In terms of students served, Divide ISD is the smallest district in Texas; the 2015 "graduation/promotion ceremony" featured a mere 11 students and the district had as few as eight students at the beginning of the 2014–2015 school year.[2] Divide ISD serves much of western Kerr County. Divide ISD is one of the few remaining schools called "one room schoolhouses" in the United States.[3] Technically it is not a one-room schoolhouse according to a Texas Monthly article by Katy Vine, as the original school building – still in use – does not hold the pre-Kindergarten classes. In the original building there are two classrooms since the district divided the original single room into two.[2]
Divide Independent School District consists of one school: Divide Elementary School, serving grades pre-Kindergarten through six. Students attend middle and high school in the neighboring Ingram Independent School District.[4]
In 2007 it was rated "exemplary" by the Texas Education Agency. Katherine Leal Unmuth of The Dallas Morning News stated that year that, because Divide ISD had such a small student body, it could more easily get an exemplary rating under TEA rules at the time compared to larger districts; due to differing demographics, Divide ISD could gain exemplary ratings by succeeding in three of 36 different tasks.[5]
History
In 1882 the Divide Common School District was established. Early in its history, the school moved according to the district's population patterns.[4]
Fred "Barney" Klein obtained the funds to establish the school to serve an area that became populated after the state government built the relevant section of Texas State Highway 41;[2] this school building opened in 1936, and it remained in the same location since.[4]
The district was previously named the Divide Common School District but received its current name on July 1, 1989; on that day its ID number changed from #133‐012 to #133‐905. The district is not to be confused with the former Divide Independent School District which in 1985 became part of the Blackwell Consolidated Independent School District.[6]
District area
The district, about 340 acres (140 ha) in size, lacks centers of commerce and business and consists of ranchland. As of 2002[update] about 200 people live in its area.[7]
Demographics
The student body varies from period and period due to the nature of employment on ranches.[2]
Transportation
As of 2015[update] the district uses a converted limousine purchased from a buyer in Dallas as a school bus.[2]
