South Houston Elementary School began when a wing was added onto the South Houston school building in the early 1950s. Viola Pearson became the school’s first principal. In December of 1957, Pearson announced alterations to the school building with a cost of around $16,000. Construction soon began to build a combination cafeteria and auditorium and make two classrooms of the old cafeteria. In 1965, Thomas Carroll became the new principal and had air-conditioning and heating installed. In 1966, a paved parking and play area was installed at the front of the building. Cecil Brown came to South Houston Elementary as principal in 1970, and in 1971 more changes came about. South Houston received its first full-time clerk and a new kindergarten library wing was completed. As the fall semester of 1971 began, South Houston Elementary's kindergarten program was in full swing. The bilingual program was started in the fall of 1972, and August of 1973 saw the beginning of a non-graded Title I class. In the fall of 1974, the state issued orders that every school must provide kindergarten classes. Soon, every room was filled, not only with the kindergartners but with five new classes of special education students from neighboring schools and South Houston's grades one through five. In 1975, the non-graded Title I program added another class, and the bilingual program expanded to include kindergarten, first, and second grade. That same year marked the first time that a full-time nurse, a full-time librarian, and a full-time speech teacher were added to the staff.
In more recent years, a new wing was constructed for students in first through fourth grade in 2013. In 2017, the campus experienced flooding during Harvey and 10 classrooms and the gym. The school currently serves around 570 students in prekindergarten through fourth grade.
List of Principals
- Pearl Hall 1935-1953
- Ruth Roach 1953-1956
- Viola Pearson 1956-1958
- John Freeman 1958-1962
- Tom Carrell 1962-1967
- Jack Harvey 1967-1970
- Cecil Brown 1970-1976
- Stella Meehan 1976-1980
- Rick Karlen 1980-1989
- Karen Holt 1989- 2009
- Nahomi Clements 2010-2014
- E. Karina Zarzosa 2014-present
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