Flour Bluff Independent School District

FLOUR BLUFF INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES MERGED WITH RANCHING AND THE NAVAL AIR STATION IN CORPUS CHRISTI TO CREATE A NEED FOR A NEW SCHOOL. THE FIRST BUILDING WAS OPENED IN 1892 IN BRIGHTON, WHICH LATER BECAME FLOUR BLUFF. AFTER THE 1916 HURRICANE DESTROYED PART OF THE BUILDING, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT DECIDED TO USE STUDENT LABOR TO REBUILD THE SCHOOL FARTHER INLAND. IN 1937, THE BOOM OF OIL AND GAS BROUGHT FAMILIES TO THE FLOUR BLUFF COMMUNITY. A BRICK BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED WITH THE HELP OF HUMBLE OIL TO HOUSE THE INCREASE OF STUDENTS. WWII BROUGHT THE NAVY, AND IN 1941, A NEW 19-ROOM JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL WAS BUILT ALONG WITH A VOCATIONAL CENTER FOR BOYS CALLED THE “LABORATORY OF INDUSTRY.” THE CENTER TRAINED THE STUDENTS TO WORK AT THE NAVAL STATION TRAINING STATION PLANT.

AFTER THE WAR ENDED AND A NEW NEED FOR FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE AROSE, THE RESIDENTS OF FLOUR BLUFF VOTED TO BECOME AN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL. SUPERINTENDENT ERNEST J. WRANOSKY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR EXPANDING THE BOUNDARIES AND CREATING YEARLY PROJECTS WHICH UTILIZED LOCAL AND STUDENT LABOR. HIS PHILOSOPHY WAS TO “ADVANCE AND EQUALIZE, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, THE OPPORTUNITIES OF ALL STUDENTS REGARDLESS OF THE MENTAL ABILITIES AND SOCIAL ECONOMIC STATUS.” HE STRIVED TO SET HIS EDUCATION STANDARDS HIGHER THAN STATE MANDATES. HIS CURRICULUM INCLUDED AUTO MECHANICS AND BUILDING TRADES AMONG OTHERS. FLOUR BLUFF ISD TOOK AN ANNUAL FIELD TRIP TO THE H.E. BUTT FOUNDATION CAMP WHICH STILL OCCURS TODAY. MILITARY TRAINING AND AN EVACUATION PLAN FOR THE DISTRICT WAS CREATED DURING THE COLD WAR. SINCE ITS CREATION 111 YEARS AGO, FLOUR BLUFF ISD WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND THE STANDARD OF EDUCATION AND STROVE FOR EXCELLENCE.

(2012)

MARKER IS PROPERTY OF THE STATE OF TEXAS.