George Bush High School Head Football Coach Allen Aldridge.
The names of new FBISD campuses were approved at the district’s November business meeting with plans for one of the schools to bear the name of a legendary high school coach who recently passed away.
The newly constructed campus for Blue Ridge-Briargate Elementary School will be named after George Bush High School Head Football Coach and former NFL player Allen Aldridge Jr. who passed away suddenly in September at the age of 52. His family was present at the board meeting and said the beloved coach would probably blush to see his name on a school.
“He would be happy, but he might have hidden his face,” upon receiving such recognition, the coach’s mother Cleotha Aldridge said.
His wife Tajuana agreed, “This is not something he would ever have asked for because he was a very laid-back person, but he would be so proud and excited about this.”
The Aldridge family stands to be recognized during November 18, 2024 FBISD Board meeting.
The school names were selected from a pool of more than 1,600 submissions that came in from the FBISD community.
The new campus for Mission Bend-Mission Glen Elementary will be named Mission Elementary School to commemorate the community’s spirit of empowerment through knowledge, inclusion and commitment to lifelong learning.
Brynne and Brian Henry, granddaughter and son of late educator Ferndell Henry.
The specialty campus Ferndell Henry Center for Learning, which was named after a FBISD high school biology teacher who served the district for almost 40 years, is being renovated and converted into an elementary school. It will become Ferndell Henry Elementary School.
“Before my dad passed away, I asked him if there was anything in life he would have done differently,” Brian Henry said. “He answered, ‘no.’ He said he really enjoyed teaching.”
With Brian at the board meeting was his daughter, Ferndell’s granddaughter, Brynne Henry who teaches art at Sugar Land Middle School. “It is nice to know that since my grandfather was a teacher in Fort Bend, I am continuing in his path,” she said.
All three schools will open in August 2025 and are funded by the 2023 Bond.