Poe Elementary School (Houston)
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Edgar Allan Poe Elementary School is a
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
located at 5100 Hazard Street in
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 i ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
,
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. A part of the
Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...
(HISD), the school, which was built during the 1920s, is located in the Chevy Chase subdivision of the Boulevard Oaks neighborhood west of
Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...
.Civic Association Architectural Review/Deed Restriction Contacts
" Boulevard Oaks. Retrieved on December 25, 2012.
The school, a
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
(NRHP) historic district contributing property of Boulevard Oaks, was named after
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
. Poe Elementary, as of 2001, had about 700 students. It has bilingual programs for all grade levels and a fine arts
magnet program In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...
. The 1980 ''Houston/Harris County Metropolitan Area Southwest-Westpark Corridor Transitway Alternatives: Environmental Impact Statement'' of the
Urban Mass Transportation Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...
described Poe as "a thriving, well-integrated
magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...
". From 1974 to 2021 the Poe Cooperative Nursery School (Poe-Co), a privately-operated
pre-school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...
, was located on the Poe school grounds; it was established in 1974 in order to revive enrollment at Poe Elementary. It earned
National Association for the Education of Young Children The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a large nonprofit association in the United States representing early childhood education teachers, para-educators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families o ...
(NAEYC) accreditation in 1991, making it the first parent cooperative preschool to do so. Poe-Co moved from the Poe Elementary grounds after HISD removed private preschools from public school properties.


History

Poe was established in 1928. It was originally an elementary school reserved for white people and others who were not black. It was previously called "Chevy Chase Elementary School". The Poe Elementary School Attack occurred on September 15, 1959, when a man named Paul Orgeron detonated a bomb during recess at Poe Elementary School, killing himself, a teacher (Jennie Katharine Kolter), a custodian (James Arlie Montgomery, for which Montgomery Elementary was named), and three 7-year-old boys (Billy Hawes, Jr., John Fitch, Jr., and Dusty Paul, Orgeron's son). Ruth Doty, the principal, was partially deafened in one ear by the blast. Unlike school attacks in the early 21st century, there was no constant national and international media coverage of the Poe attack. No memorial was constructed at Poe Elementary. HISD named two new elementary schools after victims of the attack: Kolter Elementary School in
Meyerland Meyerland is a community in southwest Houston, Texas, outside of the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8. The neighborhood is named after the Meyer family, who bought and owned 6,000 acres (24 km²) of land in southwest Houston. Meyerland is th ...
and Montgomery Elementary School in Southwest Houston. Poe was
desegregated Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...
by 1970. In 1985 a new classroom wing opened.History
" Poe Cooperative Nursery School. Retrieved on December 6, 2016.
From 1986 to 1996, Poe Elementary served a section of
River Oaks River Oaks is a residential community located in the center of Houston, Texas, United States. Located within the 610 Loop and between Downtown and Uptown, the community spans .Archive Established in the 1920s by brothers Will Hogg and Michael H ...
as the neighborhood program of River Oaks Elementary School had been removed.Markley, Melanie.
Winds of change alarm River Oaks Vanguard parents
" ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
''. Sunday April 2, 1995. p. A33. Retrieved on October 22, 2012. Available on
NewsBank NewsBank is a news database resource that provides archives of media publications as reference materials to libraries. History John Naisbitt, the author of the book ''Megatrends'', founded NewsBank.Andrews 1998, p. 17. The company was launched ...
(Record: HSC04021265468), accessible with a
Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in 1 ...
card. "Indeed, River Oaks Elementary ceased to be a neighborhood school in 1986. ..As it now stands, River Oaks children are zoned to one of three schools outside their community -- ..Poe Elementary on the other side of the Southwest Freeway in Southampton ..
Ann McClellan served as principal of Poe beginning circa 1990, and according to the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
'', during her tenure Poe "earned its reputation for high TAAS scores and academic standards." She served in that capacity until 2001, when Debbie Verdon became principal on July 23. Verdon previously worked in the
Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD) is a public school district based in Grapevine, Texas, USA. The district serves most of the cities of Grapevine and Colleyville and includes small portions of Euless, Hurst, and Southla ...
as a principal. When the 2005-2006 school year concluded, Will Rogers Elementary School closed. Poe Elementary School gained the portion of the Will Rogers zoning boundary that was east of Weslayan. Jeff Amerson became principal in 2011; he formerly taught at Pershing Middle School and The Rice School, and prior to becoming Poe's principal he was the principal of Garden Oaks Elementary School. Poe became an
International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...
Primary Years school on February 22, 2016.


Campus

Poe Elementary, which has a light pink, velour brick exterior, copper sheet metal in a natural tone, and a multicolored natural slate roof, uses an American Colonial and
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
theme. It was the prototype of Architect Harry D. Payne's school design for HISD.Payne, Harry D. A.I.A. "Six New Elementary School Buildings for the Houston Independent School District." ''
American School & University ''American School & University'' (''AS&U'') is a magazine Produced by Endeavor Business Media that describes operations of educational facilities, including design and construction of new school buildings, maintenance and renovation of existing one ...
'', Volume 2. Educational Division of North American Publishing Company, 1930. p. 84-88. CITED: p. 87 (PDF p. 4/5) - See
page 37 of Volume II
- This source refers to Poe as "Chevy Chase Elementary School"
Poe's sister schools are
River Oaks River Oaks is a residential community located in the center of Houston, Texas, United States. Located within the 610 Loop and between Downtown and Uptown, the community spans .Archive Established in the 1920s by brothers Will Hogg and Michael H ...
, Briscoe, Field, Henderson, and Wharton elementaries, which all share the same floor plan. Payne gave each of those schools its own unique exterior.Ewing, Betty. "River Oaks grads, you can relive those good old days." ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
''. Monday November 29, 1976. Section 2
Page 1
().
The school library, previously consisting solely of the area of three classrooms, received an over $80,000 renovation and expansion in 2002. Parents and other area residents contributed $50,000 while the parent-teacher organization (PTO) held fundraisers and other events to generate $40,000. the school library had six IBM compatible computers and four
iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...
s. Poe Elementary has a fireplace and chimney given to the school by Ima Hogg. As of 2010 the fireplace is located in the art classroom. The building is a contributing property of the Boulevard Oaks Historic District on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.


Curriculum

The school has dance, music,
Suzuki violin The Suzuki method is a music curriculum and teaching philosophy dating from the mid-20th century, created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki (1898–1998). The method aims to create an environment for learning music which para ...
, and visual art classes as part of its magnet program.


Transportation

about 200 Poe students lived north of U.S. Highway 59 and used a bridge on Woodhead Drive to travel to the school, south of the freeway; at least twenty students regularly traveled as pedestrians while about 66% of those north of U.S. 59 were driven in private cars. School bus service was not available since the students lived too close to the school.


School culture

Every year Poe Elementary holds a carnival patronized by members of the Boulevard Oaks community, parents, and future parents. The carnival raises funds to cover budget gaps not supported by HISD or by the State of Texas. The school also holds an annual auction fundraiser.


School uniforms

Poe students (since fall 1998, as of 2006) have to wear school uniforms. At first, students had a choice of white, red, yellow, or navy blue
T-shirts A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are generall ...
and
polo shirt A polo shirt, tennis shirt, golf shirt, or chukker shirt is a form of shirt with a collar. Polo shirts are usually short sleeved but can be long; they were used by Polo#Players, polo players originally in India in 1859 and in Great Britain durin ...
s and school T-shirts. Later the school banned all non-Poe logo shirts. As of 2006, all shirts must have the Poe logo. Students must wear khaki bottoms. 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.
specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform; parents must specify " bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.


Poe Cooperative Nursery School

There is a formerly affiliated private preschool, Poe Cooperative Nursery School (Poe-Co), which historically shared a campus with the public Poe elementary school. It was established after a decline in enrollment at Poe Elementary in the 1970s that occurred due to racial integration.Driscoll, p
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"In the early 1970s, enrollment at Poe Elementary School declined dramatically in response to the court-ordered racial integration of the Houston Independent School District. Poe parents approached the superintendent with their concern about declining enrollment and the loss of neighborhood children to private schools. Their discussions resulted in the founding of a preschool as a way of attracting community families to Poe. (Hansen, 1992) The school district provided space, utilities, and nominal maintenance, while parents coordinated administrative details ..
While the parents themselves administered the school and served as assistants in the classrooms, HISD provided the building space and the supporting utility and maintenance services. Then-HISD superintendent Billy Reagan suggested that a private preschool open on the grounds of Poe Elementary. The preschool opened on February 4, 1974, with two classes of students. The enrollments of these two classes were filled shortly after PoeCo opened. Poe Elementary received an increase in enrollment after PoeCo opened. The preschool was originally held in temporary locations, with some located in the Poe property and some outside of Poe. In 1985 two classrooms in the north wing of the Poe school building were converted into preschool classrooms. The preschool earned
National Association for the Education of Young Children The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a large nonprofit association in the United States representing early childhood education teachers, para-educators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families o ...
(NAEYC) accreditation in 1991, making it the first parent cooperative preschool to do so. Each parent of an enrolled student must work at the preschool for two days out of every month. PoeCo holds an annual garage sale to support its operations. PoeCo parents also assist in the wider Poe Elementary carnival by manning booths and/or babysitting for parents who work in the carnival. In 2020 HISD announced that it will expel private preschools from HISD campuses. HISD was trying to build its own public preschools, and HISD receives funding from the state for public preschool students but not private preschool students. It moved to St. Matthew Lutheran Church effective June 2021.


Neighborhoods served

The school serves multiple neighborhoods and areas: Boulevard Oaks (including Broadacres), Ranch Estates,
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, Shadyside, Rice Village, a portion of Neartown (including sections of Montrose,Map of Montrose
''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
''. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
Castle Court, Dearborn Place, Richwood Place, and a portion of Lancaster Place), portions of the
Houston Museum District The Houston Museum District is an association of 19 museums, galleries, cultural centers and community organizations located in Houston, Texas, dedicated to promoting art, science, history and culture. The Houston Museum District currently inc ...
area,Mulvaney, Erin.
Neighborhoods: Museum District becomes a place of contrasts
" ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
''. July 8, 2016. Retrieved on July 11, 2016. "The community, ..s bordered by U.S. 59, Texas 288, Hermann Park and the Texas Medical Center."
a portion of Riverside Terrace,Wollam, Allison.
Riverside Terrace bucks housing slowdown
" ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor New ...
''. August 15, 2008. Retrieved on April 18, 2009. "It’s becoming common practice for homes in the Riverside Terrace area — a historic Inner-Loop neighborhood bounded by Scott, North MacGregor, Almeda and Wheeler ..
and a portion of
Upper Kirby Upper Kirby is a commercial district in Houston, Texas, United States. It is named after Kirby Drive, so indirectly takes its name from John Henry Kirby. Upper Kirby contains many businesses, including restaurants. Upper Kirby is east of the Gre ...
(areas of the district located west of Edloe and north of Westpark, residential areas located east of Edloe, west of Kirby, and north of U.S. Route 59, and residential areas east of Kirby). In addition, the
2727 Kirby 2727 Kirby is a 30-story, 78 unit, condominium high rise, designed by Ziegler Cooper and located in Upper Kirby just south of Westheimer in Houston, Texas. Zoned schools Residents of this building are zoned to schools in the Houston Independent S ...
condominium complex, and the Greenway Condominiums (14 Greenway and 15 Greenway), are zoned to Poe Elementary. A
Houston Housing Authority Houston Housing Authority (HHA), formerly Housing Authority of the City of Houston (HACH), is the public housing authority in Houston, Texas. The Mayor of Houston appoints the board of directors of the HHA, but it itself is not a department of th ...
(HHA)
public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
complex, the Ewing Apartments, is zoned to Poe.


Feeder patterns

Most residents of the Poe attendance boundary are zoned to Bob Lanier Middle School (formerly Sidney Lanier Middle) in Neartown, while a few are zoned to Cullen Middle School. All residents of the Poe attendance boundary are zoned to Mirabeau B. Lamar High School in
Upper Kirby Upper Kirby is a commercial district in Houston, Texas, United States. It is named after Kirby Drive, so indirectly takes its name from John Henry Kirby. Upper Kirby contains many businesses, including restaurants. Upper Kirby is east of the Gre ...
.


Miscellaneous usage

Poe Elementary serves as a polling location during elections. The ''
Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...
'' ranked it as the best polling center in Houston in 2003.


References

* Driscoll, Amy. ''Cases in Early Childhood Education: Stories of Programs and Practices''. Allyn and Bacon, 1994. , 9780205150212. Chapter 7, Poe Cooperative Nursery School "Parent Involvement: Building Community for Children and Parents" is on pages 113-130.


Reference notes


Notes

* Some material originated from
Boulevard Oaks, Houston Boulevard Oaks is a neighborhood in Houston, Texas, United States, containing 21 subdivisions north of Rice University and south of U.S. Highway 59. Developed primarily during the 1920s and 1930s, Boulevard Oaks contains two National Register his ...


External links


Poe Elementary School
*
Poe Elementary PTO

Poe Cooperative Nursery School
* {{Houston ISD Houston Independent School District elementary schools Public elementary schools in Houston 1928 establishments in Texas Educational institutions established in 1928 International Baccalaureate schools in Texas School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Historic district contributing properties in Texas