George Washington Carver Elementary School began holding classes on September 2, 1959, when students were transferred from New Town Elementary School. New Town had been closed in 1949, reopened in 1950 to accept students from county schools and closed again in 1959.

The first principal at Carver was 0. Ivan White, who supervised 14 classroom teachers and a music teacher in grades 1-7. In the spring of 1969 the school was to be renovated for use as an educational building for the central staff. Those plans were abandoned, however, when Stephen F. Austin Elementary School burned in the summer of 1969.

Jake Matthews became principal of the newly named Austin/Carver Elementary School in the fall of 1969. In 1970, Austin/Carver and Dogan Schools were paired. Grades 1-3 were assigned to Carver and grades 4-6 to Dogan. In 1972 a six-room wing was added for kindergarten, special education and music classes.

In the fall of 1976, Mrs. Jewel Young became the third principal of the school. After a reorganization of MISD schools in 1981, “Austin” was dropped from the school’s name and it was once again called G.W. Carver Elementary School. At that time, Carver was paired with Travis Elementary School and began housing grades three and four, Early Childhood and Special Education.

In 1989-90 the school was reorganized as Carver Academy, a magnet school attracting academically gifted and artistically talented students in grades 1-4 from across the city. Children from the immediate neighborhood continued to attend Carver in the regular program. Kindergarten students from the Carver zone began attending Washington Early Childhood Center.

Nina Baxter became principal in 1991, at which time a kindergarten class was added. A separate gymnasium had been added to the campus in the spring of 1991. By fall of 1995 a new office and library complex filled the space between the school’s two wings. A new principal, Patricia Jackson, joined the school that year.

In 1997-98 the magnet school concept was discontinued, and the program for gifted elementary students returned to the individual MISD campuses. Carver Academy once again became Carver Elementary School. Head Start classes were taught at the school from fall 1999 to spring 2002.

In 2003-04 Carver Elementary achieved the Texas Education Agency ranking of “Recognized” for performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. Carver Elementary also earned a Recognized accountability rating in 2005-06 and 2006-07.