Martin High School (Laredo, Texas)


Raymond & Tirza Martin High School, known as Martin High School, is a secondary school in the Laredo Independent School District in Laredo, Texas, United States. Grades 9–12 are taught there. It serves students living in central Laredo. The school is adjacent to the Laredo Civic Center.

History

Laredo High School, the first public school in Laredo, was founded downtown in 1916 at the site of the present day La Posada Hotel. In 1937, Laredo High School was moved to San Bernardo Avenue and renamed Martin High School. It was the only public high school in Laredo from 1937 until 1964, when J. W. Nixon High School opened in The Heights neighborhood.
Martin High School is well known for its band, also acknowledged as "La Banda Del Animo." The most popular and energetic song played by this band is their "Fight Song". Martin High has several distinctions under its belt as their band was the first band invited from Laredo to perform at a Dallas Cowboys game and has been invited to perform at several parades around the state of Texas. Martin sports the only basketball team from Laredo ever to win a State Basketball Championship—in 1956. Several of the schools sayings are "The Pride of Laredo," and the most well-known is "Once A Tiger, Always A Tiger."
One of Martin High's most enduring teachers was Elizabeth Sorrell, who taught principally English in the Laredo independent school District from 1931 to 1979. Thereafter, she launched a second career as the popular society columnist for the Laredo Morning Times.
Another faculty member, Esther Buckley, a 1963 graduate of Martin High School, taught for forty-two years for the Laredo independent school District. Her last position was as an instructor at the Dr. Dennis D. Cantu Health Science Center, which functions as a magnet school within Martin High School. In 2010, she was a finalist for "Best in Texas" Education Award by H-E-B Foods. Buckley was a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1983 until 1992, an original appointee of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan. Buckley was also a former chairman of the Republican Party in Webb County.
Martin High School has an award-winning Crime Stoppers program under the direction of Sandra Rocha. The director for the LISD Campus Crime Stoppers Program is Estela Quintanilla. The two are Martin High School graduates.
Martin's school colors are red and white.
Mascot: Tiger
MOTTO: Once a Tiger, Always a Tiger

Magnet school

The Dr. Dennis D. Cantu Health and Science Magnet School focuses on health and science education, with two career paths available. Dennis Cantu is a graduate, not of Martin High School but of J. W. Nixon High School, a practicing physician in Laredo, and a member of the Laredo independent school Board.

Notable alumni