1960s
At a glance …
- April 18, 1959 – The Missouri City and Sugar Land School Districts were
consolidated by election, forming the Fort Bend Independent School District
- 1960 – Fort Bend ISD had its first graduating class
- 1962 – Dulles High School opened
- 1963 – E. A. Jones Elementary School opened
- 1965 – All Fort Bend ISD schools were desegregated.
- 1965 – Dulles Junior High School opened
- 1965 – M. R. Wood housed special education students and programs until
the state mandated that those students should be housed on campuses near their
homes
- 1969 – Blue Ridge Elementary and the Louis P. Rodgers Memorial Auditorium opened
The Missouri City Independent School District and Sugar Land Independent School
District were consolidated by election on April 18, 1959, forming the Fort Bend
Independent School District. At that time facilities consisted of seven campuses
and 2,600 students.
There was an elementary school in Sugar Land (now the Lakeview campus), and one in Missouri City (now
E.A. Jones campus). The junior high was located in Sugar Land (now the Lakeview campus) and a high school was located in Missouri City (now Missouri City Middle School campus). Kempner Stadium was used as the athletic facility for Fort Bend ISD at that time.
Prior to desegregation, black students attended one of three schools in Fort Bend ISD.
M. R. Wood School in Sugar Land educated students in grades 1-12,
The Oaklane School in Arcola housed grades 1-8 and Staffordshire Elementary in Stafford housed grades 1-4. (Missouri City High School black students had been transferred to M. R. Wood in past years).
In September 1965, all schools were desegregated and the Oaklane School and Staffordshire
Elementary Schools were closed. The Oaklane School was sold in 1979 to the county and the Staffordshire property was later sold. As the desegregation plan progressed, students were enrolled in the schools in the attendance zones in which their residences were located. The M. R. Wood students went to Lakeview, the Staffordshire children to E. A. Jones, and Oaklane to Annie Wilcox Elementary, housed at the old Missouri City High School until Blue Ridge Elementary opened in 1969.
Administrative offices for the superintendent, assistant superintendent and office staff were housed at Sugar Land Junior High because of available office space. The tax office was maintained in Missouri City because Missouri City had a tax assessor-collector, while Sugar Land did not. The Sugar Land tax assessor-collector was employed on a part-time basis.
A site was immediately purchased on Dulles Avenue (at that time known as Lester Road) and construction of the Administration Building and
John Foster Dulles High School began. The Administration Building was occupied in the summer of 1961. Fort Bend ISD had its first graduating class in 1960. The first class actually graduated from the present Dulles High School in 1962.
Dulles Junior High was occupied in March 1965, and all sixth through eighth graders were housed in the one facility until the openings of Sugar Land Junior High in August 1975 and Missouri City Junior High in October 1975.
The old Missouri City High School housed Annie Wilcox Elementary until Blue
Ridge Elementary was occupied in August 1969. These facilities were later
demolished for the construction of the present Missouri City Junior High.
M.R. Wood School held all the District's special education students and programs until the state mandated that those students should be housed on campuses near their homes.
The Louis P. Rodgers Memorial Auditorium was constructed in 1969 and named for the
District's first superintendent who died in May 1967.