespo also cofounded Chapter #60 of the League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC) and ran a funeral home for more than 50 years on Navigation Street. The school named for him opened on the city’s southeast side in January 1992.

CROCKETT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
2112 Crockett

Tennessee-born Davy Crockett died at the Alamo in the struggle for Texas’ independence. The school named for him was constructed in 1912 and replaced with a new building in 1980.

CUNNINGHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5100 Gulfton

Leroy Taylor (“L. T.”) Cunningham Elementary School, originally constructed in 1953, is named for a prominent figure in local education during the first half of the 20th century. Cunningham was variously a school inspector, principal at several HISD schools, member of the school board, and director of Houston Night School.  A brand-new replacement school was completed in 2011.

DAILY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
12909 Briar Forest

Opened in January 2006, this school was named for Dr. Ray K. Daily (1891-1975), the first Jewish woman to graduate from a Texas medical school. A prominent Houston ophthalmologist, Dr. Daily served as president of the medical staff at Jefferson Davis Hospital and was the first woman ever elected president of HISD’s Board of Education. She advocated HISD’s first classes for children with disabilities, and she was instrumental in the founding of both the University of Houston and Texas Southern University.

DÁVILA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7610 Dahlia

This school was named for Jaime Dávila, the son of immigrant parents from Mexico. It opened its doors in August 1990, not far from the site on which Dávila was born in 1959. Dávila was a product of HISD and the first student from the east end of Houston to receive a full, paid scholarship to Harvard University.

DECHAUMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
155 Cooper

Helen C. DeChaumes went to work for the Houston school system in 1890 and served the district as teacher and principal until her death in 1942. HISD named an elementary school in her honor in 1956, and replaced it with a brand-new facility in 2011.

DE ZAVALA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7521 Avenue H

Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala (1789–1836) was a distinguished Mexican statesman and diplomat who was given the responsibility of colonizing Texas. De Zavala became so devoted to his new homeland that he led the struggle for its independence and was elected interim vice president of the new republic. The school that honors his memory was constructed in 1929.

DODSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 2014
1808 Sampson

Opened in 1921 as Bowie Elementary School, this campus was renamed in 1945 to honor the late Julius N. Dodson, the highly respected principal of Charles Luckie Elementary. Once the second-largest black elementary school in the Third Ward, Dodson was best-known for its Montessori Magnet program. It closed in 2014.

DOGAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4202 Liberty

Matthew Winfred Dogan (1863–1947) was the author of the pioneering study “The Progress of the Negro,” and for many years he was president of Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. He held a PhD from New Orleans University and honorary degrees from Rust College, Walden College, and Howard University. The school named for him was built in 1949.

DOUGLASS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2005
3000 Trulley

Frederick A. Douglass (1817–1895) escaped from slavery to become one of the towering figures in the history of African-Americans. A tireless abolitionist, Douglass served as advisor to President Lincoln, lecturer in Great Britain, and president of the Freedmen’s Bank and Trust Company, as well as in leading government positions in the District of Columbia, Haiti, and Santo Domingo. HISD named a school for him in 1927.

DOW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED IN 1993
1900 Kane

The original school on Washington Avenue was built in 1887 and named after Justin E. Dow, who served as principal of Houston High School (1882–1885) and superintendent of Houston Public Schools (1885–1887). The campus moved to 1900 Kane Street in Houston’s Old Sixth Ward in 1912 and closed in 1993.

DUNBAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1981
2202 St. Emanuel Street

Originally opened as Longfellow Junior High School in 1913, this school was converted to an elementary school and renamed for Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) in 1961. Dunbar was an African-American poet who earned national acclaim for his work. The school closed in 1981.

DURHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4803 Brinkman

Mylie E. Durham Elementary School was dedicated on May 5, 1968. The school is named for a highly respected physician in the Houston Heights area who lived from 1893 to 1962. During his lifetime, he founded the Durham Clinic and served as president of the Harris County Medical Society.

DURKEE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7301 Nordling

John Edward Durkee was a land developer who named one of his holdings Little York after his home state, New York. He donated a plot on which the elementary school named in his honor was built in 1912. The school moved to its present site on Nordling Road in 1954, and Fonville Junior High School was built where the earlier school had been.

EASTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2006
4435 Weaver

Rosa Lee Easter was a respected teacher, principal, and civic leader from the 1920s through the 1950s. The school named in her honor was built in 1959 and closed in 2006.

ELIOT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
6411 Laredo

Charles Eliot was an important figure in the history of American education. He is best known for leading Harvard University to worldwide fame, and served as its president for 40 years. Eliot was also active in the improvement of secondary schools, influencing educators to adopt a more standardized and difficult course of study in high schools. Eliot Elementary School was built in 1926. In August 2011, Eliot ES opened an Alternative Center which allows students to continue their academic instruction while beginning to develop effective and appropriate self-management skills and coping strategies.

ELMORE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
8200 Tate

Horace W. Elrod served HISD as a respected principal for many years. The facility named for him, built in 1964, is a math/science Magnet school.

EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
9533 Skyline

Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School, erected 1963, is named for the distinguished nineteenth century writer and philosopher. Emerson is also noted for his study of the bee, which the school adopted as its mascot.

FAIRCHILD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2007
8701 Delilah

In 1960, HISD built this facility in honor of Thornton McNair Fairchild (1875–1941), an eminent African-American educator, businessman, and philanthropist. After teaching in the public schools of Hempstead and Navasota, Fairchild began a very successful career in life insurance and real estate. He was also a major benefactor of what is today Texas Southern University.

FANNIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1971
2900 Louisiana

James Walker Fannin Jr. was a revolutionary in the Texas battle for independence from Mexico. He participated in the battle of Gonzales, and was executed after being captured by Santa Anna’s army in 1836.

FIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
703 East 17th

The “pink school on Studewood” opened in February 1929. It is named for author and poet Eugene Field (1850–1895), often known as “The Children’s Poet.” He created many beloved childhood figures, such as “Little Boy Blue” and Wynken, Blynken, and Nod—some of whom are depicted in a mural in the front hall of the school.

FOERSTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
14200 Fonmeadow

Cecile Foerster was a highly respected teacher and administrator in Rosenberg and Houston for four decades. In addition, she was coauthor of the Working with Numbers mathematics workbooks. The campus that bears her name was established in 1967.

FONDREN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
12405 Carlsbad

HISD has two campuses named for Walter W. Fondren, one of the leaders of the petroleum industry in the 1920s and 1930s and founder of Humble Oil Company, which later became Exxon Corporation. The elementary school opened in 1949 and was replaced with a new structure in 1960.

FOSTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
3919 Ward

In 1901, Marcellus E. Foster established the Houston Chronicle, which he controlled until 1926. He was editor emeritus of the Houston Press when he died in 1942. A school was built in his memory that same year.

FRANKLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7101 Canal

Benjamin Franklin Elementary School is one of several campuses named for major figures in early American history. Ben Franklin, though best known for his outdoor experiments with electricity, was also the inventor of bifocals, watertight ship bulkheads, and the lightning rod. He was also the only Founding Father to have signed all five documents that established American independence. The school’s original building, which opened in 1916, was replaced with a new structure in 1979.

FROST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5002 Almeda-Genoa

Robert Frost (1874–1963) used his brilliant creative talent to exalt patriotism and the pursuit of excellence. Houston named a school for “America’s Grand Old Man of Poetry” in the year of his death.

GALLEGOS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7415 Harrisburg

This school, named for the late husband of former HISD Board Member Olga Gallegos, opened in the fall of 1992. Mario Martínez Gallegos was a firefighter with the Houston Fire Department for 21 years. He died of cancer in 1990 after retiring as a captain. Gallegos also served in the Navy during World War II and was a commander in the American Foreign Legion.

GARCIA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
9550 Aldine-Westfield

This school was named after Marcario Garcia, a graduate of HISD’s Sam Houston High School and a soldier in the U.S. Army who fought in World War II. During the course of his military service, Garcia won two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars with Valor, and a Bronze Oak Leaf. He also won the nation’s highest award for valor, the Congressional Medal of Honor, which he was presented with in 1945 by President Harry Truman. By the time Garcia retired, he had attained the rank of command sergeant major, the highest enlisted rank possible. The school named for him opened in October 1992.

GARDEN VILLAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7185 Santa Fe

This campus, opened in 1931, is named for the residential community that it serves in south Houston. The school is now a music/fine arts Magnet.

GOLFCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7414 Fairway

This school is named for the Golfcrest residential area that it serves in south Houston. The campus opened in 1949.

GORDON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 2012 (See Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion School) 
6300 Avenue B, Bellaire

Maud Watson Gordon was a much-admired administrator, teacher, and principal at HISD who died in 1948. The school named for her opened in 1953 and served as a neighborhood school until 1983. The following year, it was used temporarily by the Post Oak School, then by the district as an administrative building from 1985 to 1988. Gordon opened again in 1988 as a relief school for Horace Elrod and Leroy Cunningham Elementary Schools. It also served Roy Benavídez and A. A. Milne Elementary Schools in that capacity, until becoming the Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion School in 2012.

GREGG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
6701 Roxbury

Lucile Gregg Elementary School was built in 1954 in honor of a respected HISD teacher. A brand-new replacement facility was completed in 2011 as part of the 2007 bond.

GRIMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2011
9220 Jutland

Buchanan H. Grimes, a highly respected figure in local black history, rose from the position of janitor to that of teacher and then principal in the Houston Public Schools. The campus named for him opened in 1952.

GRISSOM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4900 Simsbrook

Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School was built in 1967 as a memorial to the distinguished aviator and astronaut who died in a fire aboard the Apollo 1.

GROSS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
12583 South Gessner

Gross Elementary School actually existed as the private I. Weiner Jewish Secondary School for some years before HISD acquired it. It became a member of the HISD family in 2000, when the district purchased it, renovated it, and renamed it for local philanthropist Jenard M. Gross. Gross was a real-estate developer committed to the preservation and improvement of urban school systems. HISD opened the school named for him in fall 2001.

J. R. HARRIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
801 Broadway

John Richardson Harris Elementary School (originally Harrisburg School when it opened in 1895) is named for one of the “Old Three Hundred” Austin colonists in the early nineteenth century. Both the town of Harrisburg, which he founded, and Harris County are named for him. Another school is named after Adele Looscan, his granddaughter.

R. P. HARRIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
1262 Mae

Roland Plunket Harris, a descendant of the family that founded Harrisburg, developed the Greens Bayou community in the 1930s. The school named for him was built in 1958.

HARTSFIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5001 Perry

Victor Hugo Hartsfield Elementary School was named in honor of a noted teacher, coach, and superintendent of the Pasadena Independent School District. The building was completed in 1954 and enlarged in 1978.

HARVARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
810 Harvard

Originally the Harvard Street School, this facility opened in 1898 and became part of HISD in 1921. The main brick structure, which dated from 1912, was demolished in 1980, when a new addition was built. It was named for the street on which it is located in the Houston Heights.

HAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED 1959
1417 Houston Avenue

Hawthorne School opened in 1893 at the site of the former Houston Avenue School, which later became First Ward School. It was named for Nathaniel Hawthorne, an early American writer whose works include the novels The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables.

HELMS COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTER
503 West 21st

Formerly known as Helms Elementary School, this facility was named for James F. Helms, who served as president of the Houston Heights Board of Education and later as chief clerk of the Harris County Court. The campus named for him was built in 1918, the year the Houston Heights became part of the city of Houston. It was renamed the Helms Community Learning Center in April 2001.

J. P. HENDERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
1800 Dismuke

James Pinckney Henderson came to Texas in 1836 as commander of an army company in the fight for independence from Mexico. When Texas joined the Union in 1845, he was elected the first governor of the state. The school that bears his name opened in 1929.

N. Q. HENDERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
701 Solo

Nathaniel “Nat” Q. Henderson (1866-1949), for whom this school is named in 1956, was one of the earliest graduates of Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University) and served as principal of Houston’s Bruce Elementary School from 1909 to 1942. Known as the “mayor of Fifth Ward,” Henderson helped establish the first African-American library, nursery, and home for African-American girls.

HEROD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5627 Jason

Captain Gary L. Herod of the Texas Air National Guard was flying in bad weather on the night of March 15, 1961, when his jet failed over the Maplewood Meyerland area of Houston. Instead of abandoning his aircraft over those residential neighborhoods, the pilot guided it into clear space but by then was too low to parachute to safety. The school that stands as a memorial to his bravery was originally built in 1965, and replaced in 2011.

HERRERA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
525 Bennington

John J. Herrera was the 21st national president of the League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC). The son of a San Antonio policeman, he was descended from one of the 14 original families to settle that city. The school named for him was built in 1992.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
865 Paul Quinn

Named for the neighborhood that it serves in north Houston, this campus opened in 1932. The present structure was built in 2006.

Opened in 1963 in North Forest ISD, the school was named for lifelong educator Asa Grant Hilliard I, who was born in 1863 in Atlanta to slaves and later moved to Texas with his parents. 

Jean Hines Caldwell grew up in Houston’s Fifth Ward and graduated from Wheatley High School. After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Prairie View A&M, she began her career with HISD as an audiologist, working with elementary schools in the district before returning to Wheatley as a teacher and counselor. She worked at Wheatley for 38 years before retiring.

HOBBY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4021 Woodmont

William Pettus Hobby (1878–1964) was a distinguished newspaper publisher (owner of the Houston Post) who also served as commissioner of highways, lieutenant governor (1914–1917), and governor (1917–1921). HISD built a school in his memory in 1965.

HOHL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2009
5320 Yale

Henry L. Hohl Elementary School is named for a civic minded businessman who donated the land on which this school was built in 1901.

HOLDEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2004; See Arabic Immersion Magnet School
812 West 28th

Percy Harrison Holden (1882–1954) joined the Houston Public Schools in 1907 and served the district for 45 years, including a 26 year tenure as principal of James Burrus Junior High School. The campus named for him originally opened as Twenty-Third Street Elementary School, but was closed due to a fire in 1959. It reopened as Holden in 1960.

HORN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4530 Holly, Bellaire

Paul Whitfield Horn (1870–1932) was superintendent of Houston Public Schools from 1906 to 1923 and president of Texas Tech University from 1925 until his death. The school named for him was originally built in 1949 and replaced in 2011.

HOUSTON GARDENS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—Renamed February 2013; See McGowen ES
6820 Homestead

Opened in 1935 on Houston’s north side, this is one of several schools that take their names from the residential communities that they serve.

ISAACS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
3830 Pickfair

Rollin Lee Isaacs had a long and distinguished career in education, including 21 years as teacher and bursar at Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University) and 18 years (through his retirement in 1944) as principal of Charles Atherton Elementary School. The facility that bears his name opened in 1962.

JANOWSKI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7500 Bauman

Peter Janowski was an immigrant who hired a teacher for the children on his farm north of Houston and later built the first school in that area. The HISD school named for him opened in 1955.

JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
5000 Sharman

In 1950 HISD built this school in memory of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, founder of the Democratic Party, and third President of the United States.

A. JONES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2006
2311 Canal

Built in 1892, this school was renamed in 1902 in memory of Anson Jones, last president of the Republic of Texas. A new building was constructed in 1966.

J. W. JONES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL—CLOSED MAY 2009
1810 Stuart

J. Will Jones had been serving unofficially as a director of a school glee club for 22 years when the Board of Education appointed him supervisor of music in 1926. He then created a music curriculum for the schools and oversaw it until his retirement in 1942. In 1956, the former Charlotte Allen Elementary School was renamed in honor of his contributions to HISD.