Funds for the project were mostly derived from a construction bond package approved by voters.
About 2 a.m. on December 7, 2012, arsonists torched three portable buildings at Nixon High School.
[3] In 2014, Nixon fell short on minimum state standards and were placed on the Public Education Grant list.
[4] Viola Ileana Martinez Moore (1929-2017), born in Zapata and a graduate of Martin High School in Laredo, was a subsequent principal of J. W. Nixon, the first Hispanic woman to head a 5-A high school in Texas.
After regular retirement, she served for two terms as a trustee of the Laredo Independent School District and as principal of the Roman Catholic Blessed Sacrament Elementary School in Laredo.
Another member, Laura Garcia Magnon (died 2012), retired after forty-five years of continuous service to J. W. Nixon.