Albert Sidney Johnston High School

From its inception in 1960, Johnston High School was well known for a wide variety of vocational and technical programs that prepared students for work in such fields as cosmetology, printing, auto mechanics, industry and business.

With heightened activities focused on the centennial celebration of the American Civil War (1860–1865), the school was renamed after Albert Sidney Johnston, an American Civil War general buried at the Texas State Cemetery, 3.5 miles west of the school.

In an Austin Statesman article entitled, "Yes, Ma'm, He's Texan," Anita Brewer wrote, "Some Austinites are perplexed about this man, Johnston.

Historians are cheering the board's decision as a fine one and a belated and overdue tribute to one of the greatest of the early Texans.

The school's newspaper reported: "'Papa Bailey,' as he was affectionately called, often met his students at the door each day.

The Johnston High School song, or alma mater, was "Loyal Hearts", which was sung to the tune of Jean Sibelius' "Finlandia".

The words were: "With loyal hearts, we hail our alma mater, praising her name for all the world to hear.

Her Red & Blue, her spirits true do testify of (or 'to') praises sung for mighty Johnston High!"

During the school's second year, the Boys' Service Club was formed to take care of the mascot and to transport it to and from athletic competitions.

After the death of King Ramses I in 1964, the Boys' Service Club mounted its head in the front hall of the school, and a new mascot by the same name was purchased.

A student group at the time, perhaps the Boys' Club, decided to slaughter him and use the cooked meat as a fundraiser.

The feast was held at a local restaurant, and Ramses' head was stuffed and mounted and hung in the main hall of Johnston.

His name seems to be lost in the caverns of individual memories; some people claim he was called 'Ramsey,' others 'Ramses II,' and others say he was simply 'Ram.'

[13] The following Fall, another administrator, Vice Principal Wallace Dockall, was added to help oversee the growing student body, which now comprised sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Snell and Narveline Drennan, being assigned to teach at the nearby Allan Junior High School.

[17] Two pages of the 1972 Johnston High School yearbook were dedicated to largely negative reactions to busing by students.

"[21] While forced busing was appealed through the courts, the school's 1974 yearbook reported a great deal of persistent segregation.

"[25] According to the school's 1980 yearbook, "desegregation, busing, rumor and question marks occupied students, faculty in winter of '79.

"[26] In January 1980, a series of desegregation appeals were finally settled by Judge Jack Roberts, and a tri-ethnic desegregation plan of forced busing, affirmative action hiring, and bilingual education was implemented for the Austin ISD in the Fall of 1980 with $3.4 million of emergency aid from the federal government.

[27] The school's yearbook reported, "The almost decade-long desegregation case of AISD was finally coming to an end; Johnston High was in the midst of the issue.

The White editor of the 1984 yearbook shared an idyllic view of racial integration: "Busing would take kids from the different parts of town and all the different walks of life, and gather them all together in one school.

No integration was fully satisfied, but the Senior Class has made the first step in creating a unified bond between the different sections of the city.

An April 25, 1983, article in Time magazine noted how the school used to be, in the words of Principal Adan Salgado, "the doormat of the district", but that "the administration [subsequently] began beefing up the academic program, installing the school system's first computer center and adding advanced courses in French, Latin, math, biology and chemistry….

"[30] Johnston High School again made the news when President Ronald Reagan cited the Time magazine article during a press conference on May 17, 1983, noting how local officials were taking the initiative to transform schools without federal aid and the court-ordered desegregation that Reagan often opposed.

"[32] The paper quoted Principal Adan Salgado, who shared that President Reagan "did not really understand our situation.

"[33] Salgado noted that the President's decision to eliminate federal funding under the Emergency School Assistance Act negatively impacted the Johnston community, which, before desegregation through busing, was "99 percent Mexican-American and black, …the 'doormat of the district.

'"[34] The article continued: "Before that, Mr. Salgado said, his school was deteriorating badly, suffering from poor attendance, low achievement and lack of parental involvement.

New classrooms were built, the gymnasium and locker rooms were remodeled, courses in Latin and computer sciences were added, and new band uniforms were purchased.

"[37] By 2006, the Daily Texan would report that Austin ISD schools "had begun to slip into patterns of racial isolation mirroring the east-west residential divide" and that "Austin ISD is part of a nationwide trend of school re-segregation caused by the dismantling of court-ordered desegregation plans".

[38] The article pointed out that with the end of busing, the percentage of students who passed state standardized tests fell from 60% to 20%.