WHAT STUDENTS NEED
Retiring principal Albert Lemons has prioritized the children at Atherton Elementary for 30 years.
When Albert Lemons arrived at Houston’s Atherton Elementary School about 30 years ago, he quickly realized the need to hire passionate teachers and to provide emotional support for his Fifth Ward students.
And since he announced his plans to retire from his post as principal of the school earlier this academic year, he’s heard from former students now living across the nation and working in numerous professions: You did not let us down.
Highlighting the school’s success is its C+ ranking on a Children At Risk analysis, among the highest rankings for a school that serves a majority of Black and Hispanic students, almost all of whom are economically disadvantaged, according to the Texas Education Agency.
“My teachers work hard. Even the custodians in this school work hard,” 62-year-old Lemons said. “I am happy for the kids, and I know that I am leaving them in good hands.”
Lemons attributed the school’s success to a number of programs and initiatives that help offer students a strong education beyond the classroom.
Since he arrived at the school in 1990, he said he’s drawn on his personal experiences as a young Black man who went through the Houston Independent School District while dealing with adversity that included a father struggling with alcoholism and the death of an aunt who had raised him two months before he graduated high school.
“I’ve seen the ups and downs of children, families — my own family was not first class,” he said. “And they gave me the best education they could give me and I took the rest and did it myself.”
One of his first orders of business after becoming the school’s leader was learning about his new students: Where they were from, what their parents were like, where they lived and even what kind of diet they were eating — “Does it sound like healthy food or a bunch of junk?” Lemons said he probed.
After answering those questions, he said he decided the school needed counselors for emotional problems and teachers who went above and beyond for their students.
“If you’re not child-oriented, if you don’t care about children, you don’t need to be (at) Atherton,” he said.
Over the years, he’s supported and added other initiatives that have continued the philosophy of prioritizing students’ needs. The campus is now a fine arts magnet.
There’s a popular mentorship program that gives boys and girls full access to the school on separate days where they hear from guest speakers who’ve found success in a number of fields, including politics, sports, law enforcement and science. Another program gives students five books on parent night to start a home library with the expectation that guardians read with the children every evening.
Other programs offer students and families support resources and different connections for different necessities.
“If a family needs food, a family needs a job, if a family needs counseling, if a family just needs somebody to tell them they love them, we are available,” Lemons said. “I want to clear your mind of the problems you have.”
The care, attention and success has not gone unnoticed.
Mayor Sylvester Turner presented Lemons with a proclamation highlighting the educator’s accomplishments during a recent drive-by parade celebration.
“For 55 years,” Turner said, “Dr. Albert Lemons has touched the lives of many.”
For his part, Lemons said people have been asking him when he planned to retire every year for the last two decades. But his main interest, he said he’d tell people, was the students — once they were progressing, he would be satisfied leaving.
“I am happy that I have helped children,” he said. “I’ve walked the road and I’ve run the race and I’ve talked the talk.”
“My teachers work hard. Even the custodians in this school work hard. I am happy for the kids, and I know that I am leaving them in good hands.”
Albert Lemons, Atherton Elementary School principal