History of Judson Rocket Football

Judson High School: An Architectural History

NOTE: I didn't arrive in the JISD until the final five (5) weeks of the 7th Grade, beginning April, 1973 when my dad went PCS, from the 130th Station Hospital in Heidelberg, to Fort Sam Houston and hence we arrived just as some of the more radical transformations were just underway in the JISD. Info obtained both in written form from the Judson HS Student Handbook, yearbook, as well as verbal and in some cases anecdotal info from long-time District residents, students and employees was used in developing the images. If anyone has any more substantive info on the goings on at Judson High School in the 1960's, email me at eingedi.geo@yahoo.com and I will try to add the info and also make corrections to the layouts if necessary.

A steel workers’ strike delayed completion of the first Academic Bldg 100 when Judson Rural High School opened on September 8, 1959. Classes were held those first few weeks at the Converse Volunteer Fire Department.

When Bill Haerr, Judson’s first and only Band Director until 1989, began teaching music classes for the overall Judson Rural School District No. 8, Band classes at Judson HS were held in a non-air-conditioned wooden frame house those first few years. I (Giles Babb) believe that house remained on the premises at Judson until some time around 1980 or so, and I could almost swear that the structure is now the same one that’s kept over by the Transportation facility as a storage shed.

The location of the original Rocket Field Football Stadium and track was reportedly somewhere around the area indicated; however, this is an approximation, as is the location of the Baseball diamond. Reportedly, the original bleachers for the first football stadium were re-utilized as bleachers for the Baseball field.

Judson HS was re-configured just for Grades 10-12 beginning in 1976-77 when Kitty Hawk "Junior High" opened. Doing so bought some time when some additional structures were built at Judson HS, and by moving the Freshmen to Kirby and Kitty Hawk, it also provided for a more optimal occupancy rate at what had then become two (2) "Junior High" locations.

The master plan that yielded Judson’s present layout was completed by JDM Associates, http://www.jdmassociates.com/jdmpages/proj_hlites.htm#judson in the mid-1970’s. It was at this time that the recommendation was made to build what has come to be known as the "Grey Campus," although the plan wasn’t implemented until 1987 when it became necessary to relieve capacity pressures at Kirby and Kitty Hawk, which at that time had Grades 7-9. Doing so allowed JISD to comfortably retain only two (2) "Junior High" campuses until 1996 when Woodlake Hills MS opened, when that along with Kirby and Kitty Hawk were re-configured to Grades 6-8, thus resulting in the need for portables the day Woodlake Hills opened in 1996.

It is furthermore worth noting that the plan to go with a dual-campus scheme for Judson HS was initially developed a full two to three years before anyone knew Judson would become a so-called "football school." Hence, the idea was rooted more in the realization that the still-rural School District would be hard-pressed to duplicate quality programs at two separate High Schools, and especially after how much had been progressively invested in the centralized location at the corner of FM 78 and FM 1516. This is the same kind of situation that has faced or will face other rural-suburban School District in Bexar County such East Central, Southside, Southwest, and to a certain extent Schertz-Cibolo and Comal. Tough decisions for places simply trying to do the best with what they have when they have it and when they need it. Fortunately, with challenges and needs come opportunities, and JISD now has some needs that now present some opportunities to provide facilites such as Wagner HS and what, out of necessity and opportunity, will probably soon be a radical transformation (in a good sense) into an even more impressive display of architectural master planning for the High School named for Moses Judson and bounded by Schaefer Road, FM 78 and FM 1516 in Converse that has the Rocket as its mascot.

2010: The Odyssey Continues:
Click HERE to see what Judson High School will look like in the near-future