The Woodlands' 50th Anniversary Community
BY VANESSA HOLT
Editor's note: This story is part of a monthly series that Community Impact will run through the 50th anniversary of The Woodlands in October 2024 highlighting the community.
Tim Welbes, president of The Woodlands Devel- opment Company, said The Woodlands’ approach to schools was a little dierent from the standard practice when the community founded by George Mitchell was built in the early 1970s. “Developers would try and guess as to the right product to develop,” Welbes said. “If they were successful, it sold ... and after there was enough success, the school district would have to respond [to] this new population of school-age children.” Welbes said this cycle led to some school loca- tions that were less than optimal, so development in The Woodlands was more intentional, with an eye to the community’s village-based structure. “Once we got a sense of where the school would be located and how we could align the roads, it was a routine ... annual but continual dialogue with the schools,” Welbes said. Key players When The Woodlands community was devel- oped in the early 1970s, it was built on land mostly within Conroe ISD, and further expansion led to areas zoned within Magnolia and Tomball ISDs. The rst school in The Woodlands in Conroe ISD was Lamar Elementary School on Many Pines Road, built in 1971 and named for Mirabeau Lamar, the “Father of Education” in Texas and former president of the Republic of Texas, according to information from CISD. Walkability was one of the assets of the village design for The Woodlands, allowing schools to be placed in the vicinity of other community centers such as churches or parks. “The placement of the schools was very intentional,” said Ann Snyder, current chair of The Woodlands Township’s board of directors and a former member of the CISD board of trustees. “Our children went to Lamar; they could walk, bike, ride the bus ... they had several options, but it has always been an opportunity to have schools within neighborhoods.” The Woodlands’ public, private school options grew over 50 years
College Park High School was the second school to open in The Woodlands, seen here when it opened in 2005.
Class of 2024 graduates visit Lamar Elementary School, the rst school to open in The Woodlands.
The John Cooper School, The Woodlands’ rst private school, opened in 1988.
by Mitchell to lead the school that was originally envisioned as The Woodlands School. What else? New schools in CISD are approached with a naming process that takes input from the com- munity as well as suggestions from the board of trustees, with many schools named after promi- nent members of the community. This year, three upcoming schools were named, including one in The Woodlands High School feeder zone that will be named after community member Rob Eissler, who has served as part of the CISD board of trustees and the Public Education Committee of the Texas House of Representatives.
Also of note Private schools were also aorded consideration in the development of The Woodland as part of the master plan, Welbes said. Stephen Popp, head of school for The John Cooper School, said the school’s opening in 1988 oered the rst private school choice in the community. “[George Mitchell] believed in the importance of independent school,” Popp said. “When he set aside 43 acres for The John Cooper School, he did so not just to create a school but to create a community guided by a mission.” Cooper, an educator who was formerly head- master of Houston’s Kinkaid School, was tapped
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION
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