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M. R. Wood Alternative Education Center (MRW), also known as the M. R. Wood Center for Learning, was an alternative school in Sugar Land, Texas and a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD). It was in proximity to the Imperial Sugar plant.

History

As M.R. Wood School it was historically a segregated school for black students. Housing grades 1-12, it opened in the 1940s. It was originally a part of the Sugar Land Independent School District until it merged with the Missouri City Independent School District to form the FBISD in 1959. At one point black students from Missouri City were moved to M.R. Wood from Missouri City High School.

The panthers were the school mascot. In the 1950s and 1960s the American football team won eight district championships in a row. The 2010 book Sugar Land, written by the city government, stated that M.R. Wood's athletic teams performed highly.

As the desegregation process occurred in September 1965, M.R. Wood students temporarily went to the Lakeview School. After desegregation, Dulles High School was the only zoned high school for students of all races until Willowridge High School opened in 1979. Lakeview became the home for other former M. R. Wood students.

Wood was changed into an alternative education school housing all special education programs. In August 1992 its name changed to the M. R. Wood Alternative Education Center. At some point education of special education students was moved to the local public schools due to new state laws.

By 2001 there were seven programs at M. R. Wood. The school was the site of FBISD's Behavioral Learning Center, for students who have violated disciplinary codes. As of that year conditions were crowded; there was capacity for 150 students. Conditions remained crowded by 2003, with many temporary buildings being used. FBISD hoped to establish another disciplinary school in the eastern edge of the district.

See also

• Texas
• United States
• Schools

• History of the African-Americans in Houston

References

1. ^ Kumar, Seshadri (2001-03-06). "FBISD eyes First Colony facility for alternative school". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
2. "Fort Bend ISD celebrates Black History Month". Fort Bend Independent School District (submitted to the Houston Chronicle). 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
3. ^ "History." Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on July 20, 2017.
4. City of Sugar Land Sugar Land. Arcadia Publishing, 2010. ISBN 0738578800, 9780738578804. p. 81.
5. Solomon, Jerome. "FOOTBALL 1997/HIGH SCHOOLS/FORT BEND BONANZA/Phillips, Dulles in hunt to add to town's memories." Houston Chronicle. Thursday August 28, 1997. Special 33. Retrieved on December 31, 2011.
6. "FBISD History". Fort Bend Independent School District. 2018-12-03. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
7. "Campus History." Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on July 20, 2017.
8. LaRicci, Leen (2001-03-28). "Fort Bend school district looks to acquire property". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
9. Kumar, Seshadri (2003-08-11). "New boot camp on eastside". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-07-20.

Further reading

• Mayfield, Charlotte M. "Improving the Curriculum in M.R. Wood Negro School in Sugar Land, Texas." Prairie View State College, 1940. See profile at Google Books.

External links

• M. R. Wood Alternative Education Center at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
• M.R.Wood Center for Learning - FBISD, 2014 FBISD Bond
• Welcome to M.R. Wood's New Website

• Public elementary schools in Texas
• Public middle schools in Texas
• Public high schools in Fort Bend County, Texas
• Schools in Sugar Land, Texas
• Fort Bend Independent School District schools
• Fort Bend Independent School District high schools
• Historically segregated African-American schools in Texas