Ganado in Jackson County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Little School of the 400
Photographed by James Hulse, January 31, 2021
1. Little School of the 400 Marker
The Little School of the 400 was an educational project developed to integrate Spanish-speaking school children into the mainstream public school population. The program sought to teach these children a vocabulary of 400 essential words to enable them to successfully complete the first grade.
Isabel Verver, a 17-year-old Ganado High School student, read an article in a Spring 1957 issue of Texas Outlook Magazine that expressed Felix Tijerina's desire for such a program. Tijerina was a successful Houston businessman as well as the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Verver contacted Tijerina and expressed her desire to implement such a program. Both Tijerina and Verver knew what it was like to be a first-grader unable to communicate with their teachers or fellow students, and hoped to remove that language barrier.
Baytown educator Elizabeth Burrus supplied a list of 400 vocabulary words to Tijerina that she had formulated from years of teaching bilingual students. Verver taught the pilot class in Ganado during the summer of 1957 and produced 60 "Graduates" in time for the fall school term. Seeing Verver's success, LULAC established similar classes in towns such as Vanderbilt, Edna, Sugar Land, Aldine, Brookshire and Wharton for summer 1958. Tijerina and members of LULAC worked for passage of House Bill 51 during the 56th Texas Legislature. The bill established a state-sponsored program called preschool instructional classes for non-English speaking children and eliminated the need for the privately funded "Little Schools." Head Start and other federally-funded programs of the 1960s eventually took the place of the state-sponsored program.
Erected 2009 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 16128.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic
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Location. 29° 2.275′ N, 96° 30.881′ W. Marker is in Ganado, Texas, in Jackson County. It is at the intersection of South Fifth Street and West Rodgers Street, on the right when traveling south on South Fifth Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 310 South Fifth Street, Ganado TX 77962, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on the American Gulf Coast. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Republic of Texas, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Ganado (approx. ¼ mile away); Louise State Bank (approx. 8 miles away); Marion Wesley (Baldy) Crowell (approx. 8 miles away); Louise Methodist Church (approx. 8 miles away); George Washington Carver School (approx.
Photographed by James Hulse, January 31, 2021
2. Little School of the 400 Marker
Also see . . . Little School of the 400.
The Little School (Schools) of the 400 was an educational project developed in Texas by Felix Tijerina and the League of United Latin American Citizens during the 1950s. It sought to teach Spanish-dominant preschool children a speaking vocabulary of 400 basic English words so that they could overcome the language barrier and successfully complete the first grade. They would, it was urged, not have to repeat first grade, fall behind their classmates, become discouraged, and drop out at the alarming rate then prevalent among Mexican Americans in Texas public schools. Source: The Handbook of Texas(Submitted on February 7, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)
Photographed by James Hulse, January 31, 2021
3. The view of the Little School of the 400 Marker from the road
Credits. This page was last revised on December 1, 2024. It was originally submitted on February 7, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 1,492 times since then and 57 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 7, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
