History of Fonville Middle School
Fonville Junior High opened in January, 1960. It was built to relieve
overcrowding at Burbank Middle School. However, Fonville began as a small city of
temporary buildings behind Burbank MS in the fall of 1959. I have heard from an alumni of
that first class of students that "the birth of Fonville was epic and heroic. The
in-crowd was always the Burbank kids and Fonville kids were uninvited guests, but we
persevered and later excelled when we got our home. Both Burbank and Fonville students
went to Sam Houston and Fonville's stay at Burbank was just about as traumatic to the
Burbank students. It was an over-crowded, hostile environment-kind of like having cats in
a sack. I don't know how the teachers ever managed to control us."
Another former student writes:
Dear Friends,
Fonville opened it's doors- in December 1959 . It was the week before Christmas break. Texas played Syracuse in the Cotton Bowl and lost. Mr. Froemain was the principal and Mr. Gant was the V.P. The original coaches were Richard Reed, Joe Clements, and Richard Simmons.
Everything was so new, and everyone took a lot of pride . The swimming pool was state of the art. Woodshop was an adventure. We would climb a latter to a loft area to complete written and reading assignments. A Mr. West was the teacher. It snowed on Feb 14,1960 in Houston . It was a day I will never forget . I lived about 5 city blocks from the school and was able to walk to school almost everyday. As a Catholic, I could attend morning mass at Assumption Church and make it to school on time. Discipline was absolute, Mr. Gant paddled everybody, right or wrong--the board was the answer. I do not recall ever seeing a teacher evaluated by an administrator .The failure rate in Algebra 1 was very high, well over 50% .Burbank was our chief rival in sports.
I watched the Fonville being built, walked the halls before it even opened and was in awe. My parents told me that Mayor Fonville was an honest man!
I hope these comments will give you some idea of what it was like to attend a new junior high school . I went on the graduate from Sam Houston High School in 1964.I am a retired Special Ed. teacher, Viet-Nam Vet, married, a parent and living in Peoria, Arizona.
The school was named after a former mayor of the city of Houston, R. H. Fonville. Fonville was
elected mayor of the city of Houston from 1937 to 1939.
Gerald Fonville, the nephew of R.H. Fonville writes,
"As you all may know, Uncle R.H. was a pharmacist,
successfully operating modest shop in downtown Houston for a number of
years. The family itself is still curious as to what motivated him into
politics. It is my understanding, however, that he was a bit of a rebel...
in reverse, if you will. He was appalled at the disreputable state of
affairs of Houston politics at the time and wanted to try to better the
situation. After attempting to do so as mayor, he finally left office with
pride, being know as "the only honest mayor" Houston had ever had (up to
that time). His refusal to "play ball" with the "fat cats" and insiders
resulted in the termination of his future participation in city politics.
"His
singular intangible accomplishment was his adamant refusal to cooperate with
and lend executive influence to the extant factors of greed, corruption and
inside dealings then so rampant in the city.
"We
do know from his own conversations with us, that his main objective was to
influence through a fair and honest administration, the potential for all of
Houston's population to receive an "even break.""
You can read about the
city when he was mayor at Houston in
the Thirties.
Originally, Fonville Middle School had grades 7-9. Years ago,
Durkee
Elementary School was located on the site where Fonville Middle School now stands. Anyone
who has knowledge of Fonville in the sixties and seventies is encouraged to contact the webmaster.
It is now Fonville Middle School and has grades 6-8. Fonville Middle
School is located at 725 E. Little York Road, halfway
between I-45 North and the Hardy Toll Road. (Key Map 413S(NEH)). Fonville qualifies for
Title I services school wide.
Our Alumni write:
Good evening,
I
attended Fonville from 1962 to 64. I remember some of the teachers from
that time, Mr. Watts, Coach Redd and Mr. Ambrose. I remember the Vice
Principal was named mister Gant and he looked like the Frankenstein
monster (no disrespect intended). I remember the school was relatively
new at that time and it was a really nice facility.
Thanks.
Harold D. Pierce
top
April 22, 2005
Greetings to Fonville Middle School:
I
am Doris Marie Newman Haines, of Carthage, and I attended Fonville
Middle School in 1960 or 1961. Back then FMS was Fonville Junior High
School and I believe it was a new school.
Mr. Perez was a Math teacher and Mr. Bonnie was an English teacher. I
troubled Mr. Perez greatly because Math was always hard for me even in
elementary school. Math gave me problems that I couldn’t easily solve.
As a troubled teenager, unable to get things together, and after having
to repeat the eighth grade, I decided to just stop going to school. A
decision that I have always regretted. Accomplishments that I missed I
will never know. I can have understanding for those who are “slow” and
do not make “friends” quite so easily as others, and that seems to
always “stand out” in a crowd. The loneliness one feels at a young age
will effect the way they excel in life.
On October 1, 2002, I enrolled in GED night classes at Logansport High
School, located in Logansport, La. In May 2003, I took the GED test and
passed all subjects except Math which came back to haunt me. I had to
retake the Math test twice and failed again.
Then in September of 2004, I enrolled again in GED night classes at
Panola College, located in Carthage, Texas, and tested again for the
Math on Feb. 16, 2005 of which I passed.
After 41 years, I recently graduated and now have a GED diploma that I
am very proud of! My husband is Roland Glantz Haines, and we have been
married for 43 years. He was reared in Houston. and a lot of his family
still reside there. He also attended (Fonville Junior High School) where
he entered a contest to draw a Falcon bird for the mascot of Fonville
JHS. Roland’s drawing won the contest. He is now 61 years old, and I am
58.
I
wanted to share my good news with your school as it was the last school
I attended. (I am also enclosing a photo that my daughter took of my
graduation ceremony, along with the information). My daughter, Anita
Aileen Haines Shahan, attended Scarborough Elementary School in Houston
until 1974.
Thank you, Doris Haines
top
I
too, attended all 3 years at Fonville JHS, the opening year, we were Low7th
in January of 1960 - January 1963 when most of us transferred to SamHouston
and a few to Reagan HS....I have plenty of contacts with our class of 1966
as I serve as the Reunion Organizer and we have regular reunions, about 535
in my database and just now working on our October 7th, 2006 Reunion...
I will attach pictures of what groups I have from Fonville, mostly class
groups, and I have names with most all of the groups if you're interested
My particular group, the M's & N's had Dennis Perez for our homeroom teacher
the 7th and 8th grade year. Sometime in the late summer, or before school
started after Labor Day, 1962, our beloved Mr. Perez became embroiled in a
self-defense shoot out of a domestic variety...Many of us have wondered
about him thru the years. Some remembered that he was immediately
transferred to another HISD school and in those days of no counselors on
campus after a tragic event, he never came back to explain or say
goodbye...perhaps you too, can help us, by whatever bits you know about
David Dennis (Pierres) Perez as his name became after coming to the Mainland
from Hawaii.
Paula Norris Pierce for
the class of 1966 Fonville JHS & Sam Houston HS
3/22/2006
Greetings -
I attended Fonville
Junior High '61 - '64, and I have vivid memories of the experience. It was
a shiny, new school, and the students and faculty seemed to have a genuine
pride in it. It was quite a contrast to its traditional, solemn neighbor
Assumption. Rock and Roll music, bubble hair styles, JFK, and football
rivalries were going strong. I made friends that I'll never forget, and
many that I wish I were in touch with. Hearing "swats" from the hallway was
common, and girls were not allowed to wear pants to school. My education
there served me well for high school and college. Thanks for providing the
site and the opportunity for "alumni" to reminisce.
Regards,
Lana King Grasso
7/14/2006
Hello,
I have just finished reading the web pages of Fonville MS. I was a student there
from 1960 to 1962. Back in those days, classes were split up (low-eighth,
high-eighth grade) so that one could enter the seventh grade, as I did, in the
Spring semester.
I missed the experience alluded to in the remarks about the time when Fonville
convened at Burbank, but I remember it being talked about. I lived on the other
side of the North Freeway (Interstate 45) and went to Hohl ES at Yale and
Tidwell and, after Fonville, to Reagan. I would have gone to Hogg JHS in the
Heights had Fonville not opened when it did. (I left Reagan after one semester
and went to St. Thomas HS.)
Looking back, the one thing I have to say is how outstanding the students and
teachers at Fonville were. Back then, schools actually taught and students were
expected to make the most of the experience. I'm not saying that the students
were brainy or nerdy or snobby. A few were, but so what? Most would want to
think of themselves as "average." And there were certainly the rowdies and a few
actual
hoodlums (ones who regularly got Mr. Gant's paddle). The area was rough
actually, with after-school fights and kids getting jumped on their way to and
from school, usually because of some slight. But, in general, the students had a
lot of character and grit. No wonder that I hear,
after almost 40 years of living in the Washington, D.C. area, that the north
side of Houston produced many accomplished people from that era.
The faculty also had many outstanding and memorable teachers. One of the best
was Mr. Herman Lensky (history). Mrs. Craig and Mrs. Biggs were math teachers of
mine. I also recall Ms. Weingartner, Mrs. Clark, and Mr. Robertson as English
teachers. Mr. Kreiger was the chorus teacher (and my homeroom teacher). The male
coaches were Redd, Simmons, Hanks, and Benton. I particularly respected Mr. Redd
and Mr. Hanks because they were respectful to the kids who weren't star
athletes. I cannot remember the names of any of the female coaches, but I do I
recall that they were very highly thought of by the girls. Mr. McMillan taught
Mechanical Drawing. The art teacher, Mrs. Scott, was a very good one. I was one
of the boys who took typing classes, a decision that has benefited me ever
since. The typing teacher was Mrs. Roach, and she too was excellent. I could not
let this opportunity pass without making special note of one of the counselors,
Mrs. Wolfe. There were two, but I had the most contact with one of them. She was
the kind of person who had an open door, an open mind, and an open heart. She
was able to help any student who sought help, including some who were deeply
troubled. If anyone reading this remembers her name, I hope they will write in
and let everyone know.
One of the other former students mentions Wood Shop teacher, Mr. West. I didn't
take wood shop, but I knew Mr. West because he drove our bus. He was indeed a
very friendly and jovial guy, but also firm and strong. What people have said
about the physical facility is true. The building was magnificent. Let me also
say that the library was superb. I am still a bit surprised when I recall the
books that were there, stuff you would never expect to see today. It is very
nice that you have put all this information on line. Thank
you so much. Reading it, I realize how really good we had it back in those early
days.
Jim Johnson
Silver Spring, Maryland
top
Photo of Old Durkee
(1955) by Virginia Stapp
In 1954, we
moved to a new house off Little York Road. In September, I started
first grade at what was called "New Durkee" Elementary School, a
brand new school on Nordling. (A newspaper article described it as
being inspired by Disney because of the bright colors.)
A block away,
on Little York Road, stood the abandoned "Old Durkee," a two-story,
four classroom red brick school house. But New Durkee was
overcrowded with baby boomers the day it opened, and in the spring
semester, while four additional classrooms were built in two
"shacks," the first graders were exiled to Old Durkee. There were
two classes of Low-first graders in the two classrooms on the first
floor and two classes of High-first graders in the two classrooms
upstairs. I was upstairs in Mrs. Pate's class.
There was an
entry hall downstairs with staircases on each side going up to the
second floor. Each classroom had a cloak room, and the second floor
had a small room at the front referred to as a library, though I
don't remember it having any books. There were fire escapes at the
back of the building, but we never got to use them.
Old Durkee
didn't have any indoor plumbing, or if it did, it wasn't usable. If
you wanted to go to the restroom, you had to go downstairs and out
back to a small building with plumbing for the girls' and boys'
restrooms.
We were there
for a several months, and each day, we lined up to cross Little York
Road and cut across an overgrown vacant lot to go have lunch at New
Durkee's cafeteria. There were no lights or crosswalks, and Little
York Road had a lot of traffic, even then. It's hard to imagine 120
or so first graders cross a busy street every school day. I don't
remember what we did when the weather was bad.
By April, we
moved back to the completed classrooms at New Durkee, and we were
the last students to attend Old Durkee. By 1960, Old Durkee had
been torn down and replaced with Fonville Junior High (now Fonville
Middle School).
Joy Stapp
top
Our mascot is the Falcon and our
colors are orange, blue and white.
|
Principal:
Efrain Olivo |
| 725 E. Little York |
Houston Texas 77076 |
Phone 713-696-2825 |
Fax 713-696-2829 |
email the
webmaster
(HISD is not responsible for content on external sites or servers)
It is the policy of the
Houston Independent School District and Fonville Middle School not to
discriminate on the basis of age, color, handicap, or disability, ancestry,
national origin, marital status, race, religion, sex, veteran status or
political affiliation in its education or employment programs and activities, as
required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of
the Educational Amendments of 1972; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, as amended.
Es
la política del districto independiente de la escuela de Houston & Fonville Middle
School a no discriminar en base de edad, color,
desventaja, o inhabilidad, ascendencia, origen nacional, estado civil, raza,
religión, sexo, estado del veterano o afiliación política en su educación o
programas y actividades del empleo, según los requisitos del título VI del acto
de las derechas civiles de 1964, según la enmienda prevista; Título IX de las
enmiendas educativas de 1972; y sección 504 del acto de la rehabilitación de
1973, según la enmienda prevista.
Copyright 2007,
2008 Brenda Dwyer, All Rights
Reserved
