Bill Toland

Alamo Heights Independent School District

The Alamo Heights Independent School District traces its history from the year 1909 when the first school, a two-room wooden frame building on Townsend Avenue, was built in this picturesque area as part of a rural county district. A new school building of masonry was later constructed on the site that is now Cambridge Elementary School. In 1923, just one year after the high school building was added to the growing campus, the Alamo Heights system became an independent school district of 300 students. While the hub of activity for Alamo Heights students centered at Cambridge until the 1950s, the district branched out into the neighboring community at the former cement plant near Jones-Maltsberger Road, also called "Cementville."​ Known as the "Bluebonnet School, "​ the Alamo Heights Ward School served children whose parents worked at the plant. The present athletic stadium was built in 1938 by the Work Projects Administration. Originally, games were played at Howard Field on the present Cambridge site, where former head coach Earl "Mule "​ Frazier led the football team to a first district championship in 1926 - and lent Alamo Heights its mascot. World War II was responsible for a very real transition for Alamo Heights from a rural district to a suburban district, accompanied by the baby boom and opening of numerous subdivisions within district boundaries. In fact, the district almost doubled during that time. To continue to meet the needs of a growing population, the district erected Alamo Heights High School in 1949-50, the original unit of Woodridge Elementary in 1951-52, Howard Early Childhood Center in 1956, Alamo Heights Junior School in 1959, and the former Robbins Elementary School in 1964. Today, the Alamo Heights Independent School District covers 9.4 square miles and serves students from the communities of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, Olmos Park, and a portion of north San Antonio.