River Oaks Elementary School (Houston)

River Oaks Elementary was designed by architect Harry D. Payne, who, in 1926, arrived in Houston after being hired by the Houston Independent School District to design the school. Payne gave the same floor plan to River Oaks, Briscoe, Field, Henderson, Poe, and Wharton elementaries. He insisted on giving each school a unique exterior. Payne said that River Oaks' design was one of his favorite designs.[6] Landscaping architect William M. Anderson created the landscaping plans.[7] The River Oaks Corporation provided the land that the school was built on,[8] which was worth $50,000; the corporation wanted the school to be built as soon as possible, so it sold the land at half price to HISD.[9]

Ima Hogg, Mrs. Agnese Carter Nelms, and Mrs. Pat Houstoun originally considered founding a private school, but after they approved of the philosophy of HISD superintendent Edison Oberholtzer, they supported his efforts. Since HISD distributed most of its funds to junior and high schools, the "Supplementary Aids committee" founded by Hogg and the other women funded a furnished library for River Oaks.[6] Hogg, HISD officials, and a group of mothers selected Eva Margaret Davis as the school's first principal.[10] Estelle Sharp, Hugh Potter, and the Hoggs created a telephone campaign which had River Oaks mothers make telephone calls to persuade Edison E. Oberholtzer, the HISD superintendent, into modeling the school's education program after John Dewey's ideals.[8] River Oaks opened in 1929.[7]

As the school grew, more classrooms were added. First permanent additions were built. Later temporary buildings were set up on the school grounds. In 1974 most of River Oaks was assigned to River Oaks Elementary School.[11]

River Oaks Elementary was originally an all-White school; it was desegregated in 1970. The "ESG" (Elementary School for the Gifted) program was established shortly afterwards. It was not the first magnet program in Houston, as High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) was the first.[12]

Prior to desegregation, River Oaks Elementary had around 800 children. After desegregation, many parents removed their children from River Oaks Elementary, and the school was far below capacity.[13] River Oaks became exclusively a public magnet school in 1986; during the previous school year a total of 60 students were residents of the River Oaks neighborhood.[14] At the time River Oaks had mainly older families. At the time the remaining families who did have children had the money to send their children to private school and preferred to do so.[15]

From 1986 to 1995, up to 50% of the houses in River Oaks had changed ownership. By 1995 River Oaks Elementary had a waiting list, and it became one of the most prestigious public elementary schools in Houston.[13] By that year several new families had established themselves in River Oaks and many of them were interested in sending their children to public school.[15]

On March 2, 1995, HISD board trustee Ron Franklin introduced a request by the River Oaks neighborhood to have a neighborhood school at the board table.[15] Parents from River Oaks, Oak Estates, Royden Oaks, and Avalon Place pressured the school into adding back a neighborhood program.[14] Some Vanguard parents felt concern with the proposal, because they liked the Vanguard program and feared that introducing neighborhood children would adulterate the Vanguard program, believing that River Oaks parents would use political influence and money to have underqualified children admitted to the Vanguard program.[13] Some parents believed that the River Oaks neighborhood program would reduce racial diversity at the school.[14] In 1995 the school had about 500 students, with 40% White, 30% Black, 28% Hispanic, and 1% Asian.[13] Large numbers of parents who were White, Black, and Hispanic protested against the proposal.[16] Donald R. McAdams, a former HISD trustee and the author of Fighting to Save Our Urban Schools-- and Winning!: Lessons from Houston, stated that Vanguard parents were afraid of having to give up complete control over the school and share power with neighborhood parents.[17]

During that year, the HISD school board voted on a proposal to open the school to neighborhood parents. The four White board members voted in favor, while the five non-White board members voted against it. Lana Shadwick, an assistant attorney of the Harris County government, campaigned for the HISD board to allow neighborhood enrollment at River Oaks. Two board members, Esther Campos and Robert Jefferson, said that an entity, through intermediaries at the request of Shadwick, offered $50,000 in board election campaign contributions if they would change their votes, and threatened to rally a group of parents to campaign for their opponents if they did not change their votes. Jose Salazar, the intermediary who contacted Campos, said that no such offer had ever been made.[18] McAdams stated that the controversy caused public attention to focus on the HISD board and its racial makeup.[19]

In an editorial, the Houston Chronicle staff argued that "Until there is another vote, HISD should continue its work to improve all of HISD's neighborhood schools to lessen concerns that a child must qualify for some kind of magnet program and be bussed across town to be assured a quality education," and that the voting was done out of decentralization and not racial reasons, and so the perception that it was racial "helps to give the issue a racial tinge it does not deserve, which only serves to aggravate an already tense situation."[20]

Laurie Bricker, a white HISD board member, introduced a new plan that allowed parents of Vanguard students to include their non-Vanguard children in the neighborhood classes along with River Oaks neighborhood students.[21] Bricker had the neighborhood program as a phase-in to appease Vanguard parents but some minority HISD trustees did not like that aspect of her program. On March 21, 1996, the board voted in favor of Bricker's program 5–2, with 2 abstaining. Many neighborhood parents accepted the plan. Some Vanguard parents had objected. McAdams said that this vote ended the River Oaks controversy.[22]

In the 1996–1997 school year, River Oaks Elementary introduced the neighborhood program, with for grades kindergarten through 2 admitted immediately.[23] Grades 3 through 5 were grandfathered into the system. Prior to the rezoning, parts of the River Oaks neighborhood were zoned to Wilson Elementary School in Neartown,[24] while other parts were zoned to Will Rogers Elementary School (which closed after the 2005–2006 school year),[24] and other parts were zoned to Poe Elementary School in Boulevard Oaks.[13]

River Oaks Elementary celebrated its 75th anniversary in the 2003–2004 school year. Jeff Bezos, a River Oaks alumnus, spoke at a luncheon during this event.[25]

A new addition, which replaced temporary buildings, began construction during winter 2005 and was completed in summer 2007. The lead architect was Joiner Partnership, Incorporated, and the lead project manager was Heery International.