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| Name | River Oaks Elementary School |
| Address | 2008 Kirby Drive |
| City | Houston, Texas 77019 |
| Established | 1928 |
| Community | Urban |
| Type | Public Elementary |
| Religion | Secular |
| Students | 614 (2003-2004 school year) |
| Grades | K to 5th |
| District | Houston Independent School District |
| Motto | Where learning is elementary |
| Mascot | Roadrunner |
| Website | Link |
| Link | |
River Oaks Elementary School is a magnet Vanguard school for the Houston Independent School District. It is located in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston, Texas and functions as a neighborhood school for the River Oaks, Avalon Place, and Oak Estates neighborhoods in addition to being a Vanguard school. Kelly McBride is the principal.
The school's motto is "Where learning is elementary", reflecting the fact that it teaches kindergarten to fifth grade. Its mascot is the roadrunner.
River Oaks Elementary School has an accelerated multidisciplinary curriculum. It became one of the first three elementary schools in Texas to get authorization for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (the primary school division of the IB program). *
There were 602 students and 38 teachers in 2003. 83.4% of those students were in the Gifted and Talented program.
River Oaks Elementary has a "nature center", which opened in 1990, which has various plants as well as several insects and smaller animals in it. The school also has a hydroponics laboratory and an urban harvest garden.
History
River Oaks Elementary opened in 1928. As the school grew, more classrooms were added onto the school. First permanent additions were built. Later temporary buildings were set up on the school grounds. A new addition is expected to be completed in 2007. 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. River Oaks became exclusively a public magnet school in 1986. In 1996, parents from River Oaks and Avalon Place pressured the school into adding back a neighborhood program for grades kindergarten through 2. Grades 3 through 5 were grandfathered into the system. Prior to the rezoning, the neighborhood was zoned to Wilson Elementary School and Will Rogers Elementary School (which closed after the 2005-2006 school year).
River Oaks Elementary recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. Jeff Bezos spoke at a luncheon during this event, which took place in the 2003-2004 school year.
Feeder patterns
All students who are zoned to River Oaks attend Lanier Middle School and Lamar High School.
Notable alumni
- Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com
- John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus*
- Linda Ellerbee *
- Fred Hofheinz, former mayor of Houston.*
- Leah Henry, a kidnap victim (Henry attended River Oaks at the time Gary Dale Cox kidnapped her - she later escaped from her captor) *
References
External links
- River Oaks Elementary School website
- River Oaks Parent Teacher Organization
- River Oaks Alumni
- Article in the Houston Chronicle
- Article on River Oaks' IB status
- Urban Harvest Garden page for River Oaks Elementary
- Houston Press article on the drive to install a neighborhood school - Since the 1995 article River Oaks gained a neighborhood program
International Baccalaureate schools | Houston Independent School District | Magnet schools in Texas | Elementary schools in Texas
"River Oaks Elementary School (Houston)"