Tarkington Independent School District is a public

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

in north central Liberty County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

). All 4 campuses are located on the same plot of land, with the High School facing County Road 2268, and the other three campus are along Farm to Market Road 163. The district covers ; and the schools are located seven miles (11 km) southeast of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and fifty miles northeast of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

.Tarkington ISD Fact Sheet
/ref> The communities served include Dolen, Hightower, Rayburn, and Tarkington Prairie. The boundaries of the district are the Liberty/ San Jacinto county line to the north, the Trinity River to the east, Luce Bayou to the south, and Tarkington Bayou to the east. In 2009, the school district was rated "

academically acceptable The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

" by the

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

. One of the district trustees is

Dwayne Stovall Dwayne or Dewayne is a traditionally male name. It is Gaelic in origin, deriving from the Irish saint Dubhán. History St. Dubhán was an Irish monk who established an abbey in Hook Head, Ireland during the 5th century. As a surname it is O'Dubh ...

Schools

*Tarkington High School (Class 3A; Grades 9-12) **In a nod to two Texas universities, the mascot is the Longhorn (the mascot of the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

) and the school colors are maroon, white, and

Vegas gold Gold, also called golden, is a color tone resembling the gold chemical element. The web color ''gold'' is sometimes referred to as ''golden'' to distinguish it from the color ''metallic gold''. The use of ''gold'' as a color term in traditio ...

.(maroon and white are the colors of

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

). *Tarkington Middle School (Grades 6-8) *Tarkington Intermediate School (Grades 4-5) *Tarkington Elementary School (Grades PK-3)

History

The area that now constitutes the Tarkington Independent School District was settled in 1826 when the first settlers purchased land from the Mexican government and became ranchers. The flat, wooded land was once open prairie where cattle grazed. Tarkington Prairie settlers wanted their children to have a good education, so they built several different schools with colorful names such as Box Island, Little Flock, and Pelican. The many smaller schools soon became five school districts: Dolen, Hightower, East Tarkington, North Tarkington, and West Tarkington. There was a rivalry among the schools in academic and sporting competitions. The five districts consolidated into the Tarkington Consolidated School District in 1931. In 1954, Tarkington became an Independent School District and dropped "Consolidated" from its name. The number of students has grown, and the number of facilities has grown. The old school building destroyed by fire in 1937 still stands in east Tarkington on County Road 2296.

Operations

Circa 1995 the annual cost per student incurred by the district was $3,895; around that time the average per-student cost in Houston-area school districts was $4,000-$5,000.

Notable alumni

Jason Grimsley Jason Alan Grimsley (born August 7, 1967) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for seven teams during a 15-year career. He was a member of both the 1999 and 2000 World Series champion New York Yankees. Major League career J ...

- Retired Major League Baseball Player

References

External links

Tarkington ISD
{{Region 4 School Districts in Texas School districts in Liberty County, Texas