“Developers would try and guess as to the right product to develop,” Welbes said. “If they were successful, it sold ... and after there was enough success, the school district would have to respond [to] this new population of school-age children.”
Welbes said this cycle led to some school locations that were less than optimal, so development in The Woodlands was more intentional, and the schools were planned in the same way that homes and roads were, with an eye to the community’s village-based structure.
“Once we got a sense of where the school would be located and how we could align the roads, it was a routine ... annual but continual dialogue with the schools,” Welbes said.
Key players
When The Woodlands community was developed in the early 1970s, it was built on land mostly within Conroe ISD, and further expansion led to areas zoned within Magnolia and Tomball ISDs.
The first school in The Woodlands in Conroe ISD was Lamar Elementary School on Many Pines Road, built in 1971 and named for Mirabeau Lamar, the “Father of Education” in Texas and former president of the Republic of Texas, according to information from CISD.
Walkability was one of the assets of the village design for The Woodlands, allowing schools to be placed in the vicinity of other community centers such as churches or parks so facilities could share parking and other resources.
“The placement of the schools was very intentional to be neighborhood schools,” said Ann Snyder, current chair of The Woodlands Township’s board of directors and a former member of the CISD board of trustees. “Our children went to Lamar; they could walk, bike, ride the bus ... they had several options, but it has always been an opportunity to have schools within neighborhoods.”
The neighborhood connection extended to the high schools. The first high school built in The Woodlands was McCullough High School, now a junior high school in the district. It was named for CISD Superintendent J.L. McCullough, who was superintendent from 1967-76, according to the district. The high school was planned on a 50-acre site in the woods that required construction of a bridge across Panther Creek, according to a book by Roger Galatas and excerpted by The Woodlands Township's community magazine. Galatas, who died in 2019, was himself the namesake for Galatas Elementary School in the Village of Cochran’s Crossing.
Also of note
Private schools were also afforded consideration in the development of The Woodland as part of the master plan, Welbes said.
Stephen Popp, head of school for The John Cooper School, said the school’s opening in 1988 offered the first private school choice in the community.
"[George Mitchell] believed in the importance of independent school," Popp said. "When he set aside 43 acres for The John Cooper School, he did so not just to create a school but to create a community guided by a mission ... and to ensure that students had transformational opportunities not only on campus but within the community of which they are a part."
Cooper, an educator who was formerly headmaster of Houston's Kinkaid School, was tapped by Mitchell to lead the school that was originally envisioned as The Woodlands School.
With a student body of about 1,370 as the 2024-25 school year begins, Popp said it is one of the larger pre-K through grade 12 independent schools in the country. An upcoming improvement as part of the school's master plan includes a new 25,000-square-foot athletic center and a visual arts center.
"The idea was for Cooper to become an exemplar and innovator in the field of education that would draw interest and real enthusiasm here in this community and the greater north Houston area," Popp said.
What else?
Since McCullough High School opened, two more high schools have been built within The Woodlands and an additional two opened just outside the community, bringing the district total to more than 70 campuses as of the 2024-25 year.
New schools in CISD are approached with a naming process that takes input from the community as well as suggestions from the board of trustees, with many schools named after prominent members of the community.
This year, three upcoming schools were named, including one in The Woodlands High School feeder zone that will be named after community member Rob Eissler, who has served as part of the CISD board of trustees and the Public Education Committee of the Texas House of Representatives. The elementary school, located on Old Conroe Road just north of The Woodlands, will open in 2025.
