Second Ward, Houston - Education - Primary and Secondary Schools - History of Schools

History of Schools

Anson Jones Elementary School, named after Anson Jones, was formerly located in the Second Ward. It opened on Elysian Street in 1892. The first building of Rusk Elementary School opened in 1902. Our Lady of Guadalupe School first opened on September 8, 1912, one month after the church's first mass.

In 1959 a new Rusk Elementary building opened. In 1967, A. Jones moved to a new location on Canal Street. In several decades leading up to 2006, the school lost population. Charles Ross, the school's final principal, who had served in that capacity for 14 years, said that the school lost about 200 students during his term. As of the 2005-2006 school year, it had a little over 200 students. The student population was mostly Hispanic and African American. Two thirds of the students lived in Clayton Homes, a Houston Housing Authority public housing complex.

The A. Jones school closed in 2006. HISD sold the building. The areas formerly zoned to the school were rezoned to the Bruce and Rusk schools. The cafeteria of the former school became a reception hall. Offices of the Urban Harvest organization are now located in Suite 200 of the former school.

E. O. Smith Education Center closed after the 2010-2011 school year; for grades 6 through 8, the Second Ward, previously assigned to E. O. Smith for those grades, was rezoned to Jackson.