San Felipe High School

The school opened while many Texas districts still kept Mexican American children in separate schools. The 1950 census found that Texans over twenty-five with Spanish surnames had a median of 3.5 years of schooling, against 10.3 for other White Texans. In 1948 LULAC and the American G.I. Forum, with attorney Gus Garcia, sued the Bastrop district and three others for parents including Minerva Delgado. Judge Ben H. Rice ordered the separation ended by September 1949, allowing separate first-grade classes only for students tested as needing English. The Hernandez v. Driscoll decision of 1957 ended such segregation.

What the plaque says

San Felipe High School In 1929, San Felipe Independent School District (I.S.D.) formed; one of the district's first decisions was to establish a high school. Residents voted unanimously for a bond for the institution. Building was completed at the corner of Plaza and Garza Streets and the new high school opened in December 1930. The new campus hosted a full range of grades, with secondary students attending school in the main building and grades six through eight housed in a posterior structure. The high school offered traditional subjects, competitive sports and a wide range of fine arts. The colors for the mighty Mustangs of San Felipe High School were purple and gold. In 1932, the school held its first commencement exercises for a graduating class of seven students. San Felipe High School was known for its caring teachers, who along with administrators helped to create a close-knit community. The school also had high parental involvement. This encouraging atmosphere shaped students, aiding them in achieving later career and life success. Additionally, the school served as a focal point for the community. It held adult education classes and citizenship classes, functioned as a voting place, and has housed families displaced by floods. In 1971, San Felipe High School closed when San Felipe I.S.D. consolidated with Del Rio I.S.D. Memory of the institution has been kept alive by the generations of students who attended and by the school's alumni association, a rarity for a school that no longer exists. Today, San Felipe High School is remembered for being a cornerstone in the San Felipe community for over 40 years. (2009)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Felipe Creek — 0.5 mi
  The spring-fed creek that made Del Rio, rising from the third largest springs in Texas and running past swimming holes and a hike-and-bike trail through town.
• Whitehead Memorial Museum — 1.1 mi
  A village of old Del Rio buildings set along a working irrigation canal, from an 1870 store to a 1925 doctor's office, with Judge Roy Bean buried on the grounds.
• Val Verde Winery — 1.2 mi
  The family winery an Italian immigrant founded on Del Rio's irrigated land in 1883, which outlasted Prohibition by selling table grapes and kept Texas wine alive into the 1970s.
• Amistad National Recreation Area — 9.8 mi
  The American side of the reservoir the United States and Mexico finished in 1969 where three rivers meet, with painted shelters still reachable by boat when the water allows.

More markers nearby

• San Felipe Independent School District — steps away
• Langston School — 0.4 mi
• Site of Camp Del Rio — 0.5 mi
• Santos S. Garza — 0.6 mi