Hastings High School

Alief Hastings High School

The Alief community originally was a farming community called Dairy. One of the first settlers of Dairy was a dentist named Dr. J. S. Magee. He moved to Dairy and married Alief Morris in 1881. She took the job of postmistress as well as helping to deliver babies. When the first post office was to be built in Dairy, it was realized that there was already another post office in Texas called Daisy and this would be too confusing. It was suggested that they rename it Alief after Mrs. Magee. After all, she had contributed so much to the community.

Later in 1897, Alief Magee asked her nephew, C.R. Hastings, to take the job of postmaster. After she passed in 1899, he held the job of postmaster, helped with the railroad, dug wells and was on the Board of Trustees. In 1906 the Alief School District began as a two teacher school. The school district’s title was, ‘The Dairy School District No. 46.’ In 1917, the district changed its name to Alief Independent School District. From 1911 to 1926, the district operated on a ten grade system. The eleventh grade was added in 1926.

In 1939, the school building was condemned and the citizens used an auditorium for grades one through seven. Grades eight through eleven were bussed to nearby schools. In 1940, the requirements for the completion of high school were changed from eleven to twelve. In 1961, the district sold bonds to purchase forty acres for an elementary and high school site.

Alief Junior Senior High was the first Junior-Senior High School in Alief. It opened in 1968 with 471 students. Within Alief Junior-Senior High were the administration building and superintendent’s office as well as the personnel department. In 1970, it was changed from a Junior-Senior High School to a Middle (Junior High) School. 

Alief Hastings High School's present location opened, while still under construction, for the fall semester of 1972. All high school students moved to that building, with the first graduating class in May 1973.