Historic Laredo

UNITED
INDEPENDENT
SCHOOL
DISTRICT
In the spring of 1961, trustees from three tiny
common school districts in Webb County met to
consolidate—Cactus (later renamed Bilbo), on
the Callaghan Ranch, Johnson (later renamed
Masterson), on the Zapata Highway, and Nye,
originally located on the south end of Santa
Maria Avenue. Two other schools had already
merged with Cactus—Webb in 1945 and Prairie
View in 1959. The 1961-62 school year was the
first for UISD, with 341 students in grades one
through nine.
UISD gained national attention in the fall of
1963, when the first underground school in the
nation opened with grades six through eleven.
Underground classrooms were designed to double
as community shelters in the event of an
atomic war and served as a model for over 300
schools across the nation. The school received a
citation from the Department of Defense.
The district made headlines again in 1964. At
a time when state law prohibited students from
speaking Spanish at school, trustees and administration
met with Texas Education Agency officials
and University of Texas foreign language
professors to design and implement a bilingual
education program in the first grade. UISD was
one of the first districts in the nation to teach the
Spanish-speaker English and the English-speaker
Spanish. For the first time, border students were
permitted to speak their native language on
school grounds. UISD has remained an innovator
and a leader in curriculum development.
UISD comprises north and southwest Laredo,
including all of the growth areas of the city, as
well as 75 percent of Webb County, covering
2,448 square miles. UISD is one of the fastest
growing school districts in Texas. The 1999-00
student population was over 25,000 in grades
pre-kindergarten through twelfth. UISD has
three high schools, a health science magnet program,
a business magnet program, an alternative
school, 7 middle schools and 21 elementary
schools. UISD voters passed a $115 million bond
election in 1998. The bond money is expected to
cover construction costs over the next five years
of growth based on current projections.
Construction projects will include ten new
schools, school additions, renovations, traffic
improvement projects, instructional technology,
and a student activity complex/education center.
✧
Top: UISD Superintendent, Dr. R.
Jerry Barber, reads to Perez
Elementary School students during
Children’s Book Week.
Below: Finley Elementary School
teachers and staff are proud that their
campus was named a National Blue
Ribbon School by the U.S.
Department of Education. Finley is
the first Laredo school to receive this
highly distinguished honor.
Sharing the Heritage ✦ 99