Sonny Melendrez enrolled at San Antonio School as a part of the faculty’s inaugural class of radio and tv college students in 1964.
Peering right into a small window at what’s now the McAllister Auditorium excited Melendrez, who noticed tools that might permit SAC to develop into Texas’ first neighborhood faculty to function a radio station, KSYM, two years later.
“I virtually lived there on campus,” Melendrez mentioned, recalling his fast-evolving love for radio. “SAC was a launching pad for me.”
Melendrez mentioned SAC’s radio-television-film program impressed him to pursue his dream of turning into a radio broadcaster, a profession monitor that has seen him develop into one of many nation’s famend media personalities.
“SAC was all the time reasonably priced, and it has a strong curriculum. It’s an unbelievable establishment that treats college students like household,” he added.
Melendrez is certainly one of many alumni who’re becoming a member of present college students, longtime school members and directors in celebrating San Antonio School’s one hundredth anniversary this yr.
Officers on the near-downtown faculty campus mentioned formal centennial celebrations will start this September and proceed by the 2025-2026 educational yr.
Francisco Solis, San Antonio School’s interim president, mentioned many neighborhood members have connections to SAC. After main a current informational session about Alamo Schools District’s $987 million bond proposal, Solis was approached by attendees who both studied at SAC or have teenage youngsters going by the district’s pre-college packages.
“Everyone was stopping me. One particular person mentioned they went to SAC in 1977 and graduated from the nursing program. Then there’s a gaggle of fogeys who launched me to their youngsters who’re enrolled in both our highschool packages or within the Alamo Promise program,” Solis recalled. “The work that we do at SAC and throughout Alamo Schools District continues to alter lives.”
The way it began
One of many oldest neighborhood faculties in Texas, San Antonio School was established as College Junior School in September 1925 by the College of Texas at Austin. The unique places of work have been housed on a part of the Essential Avenue Excessive College campus, which later grew to become Fox Tech Excessive College.
In 1926, UT-Austin transferred management of SAC to the San Antonio Impartial College District, which modified the campus title to San Antonio Junior School. SAJC workers and college students then relocated to South Alamo Road.
In due time, state laws spurred the creation of junior faculty districts, and directors at local people faculties initiated a marketing campaign to develop the San Antonio Union Junior School District.
The SAUJCD in 1945 assumed management of San Antonio Junior School and St. Philip’s Junior School, then dropped the phrase “junior” from these faculties’ monikers in 1947.
SAC was relocated in 1951 to its current web site alongside San Pedro Avenue throughout from San Pedro Park.
SAC officers mentioned the faculty has served greater than 500,000 college students since 1925, together with three U.S. Congress members — Albert Bustamante, Henry B. Gonzalez and Ciro Rodriguez — Michael Nesmith, band guitarist for The Monkees, and Francis Scobee, an astronaut who was killed within the 1986 area shuttle Challenger accident. SAC officers renamed the campus planetarium in Scobee’s reminiscence.
Solis mentioned SAC directors within the Nineteen Sixties made a key transfer by initiating an array of vocational, technical and grownup teaching programs. SAC now provides 70-plus educational packages. Solis mentioned packages similar to nursing, dental helping and mortuary science are well-known throughout Texas.
”Our nursing program is 60 years outdated. You may’t be in a hospital or a physician’s or dental workplace with out assembly somebody who got here by our nursing or dental packages,” Solis mentioned. “You may’t attend a funeral with out assembly somebody who graduated from our mortuary science program.”
College students discover their ardour
One other alum, poet and journalist Don Mathis, attended lessons at SAC from 1974-1978. He mentioned the college’s vary of packages satisfied him he was finding out on the proper faculty. He thought of a number of majors till he opted to give attention to journalism.
“I appreciated English, composition, historical past and drama, so I discovered to love journalism. It was an natural, pure match for me,” Mathis mentioned.
Having been raised an Military brat, Mathis benefited from the G.I. Invoice whereas working at then-Kelly Air Drive Base and taking night time lessons at SAC.
“I used to be getting tuition and books for $100, and the [Veterans Administration] was paying for all of it,” he mentioned.
Mathis returned to SAC in 2014-2015 to serve with worldwide pupil providers, the place he helped incoming college students put together for school life.
This summer season will mark San Antonio School alum Tricia Buchhorn’s thirtieth yr working in SAC’s journalism/pictures division.
“Advisors within the journalism division recruited me whereas I used to be in highschool,” Buchhorn recalled.
Buchhorn expressed satisfaction in having helped to advise numerous pictures and journalism college students and their dad and mom. She added that SAC’s educational and budget-friendly fame continues to drive all kinds of scholars to the faculty.
“San Antonio School has expedited the way you earn a level, and it expanded the variety of diploma pathways you’ll be able to take,” Buchhorn mentioned.
A type of college students who Buchhorn suggested was Carolina Vela, who has spent 10 years as a reporter with Univision.
A Mexican native with primary data of the English language, Vela enrolled at SAC in 2012. She wandered the campus and reviewed her course syllabus till an opportunity assembly with Buchhorn satisfied her to review journalism.
Vela discovered English whereas at SAC and wrote for The Ranger student-run newspaper. The publication, now named The Sundial, turns 100 in 2026.
“I used to be obsessive about writing nice tales, taking nice images and simply studying new issues,” Vela mentioned. “Due to SAC, I discovered my ardour. Due to SAC, I’m now at Univision.”
Jerry Townsend spent 39 years as an teacher at SAC’s journalism division. He mentioned robust division assist from SAC management enabled school to rigorously nurture college students concerned about mass communication careers.
“SAC’s tradition was certainly one of dedication and other people being dedicated to one another,” he mentioned.
Alumni return as employees
Carmen Santiago, SAC’s dental helping program coordinator, graduated from the identical program in 1999. She relishes the truth that many former SAC college students have returned to campus as a professor or a staffer.
“We breed our personal expertise. We alumni come again and provides again to present and future college students,” she mentioned.
Michelle Payne, coordinator of SAC’s American Signal Language interpreter coaching program, graduated from the identical program in 1997. She mentioned the ASL program has grown within the final 30 years, getting ready college students to be ASL interpreters or deaf assist specialists.
“All of us love SAC,” Payne mentioned of herself and her colleagues. “I really like being a SAC graduate and dealing on campus. Individuals even exterior the USA learn about us.”
Schooling for everybody
Francisco Solis mentioned the expansion of San Antonio School and the affect it has made with its varied educational packages and workforce improvement initiatives have helped SAC earn neighborhood assist for a number of previous capital initiatives.
The Alamo Schools District’s present bond proposal, which matches to voters in Could, would allocate $120 million to San Antonio School to enhance structure, engineering and drafting packages, and to construct a brand new nursing and well being professions faculty within the Medical Heart.
Solis mentioned, over the subsequent 100 years and past, SAC will hold reinventing itself to satisfy the evolving wants of scholars and workforce calls for of native industries.
“We’re nonetheless dedicated to the identical three rules: Having a rigorous educational program, paving a path to a college and making certain training is for everybody,” he mentioned.
