Leander Schools

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Leander Schools. Now, every good story has a beginning, and this one starts not where you might expect. Not in Leander itself.

No, you've got to go back further, back to a place called Bagdad. That's right, Bagdad, Texas, sitting there in Williamson County, a community that existed before the Civil War, before the railroad came through, before Leander was so much as a notion. And in 1855, Bagdad had itself a school.

That's where this whole story takes root. A school in a town that would eventually vanish from the map once Leander rose up along the railroad line. The marker calls that origin, and it's a striking one.

A community disappears, but the idea of educating its children, that idea carries forward. By 1893, a free public school had opened in the new community of Leander. Then, just six years later, in 1899, the business leaders of Leander weren't content to let things drift.

They organized a high school association, dedicated to furnishing support for the educational system. That's the kind of civic investment that tends to compound over time. And it did.

Students began graduating from Leander High School in 1931. From a schoolhouse in a town called Bagdad, to graduating classes walking across a stage in Leander. Over the years, the schools kept growing, kept accommodating increases in enrollment, kept providing what the marker calls a vital service to the community.

Some things in Texas, it turns out, are built to last.

What the marker says

The origin of the Leander school system can be traded to the 1855 school held in Bagdad, the pre-Civil War community that disappeared after Leander was founded along the railroad. In 1893, a free public school opened in the new community. business leaders organized a high school association in 1899 to furnish support for the educational system. Students began graduating from Leander High School in 1931. Over the years, the schools have grown to accommodate increases in enrollment, while providing a vital service to the community.