The school in East Austin opened in 1891 as a one-room school intended for Black students only. Now, it operates as a public fine arts academy.
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When I visited Blackshear Elementary School in East Austin, I made the mistake of parking by the back door. I had to call the front desk and be let in by an administrator who escorted me across the school, but this happy accident allowed me to see it in its entirety. The walls of the fine arts academy were splashed with murals, the halls plastered with student paintings. Handmade stars hung from the ceiling tiles. Blackshear has a long history that exemplifies the evolution of education for African-Americans in Austin over the last century. It started as a one-room school intended for Black students only and now operates as a public fine arts academy. Angela Lee, the secretary historian of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association, asked the ATXplained project if Blackshear is the oldest operating elementary school in Austin.Blackshear initially served Black students from the Gregory Town freedom colony and was known at one time as the Gregory School. “There’s not been a lot of attention paid to ,” Lee said. “So many accomplishments have been overlooked. So much history has been lost just because of neglect. … It’s important to me as these structures and these stories evolve and are replaced that they still have a tie to the foundation.”in 1891, a few blocks away from where the current campus sits on 11th Street, to provide free education for Black students in Gregory Town, a freedom colony in segregated East Austin. It was named School #3, Gregory Town School and Gregory School before being renamed Blackshear in 1936 afterThe original one-room structure quickly outgrew its space. Sydney Landers, who researched the school as a UT architecture student, said the building's state of disrepair led to the construction of an eight-room school a few blocks away in 1903. In 1936, the school expanded to include 10 more rooms. Many more additions continued until the 1960s, with the newest addition made in the early 2000s. “Elementary schools are ever-evolving,” Landers said. “They can’t really stay in the exact same building, even if it is historic.” It’s rare for a freedom colony school to still be standing today, said Andrea Roberts, associate professor of urban and environmental planning at the University of Virginia and founder of the Freedom colonies were small settlements created by formerly enslaved people during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras. Roberts said many schools in the freedom colonies closed in the 1930s when New Deal-era policies required equitable funding for Black and white schools — however questionable that attempt was. Typically, if there weren’t enough Black students to keep a school open, it would close, and students would be integrated to avoid using federal dollars to pay for separate schools. “So many schools from the … equalization era and the segregation era were either closed or consolidated,” Roberts said. “That does make special.”Friendly R. Rice was a trailblazer in education for African Americans and a major figure Rice earned a bachelor’s degree in education from what is now Prairie View A&M University. He later received a master's in education administration from Columbia University in 1938. When he came to Blackshear, Rice implemented programs to support low-income students, many of which would stretch beyond the walls of the school. He created the first free lunch program in Austin ISD at Blackshear, according to theArlene Youngblood, who attended Blackshear while Rice was principal, has extensively researched and written about her former school for the historical association. She called Rice an"innovator." “He saw the needs that needed to be met and he made sure to take care of those things,” Youngblood said. “He instituted programs that were helpful to the wellbeing of the whole student.”A mural at the school depicts Friendly Rice, a trailblazer in education for African Americans who was a principal there from 1940 to 1972. She said Rice and the rest of her teachers set high standards and encouraged the students to do the best they could. “Our teachers were professional they taught us their very best,” Youngblood said. “They expected the very best of us and pushed us to excel.” According to Youngblood, Rice also instituted one of the first public school libraries in an African-American school Youngblood said Craig was also the first Black woman to serve on the Travis County Historical Commission. She secured several historical markers for influential Black churches near the elementary school. “Ms. Craig was a role model for young people to know and have a desire to learn things,” Youngblood said.Blackshear's principal, Tiona Bell, expressed pride in the school’s history and enthusiasm about what it has become and where it's going. She said the school gives students of all racial and economic backgrounds exposure to the arts, providing tools to express emotions, practice critical thinking and collaborate. Blackshear became a fine arts academy in 2015, one of several in the district. Bell said the district turned schools like Blackshear into fine arts academies to attract more students.Principal Tiona Bell said if Blackshear didn't attract students as a fine arts school, it might not be open because of a lack of students.Although Blackshear’s population has diversified, class sizes have struggled to grow. Bell said the school contains space for 500 students, but only 210 attended at the end of last year. Bell said if Blackshear weren't in a unique position as a fine arts school, it might not be open today for simply a lack of students. In fact, she said, 60% of the student population are transfers who come to the school for fine arts. She said factors like the pandemic and new charter and private schools popping up in the area have affected enrollment. “We have to find ways to make public education attractive to people who have choices and also to serve people who don’t have choices,” Bell said. “ to make sure the education they’re getting is quality and that they’re being engaged and enriched just like all the other students.” When asked about the changes at Blackshear since her time as a student — in both curriculum and demographics — Youngblood said it was great. She said the school is doing what schools should always do: bring kids together. “It’s a sign of progress when people love and know, ‘I’ve got to send my baby to that school,’ whether they’re across town or in town,” Youngblood said. “That lets you know the reputation of the school is good.” Blackshear also continues to uphold Rice’s legacy of supporting students holistically with new programs that prioritize students’ health.Bell said students also learn the science of plants and how to nourish their bodies and minds through an organization called“If they learn from a young age and we set a good foundation for them, we’re setting them up for better success in the future,” she said.Through the partnerships Bell has cultivated, she is propelling the school forward. She said she believes that no matter a student’s background, they deserve a quality education. Blackshear started as a freedom colony school serving formerly enslaved people in segregated East Austin. “I’m here to make sure Blackshear goes on for the next 30 or 40 years,” she said. “I’m here to lay a solid foundation for our students academically, but for the building and legacy of Blackshear I want to make sure … it gets even greater and bigger.” Outside, there is a garden called the Friendly R. Rice Garden. In the center of the garden stands a crumbling stone time capsule from 1934. Bell said she doesn't intend to open it. “I don’t really have any need to open it,” Bell said. “I think the past should stay here as a reminder.” The capsule reflects Bell's goals. It holds the school’s history, protecting it from the memory loss of time and preserving it for as long as the structure lasts.“I pull a lot of strength from our ancestors and our past,” Bell said. “To know that this land was here in 1934 with only African-American students, and now, it’s celebrated by lots of diverse students in 2024. … that’s a beautiful thing for me.”Austin's crown jewel has bought people together from all walks of life to enjoy a day in the sun. But before 1962, that wasn't the case.Austin has failed to invest in its Black communities, says new report Even though Black people make up 7.5% of Austin’s population, they accounted for 15% of all traffic stops and 25% of arrests in 2018.Austin has grown a lot in recent years — and the East Side has been impacted the most. To understand the city's pattern of displacement, we have to go back to 1928.Thomas Mayfield helped raise test scores and engagement in the classroom, and now he's helping teachers in Fort Worth learn what he did.A 150-year-old building on West Campus is the last remnant of a freedom colony, a community of formerly enslaved people. The building has been closed as an apartment complex was built up around it. Some say the historic structure has never really gotten its due.Lake Travis ISD has banned smart devices in prekindergarten through eighth grade. School administrators, parents and researchers are hopeful the policy will improve student outcomes and prevent bullying.
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