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Temple ISD
Bond 2022 » Sampson-Howard Elementary School

Sampson-Howard Elementary School

Sampson-Howard Elementary rendering
Sampson-Howard Elementary School was approved by voters as part of the Bond 2022 package and is scheduled to open in August of 2024. Sampson-Howard will be the first brand new school to open in Temple ISD since 1998 and will be a Fine Arts Academy. The school is named for Cornelius Carl Sampson and Durward and Jean Howard.
 
Sampson was a Temple native and valedictorian of the Temple Negro School in 1915. Sampson would later become principal of Dunbar Junior/Senior High School and also served as an athletic coach, debate coach, and math teacher. He would later become principal of an African-American High School in Corpus Christi and played a significant role in the landmark court case Cisneros vs. Corpus Christi ISD. That case resulted in integration of the school system and expanded civil rights to all minorities.
 
The Howards were both teachers in Temple ISD. Durward Howard joined the district as band and orchestra director. His bands performed at Dallas Cowboys football games and the Cotton Bowl and he was also instrumental in the formation of the Temple Starlighters Jazz Band. Jean Howard was a long-time civics and social studies teacher at Temple HS. The couple cofounded the THS Humanities class that combined art, music, literature, and drama for THS seniors. The Howards also participated in numerous local civic organizations that worked to make Fine Arts available to the Temple community. 
 
1910 East Blackland Road, Temple, TX 76501
Sampson-Howard Elementary Full LogoSampson-Howard Mascot Head
The school colors for Sampson-Howard Elementary School will be blue and gold. The TISD board of trustees approved the Cougar as the school mascot after a group of Cater Elementary staff members recommended moving the Cougar mascot to the new school as a way to honor the legacy of the students and staff of Cater.

Chrystal Thomas

Chrystal Thomas was introduced as the first principal of Sampson-Howard Elementary School in March of 2024. Thomas will move to Sampson-Howard Elementary School after spending the last eight years as the principal at TISD's Scott Elementary School. She also spent three years as an assistant principal at Scott Elementary and has taught in grade levels pre-K through third. Thomas has spent time working overseas with students in Jordan, Lebanon, and Mexico. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Texas Christian University and completed her Master of Education in Educational Leadership through Texas A&M Central Texas. Thomas and her husband, Shawn, have two sons, Miles and Felix. 

Sampson-Howard will offer the same main course offerings as the other elementary schools in Temple ISD. The main difference between Sampson-Howard and other elementary schools is that the Fine Arts Academy will offer orchestra and theater classes in addition to music, art, and PE activity classes. SHES will also have a black box theater in the facility, along with other indoor and outdoor performance spaces incorporated into the design.