The History of South Houston Intermediate
The site of the South Houston Intermediate School has a varied and colorful history.
It
was first purchased by Dr. J. L. Dickerson, who was principal at the
South Houston School, from a land development company. He established
the Asgard College for Girls there in 1908.A two-story brick building
was built and the college was operated for about four years. It closed
because of a disagreement between Dr. Dickerson and the land company.
Dr. Dickerson believed the land company had not lived up to the
contract. The land and the building was sold to Harris County for a
reformatory for boys. In 1928 it was converted into a psychiatric
hospital and was used for this purpose until 1930. A dairy was then
operated on the site for a while. After that the building was used for a
Federal transit home and a National Youth Association Camp. The N.Y.A.
added a dormitory building. The men were taught vocational courses.
During World War II the draft board for the area was located in the
dormitory building.
In
1947 the Pasadena School District purchased the land and buildings for a
Junior High School housing the seventh through ninth grades. Classes
began immediately in the dormitory building known as the double Z
building with Thomas J. De Fee as principal, a position he held for six
weeks. Mr. Carroll Teague then became the principal for the duration of
the school year. The school consisted of ten classrooms, library, and
kitchen. The kitchen was never used to prepare food for the children.
Because there were no food facilities, the students had to bring their
lunches. Most days the lunches were eaten on the patio which adjoined
the school building. The school was allowed to have the first drink
vending machine in the district because of the inadequate facilities.
With
many interested spectators and a few humorous incidents, as when one of
the bulldozers being used in the demolition of the building fell into
an old septic tank, the old two story building was demolished and in
1948 a cafeteria building was built. It was detached from the double Z
building.
Mr.
Felton Waggoner became principal in the fall of 1948. There was an
urgent need for facilities, so a richer educational program could be
offered. So in 1949 a building containing a gym and dressing room,
physical education classroom, band room, lounge, visual education and
handicraft rooms was completed. The school now consisted of three
separate buildings joined by covered walkways.
Mr.
Scott Cockrell came to the school in 1950, the fourth principal in as
many years. Enrollment was growing and the school became so crowded the
gym had to be used for six classes. In 1953 four classrooms, a corridor,
and vocational rooms were added to the gym building. Fourteen
classrooms were added in 1956. With each addition the school was
beginning to acquire a more conventional appearance and in 1959, when
the two-story wing with classrooms, office, and boy's gym were
completed, South Houston Intermediate at last had adequate facilities
and a front entrance. Mr. Cockrell ended his ten-year administration
that Spring.
Classes
opened in the fall of 1960 with all major building programs completed.
Mr. Glen White was the new principal. School activities fell into an
orderly routine which was to last for four years.
Mr.
Joe Hext became principal in 1964. South Houston Junior High became
South Houston Intermediate. The student body now consisted of sixth
through eighth grades instead of seventh through ninth.
The
last building additions were made in 1969 while Mr. Sam Roach was
principal. A boy's dressing room was added to the boy's gym, a kitchen
was added to the cafeteria and the old kitchen converted to a clinic.
South Houston Intermediate moved to its current location at 900 College Avenue in South Houston in the mid-1980s. Since that time, a new wing has been added with nine additional classrooms, two restrooms and an office space. Like all of the district’s intermediate schools, the campus no longer serves sixth-grade students. The change was made in 2006, when Rick Schneider Middle School opened as a fifth and sixth grade campus. A year earlier, in 2005, South Houston saw an increase in student enrollment caused by an influx of families fleeing New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In 2017, Houston was hit by a hurricane of its own, Hurricane Harvey. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, South Houston Intermediate served as a shelter for the South Houston community, which was devastated by the storm. In 2020, the school received a new roof.
List of Principals:
-Thomas DeFee 1947
-Lucas Vegas 1947-1948
-Felton Waggoner 1948-1950
-Scott Cockrell 1950-1960
-Glen White 1960-1964
-Joe Hext 1964-1969
-Sam Roach 1969-1972
-Robert Tyler 1972-1982
-Lucas Vegas 1982-1995
-David Kendler 1995- 1998
-Joe McCorvey 1998 -2006
-Laura Gomez 2006-2019
-Jessica Swenson 2019- present