Once the home of as many as thirty military schools, Texas now has two accredited military schools that serve K–12 students. Read on for more on military schools in Texas, past and present.
An Overview of Military Schools in Texas
Texas is not the only stated which has experienced a lessening in the number of military schools, and an overview of what has happened in Texas can provide some insight into what has happened elsewhere in the United States.
A large number of military schools opened in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Some opened in times of peace, and others were formed under the impetus of an ongoing war. Changes in preparation for the Armed Forces, changes in attitudes toward the military, and other changes in society, along with discrete problems experienced by individual military schools, led to schools going out of business, moving to a new location, or changing their focus so that military studies were no longer central to their program.
Current Military Schools in Texas
• Marine Military Academy is an all-boys college preparatory boarding school in Harlingen, Texas, serving grades 8–12 and having a Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was founded in 1965.
• TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas is a coeducational school in San Antonio, Texas, serving day students in grades 6–12 and boarding students in grades 8–12. It was formerly known as West Texas Military Academy. It is the oldest college preparatory school in the Southwest that is sponsored by the Episcopal Church. It is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) and a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) and the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools (SAES), and the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). It was founded in 1893.
Former Military Schools in Texas
First, we’ll share the stories of what happened to five of the military schools that are no longer in operation in Texas, and then list other schools.
• Allen Military Academy was founded in 1886 and had a military program until the 1980s. Now it is simply “Allen Academy.”
• Bastrop Military Institute was founded in 1851 as Bastrop Academy, and the boys’ portion became Bastrop Military Institute in 1857, training young men for the military in the Civil War. The military institute moved to Austin after the war ended, while the academy property in Bastrop became part of the Texas public school system in 1872.
• San Marcos Baptist Academy, founded in 1907, began a military training program in 1917. In the school year 2004–2005, the requirement was dropped. Currently only one semester of JROTC is required for HS boys.
• Schreiner Institute was founded as a military institute in 1917 and included both a secondary school and a junior college. It ceased military training in 1971, and in 1973 it became a college only—Schreiner College.
• Texas Military College in Terrell, Texas opened in 1915 as a private school serving elementary (grades 3 through 7), high school, and junior college students. After World War II, during which it temporarily closed, due to a number of the faculty participating in the war effort, it was unable to reestablish a sufficient student body, and was dissolved.
Other military schools that have operated in the state of Texas include: Alamo Military Academy, Amarillo Military Academy, Austin Military Academy, Austin Normal Military School, Bishop Military Academy, Carlisle Military Institute, Chapultepec Military Academy, Corpus Christi Military Academy, El Paso Military Institute, Forest Military School, Fort Worth Military Academy, Garden Military Academy, Gideon’s Military Academy, Harding Military School, Harvard Military Academy, Lancaster Military Academy, Lowery-Phillips School, Lukin Military Academy, Moye Military School, Peacock Military Academy & College, St. Edwards Military Academy, Texas Monument & Military Institute, University Military School, and Westchester Military Academy.
