1898: Harvard Street School Opens

“Harvard Street School” opened on September 18, 1898, as a simple wood-frame one-room schoolhouse. The school was located on two lots located at Harvard St and 8th Avenue, donated to the Houston Heights by the Carter Realty Company.  Women in the neighborhood helped find the 30 students required before the building was built.  Once opened, the school had 50 desks, 30 students in 1st – 5th Grades, and only one teacher!  In 1902, two rooms were added to the building and three more teachers were hired.

In 1912, the building was moved to what is now 727 Waverly St and became the Eighth Avenue School (it closed in 2005), and the first part of the present brick building was erected.  Later, 12 classrooms and a play-lunchroom were added.  The additional land cost $20K, the new building was $104K, plus $6K for new equipment.

1910: The Beginnings of the PTA

In the summer of 1910, five mothers met at the school to organize a "Mothers Club."  These mothers saw the need of parents and teachers working together for the improvement of the school and the Community. 

Their first event was an all day picnic in a spacious yard at East 3rd and Harvard.  The first president, Mrs. D. D. Smeaton, was elected at the event, and also lived on East 3rd.  Today, interstate 10 runs where East 3rd used to be!  54 charter members were enrolled at the picnic.

A Constitution and By Laws were adopted at a meeting held September 30, 1910. The first objective of the “Mother’s Club” was to improve the grounds and sanitary conditions of the school building.

That fall, the members of the Mother’s Club performed a play and sold tickets for 5 cents.  Part of the proceeds were used to purchase sixteen loads of dirt to fill in the school yard. The Club also persuaded the school board to repair the roof.

In the Spring of 1911, the first May Fete was held on the Heights Boulevard at 7th Avenue [near where Donovan Park is today].  The sale of refreshments raised $75.

The Club then devised a plan for serving hot lunches: large crocks of hot soup and chili were made by the mothers and transported to the school by horse and buggy and even wheelbarrows!  Mothers and teachers alternated serving these lunches to the students – leading to an assistant being hired (for $3 per week), which eventually evolved into a full-fledged cafeteria at the school.

By the end of the 1910-11 school year, 93 members were enrolled in the Mother’s Club.

1918: Official Harvard PTA Established

Around 1918, the Harvard Parent-Teacher Association was organized and became affiliated with Texas Congress and Houston Council.  It seems the PTA helped establish free kindergarten in the school, with Social Service paying $75 a month toward the teacher’s salary, as well as facilitating bringing in furniture for the teacher’s “rest room.”

In 1922, an additional lot on Harvard Street was purchased, with contributions from the teachers and the Parent-Teacher Association.

In 1927, a “spacious two-story brick building” with an auditorium was erected, increasing the classroom count to 23.  Harvard now had 23 teachers, plus one part-time teacher.

By 1941, the interest in the school, along with the spirit of cooperation in the community, was considered a vital part of making the school what it had become:  800 students, 24 teachers, and 300 Parent-Teacher Association members, all “united in effort or the betterment of community, state, and nation.”

In October 1941, the school and PTA held a homecoming with classroom reunions.  They anticipated several thousand former Harvard to be in attendance.

Today: Harvard Elementary PTA Carries On the Tradition

Today, our PTA strives to continue the supportive community traditions that allow our teachers, staff, and students to thrive, much like the “Mother’s Club” did in 1910. We continue to work together for the improvement of the school and the community, fundraising and volunteering to support the needs of the school, and aspiring to greater goals each and every year.

On September 18, 2023, the PTA and school threw Harvard a 125th Birthday Party, complete with cake served to all students and staff, a birthday banner and balloons, every grade level singing “Happy Birthday,” and a visit from KPRC Channel 2!

[Source: Houston Public School Buildings: Their History and Location]