Montrose Elementary School At 4001 Stanford St.

[capnmcbarnacle]

I was at a wedding and met a woman who lived in Montrose when she was girl in the 1930s. She lived where the parking garage behind the Black Lab is today. She told me that she went to Montrose Elementary. She didn't remember exactly where it was and I know it doesn't exist today. Anybody know where it was and when it closed?

[gnu]

I was at a wedding and met a woman who lived in Montrose when she was girl in the 1930s. She lived where the parking garage behind the Black Lab is today. She told me that she went to Montrose Elementary. She didn't remember exactly where it was and I know it doesn't exist today. Anybody know where it was and when it closed?

see this thread:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...st&p=112438

from post 16

Montrose Elementary was built in 1913, in the block bounded by Stanford, W. Main, Sulross, and Greeley. Don't know when it closed, but the High School for the Visual and Performing Arts was built on its former site in 1971.

[isuredid]

High School for the Visual and Performing Arts was built on its former site in 1971.

1981

[Vertigo58]

Any photo of this school?

[icepickphil]

Here's a good one:

Any photo of this school?

[Vertigo58]

Here's a good one:

Now that is one seriously fantastic pic of historial Houston! There aren't even any tall trees/buildings in the background!

Does anyone know if that specific style of architecture had or has a name? There are still numerous apt/duplexes extant around the city. Appears Italianate/Mediterranean stucco or there of....

You win the award for photo of the week icepickp!

[icepickphil]

more here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/yousuredid/OldSchools

Now that is one seriously fantastic pic of historial Houston! There aren't even any tall trees/buildings in the background!

Does anyone know if that specific style of architecture had or has a name? There are still numerous apt/duplexes extant around the city. Appears Italianate/Mediterranean stucco or there of....

You win the award for photo of the week icepickp!

[sevfiv]

Oh neat! I had forgotten that the elementary school was on the HSPVA site. I wish there were more photos of the surrounding area.

And Stanford St. was Connor, and Sul Ross was Myrtle.

Here's the block book map that shows W Main was (to be) closed (but it isn't):

http://books.tax.hctx.net/v023/AE1997_23-24_0030.jpg

and Sanborn:

[Vertigo58]

Oh neat! I had forgotten that the elementary school was on the HSPVA site. I wish there were more photos of the surrounding area.

And Stanford St. was Connor, and Sul Ross was Myrtle.

Here's the block book map that shows W Main was (to be) closed (but it isn't):

http://books.tax.hctx.net/v023/AE1997_23-24_0030.jpg

and Sanborn:

A bit off topic, but one day I bought a very eary 1920's Victrola and inside the record shelf there were several items of the time's, including a School teacher's school employment contract which clearly stated the poor ladies very meager salary.

Maybe at that time it was created it was the average salary for most teachers? May never know.

I really need to scan these things one day.

Was in a shelf like this: (get to hear my Al Jolson & Rudy Vallee record's)

[Libbie]

Did any HAIF members go to Montrose Elementary, located at 4001 Stanford, where the High School for the Preforming and Visual Arts is now? I did, from 1957 to 1963. The teachers I had, in descending order from sixth grade to kindergarten, were Mrs. Hudson, Miss Shuttle(s)worth, Mrs. Martines, Miss Shapley, Miss Millard, Mrs. de Ybarrondo, and Mrs. Lucky, as well as 2 music teachers: Mrs. Fogel and Miss Womack. All were, as I remember, quite good teachers. Others whom I didn't have but whom I remember were Mrs. Roper, Mrs. Menier, Mrs. Blackwell, Ms. Luna, and Mr. Schmidt. This latter, one of just a few male teachers, always organized the musical and dramatic programs and did so with much professionalism. Ah, and I just remembered a long-term sub we had once, named Mrs. Giles, who read us Kipling's Rikki Tikki Tavi.

Every spring we would have a May Fete, for which we practiced assiduously, and which was (of course) performed outside, we children dancing, in choreographed  formation,  to music that was probably of Mr. Schmidt's choosing. 

The school's architecture and layout closely resembled that of Lantrip Elementary, still standing at 100 Telephone road: Spanish-mission style architecture, with arches, open-air corridors, and interior courtyards that had flowers, bushes, and the like.

Not infrequently, I wonder about fellow Montrose alumni, and what they remember about the school.

[Earlydays]

My wife went to Montrose School and remembers it well. She first attended Kindergarten there in 1951 and her teacher was Mrs. Hudson. She then went to Holy Rosary School for 4 years and returned to Montrose School for 5th and 6th grade. Her teachers were Mrs. Chandler and Mrs. Ott.  She remembers Mrs. Chandler as her favorite and best teacher of all time. She remembers the May Fete, as well as an annual Halloween Parade. The school would also invite children that went to Holy Rosary to march in the parade.

My wife lived on Stanford, a half block from the school.

The school was built in 1916, somewhere she has a picture of the school from circa 1917 with her mother standing in front of it. If we find it I'll post it,.

[Libbie]

My wife went to Montrose School and remembers it well. She first attended Kindergarten there in 1951 and her teacher was Mrs. Hudson. She then went to Holy Rosary School for 4 years and returned to Montrose School for 5th and 6th grade. Her teachers were Mrs. Chandler and Mrs. Ott.  She remembers Mrs. Chandler as her favorite and best teacher of all time. She remembers the May Fete, as well as an annual Halloween Parade. The school would also invite children that went to Holy Rosary to march in the parade.

My wife lived on Stanford, a half block from the school.

The school was built in 1916, somewhere she has a picture of the school from circa 1917 with her mother standing in front of it. If we find it I'll post it,.

 

Wow, Mrs. Hudson was versatile, having taught both kindergarten and firth grade! Hope you find the 1917  picture. It would be fun to see it.

 

[ImTomTerrific]

I went to Montrose from 3rd through 6th grade. (1966-1969).  I had Mrs. Hudson for 4th and 5th grade.  She had taught my older sister in 6th grade.  I also had Miss Shuttleworth in 6th.  My mother was a teacher there when they moved the deaf program there so I knew a lot of the teachers there even though they weren't mine.  I also  had Miss Womack for music.  Mrs. Ivens was the principal.  When the school was demolished in about 1980 they called my mother to see if there was anything from the school that she wanted as a memento. Mom chose one of the mosaic tile benches that sat in the corner of the courtyard.  When we moved Mom to nursing care a few years ago I took the bench so it now sits in my back yard.

[Terrie]

Does any one have a picture of the school before it was torn down? Thank you!!

[Libbie H]

Were the yellow rose bushes still in the courtyard? My parents planted them when I was in fifth or sixth grade. Mom was the head cheese of the gardening committee, and Daddy was pressed into the service of helping plant them. And did they still serve a really delicious spaghetti dish? In an old cookbook of my late mother's, I found a pencil-written recipe for "Montrose Spaghetti."

[Libbie H]

I went to Montrose from 3rd through 6th grade. (1966-1969).  I had Mrs. Hudson for 4th and 5th grade.  She had taught my older sister in 6th grade.  I also had Miss Shuttleworth in 6th.  My mother was a teacher there when they moved the deaf program there so I knew a lot of the teachers there even though they weren't mine.  I also  had Miss Womack for music.  Mrs. Ivens was the principal.  When the school was demolished in about 1980 they called my mother to see if there was anything from the school that she wanted as a memento. Mom chose one of the mosaic tile benches that sat in the corner of the courtyard.  When we moved Mom to nursing care a few years ago I took the bench so it now sits in my back yard.

How lovely that your mom got to take one of those benches, and that the bench lives on in your back yard!

[ImTomTerrific]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 6:11 PM, Libbie H said:

Were the yellow rose bushes still in the courtyard? My parents planted them when I was in fifth or sixth grade. Mom was the head cheese of the gardening committee, and Daddy was pressed into the service of helping plant them. And did they still serve a really delicious spaghetti dish? In an old cookbook of my late mother's, I found a pencil-written recipe for "Montrose Spaghetti."

Libbie, I hope you'll see this.  I don't sign onto HAIF very often so I'm just seeing this.  When I went to Montrose there were roses in each corner of the courtyard.  I don't really remember if they were yellow.  I also very well remember the Montrose Spaghetti.  It was sent home with everyone before the Halloween carnival so everyones mother could prepare it the same..  I'm considering creating a Montrose Elementary group on Facebook.  I recently ran across one of my classmates on Facebook.

[Libbie]

Tom Terrific, I'm glad to hear you remember the roses, yellow or not. I didn't know that detail about the Montrose Spaghetti recipe being sent home with everyone before the Halloween carnival! I hope you do create a Montrose Elementary group on Facebook. That's a delightful idea.

[jpm]

My mother attended Montrose around 1920 and my sisters and I attended it in the '50's. I have the Montrose Spaghetti recipe. I don't remember the roses but I remember the oleanders and the sassafras tree.

[Libbie]

 I remember the oleanders, but at that age I didn't know a sassafras tree from an oak tree (But was introduced to one at Girl Scout camp between 5th and 7th grades. The leaves smelled like root beer). So, if you and your sisters were at Montrose in the  '50s we might have coincided. I was there from 1957 (high-kindergarten and low-first grade--remember those mid-termer highs and lows of every grade?) through 1963 (6th). I remember an annoying "big boy" named Ollie who used to say rude things in the lunch line. A classmate named John (He was Dutch-Indonesian, I think) had an older sister named Cisca. Some other classmates--1956-7 to 1962-3 were Jimmy, Mike, Anita...

 

It was really nice to see your post, JPM, two years after mine. Our time at Montrose definitely must have overlapped. Maybe I knew y'all. Anyway, happy New Year!

 

[jpm]

I just happened to google Montrose and found this site. I was a mid-termer too, but I must have been there 1950 to 1956. I had one sister there 1953-1959. Our maiden name was Pfeiffer.

My mother was a sub at the school. I remember some of the teachers and Mrs. Jorgenson, the principal.

 

 

[Libbie]

Mrs. Jorgensen was still there my first few years at Montrose, succeeded by Mrs. Ivens. In 1956 I was in high-second grade (Miss Millard), then low-third (Miss Shapley). I recall that Miss Shapley and Mrs. Martines were chums, each frequently appointing a child to carry a note to the other. We were all honorable and incurious, and never read them.

[Jpfeiffer]

Mrs. Martines was also my Sunday school teacher as well as school teacher.

 

[Libbie]

Interesting! At what church? I liked Mrs. Martines, very much. I remember that she (like most of my grade school teachers) read us a story every day after lunch, and the story book I've most remembered over the years was a collection of Greek myths for children, with half a dozen myths, including one titled "The Miraculous Pitcher," the story of Baucis and Philemon. A little recent googling revealed to me that the book was a collection written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and I bought it for my Kindle! But not to digress too much, I remember that Mrs. Martines gave me a memorable, valuable grounding in such aspects of "cultural literacy" as afore-mentioned myths, the states and their capitals, and a quite a few other things other things for which I'm grateful, even now in my sixties. 

[jpm]

St. Paul's Methodist. I remember hearing Amos Fortune,

Freeman and Johnny Tremain and all of the Little House on the Prairie series, but I don't remember who read them.

 

[Sheilamarie]

I found these in a booklet titled “High Spots in Houston Public Schools”  published by the Board of Education on November 24, 1927. I attended Montrose from 1948 to 1951. I had always wished for a picture of Montrose as I remembered it as a beautiful Spanish style building with hallways open to the courtyards. I was appalled to learn it had been demolished. I found the booklet in my late aunt’s effects. She was a teacher and then a principal for HISD from 1943 until she retired in 1975. 

 

[dbigtex56]

Thanks for the pictures and history, Sheilamarie.
There's more info on this school here: https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/16409-montrose-elementary-where-was-it/

 

[Deborah S]

Is this the same as Montrose Nursery and Primary School?  It was open in the 1950's.  Principal, Mrs. Cox.  It was in a big old house.  They had an after school program and a summer program.

[Deborah S]

Is this the same as Montrose Nursery and Primary School?  Mrs Cox, Principal. 1950's.  Big old house.  Had an after school program and a summer program.  It's was near St. Thomas University.

[Susie Homemaker]

I attended Montrose Elementary.  Many happy memories.  I do recall the May Fete, the Halloween Carnival, the Montrose Spaghetti, and playing jacks on the smooth concrete.  I was there from 1954-59, first through fifth grade.  I had Miss Menier in second grade and took French from her in the early mornings before school started.  Miss Ott was my fifth grade teacher.  She wore a wonderful black sun hat during recess.  And, I remember Miss Jorgenson well.  She later went to Poe Elementary and was there when the bomber attacked the school.

 

I was sorry to see the lovely building torn down.