William B. Travis Elementary School opened its doors to students in 1956. The building was erected by the Marshall Caddo Construction Company in 1955 at an estimated cost of $270,000. It was designed by a Dallas architect, Preston Geren.
The original building, located on an 11-1/2 acre tract at 300 West Carolanne Blvd., contained 12 classrooms, library, textbook room, cafeteria, clinic, teacher’s lounge and office. Nine teachers held class for 270 students.
Six classrooms were added to the back side of the school in 1969. In 1971, four more classrooms, two restrooms and a storage area for books were added to the wing. Three classrooms, music room, conference room and faculty restrooms were added in 1988, while two existing classrooms were renovated and converted into a library. A gymnasium was ready for use in February 1992.
Travis school served grades K-6 until the school district's reorganization in 1981. At that time the school began serving K-2 only, when it was paired with G. W. Carver, which served grades 3 and 4. When Carver became a magnet school in 1989-90, Travis began housing grades K-4.
An active PTA has been responsible for several improvements to the school, including campus beautification, parking lot, playground equipment, library equipment, curbing, a gutter system and special education equipment to provide playground access for wheelchair students.
In 2001-02 Travis was designated Recognized by Texas Education Agency for performance on the state-mandated assessment exam. In 03-04 the designation was Exemplary and in 04-05 and 05-06, Recognized.
