Anna School
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PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ANNA
THE EARLIEST CITIZENS OF ANNA WERE DETERMINED THAT THEIR CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE THE BEST EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES POSSIBLE. FOUNDED IN 1883 WITH A POPULATION OF TWENTY, ANNA WAS NAMED FOR THE DAUGHTER OF A HOUSTON & TEXAS CENTRAL RAILROAD OFFICIAL. IN 1885, THE TOWN SOUGHT AND WAS GRANTED COLLIN COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 23. FORMER TEACHER AND FUTURE MAYOR J. L. GREER DEEDED A 2.5 ACRE TRACT OF LAND ON THIS SITE FOR $125. A SMALL FRAME BUILDING SERVED AS A SCHOOL UNTIL 1909, WHEN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT BECAME ONE OF VERY FEW INCORPORATED SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN COLLIN COUNTY. IN KEEPING WITH THEIR NEW STATUS, THE CITIZENS ERECTED A MORE VISIONARY THREE STORY EDIFICE. THE YOUNGER STUDENTS WERE TAUGHT IN SMALL WOODEN BUILDINGS BY 1939. SINCE ENROLLMENT HAD REACHED 350, A NEW BUILDING, W. L. ROPER HIGH SCHOOL, WAS OPENED IN HONOR OF A LONGTIME EDUCATOR WHO SERVED THE SCHOOLS FROM EARLY IN THE CENTURY UNTIL 1943 AS PRINCIPAL AND SUPERINTENDENT. HIS DEVOTION INSPIRED TWO FORMER STUDENTS, WHO FOLLOWED IN HIS FOOTSTEPS. A NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WENT UP IN 1974; A NEW HIGH SCHOOL WAS BUILT IN 1987 AND INCLUDES A CAFETORIUM, LIBRARY, OFFICES, AND A GYMNASIUM. THE COMMUNITY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM CONTINUE TO GROW. Texas Historical marker, 1997. |
Early Anna School
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