Our Board of Trustees
Welcome from Our Board of Trustees
The San Elizario Independent School District was established in 1870, when school children attended classes in a small adobe building known as Los Portales. The first teacher, Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo, later became governor of New Mexico (1919-1921) and a U.S. Senator (1928-1929). Today, one high school, one middle school, three elementary schools, and a primary school campus in San Elizario serve approximately 4,100 students over a radius of 16 sq. miles. Located in a farming community along the international boundary of the United States and Mexico, San Elizario ISD rests just south of El Paso, Texas in El Paso County and is experiencing a steady level of growth. The town of San Elizario is one of the most historically rich areas of West Texas, located at the intersection of Farm roads 258 and 1110, fifteen miles southeast of downtown El Paso. Don Juan de Oñate reached the Rio Grande at or near the site of present San Elizario on April 20, 1598, and ten days later took formal possession of New Mexico and all adjacent territory in the name of the Spanish king. A settlement known as the Hacienda de los Tiburcios was founded at the site, then south of the Rio Grande, sometime before 1760 and had a population of 157 in 1765. In 1789 the Spanish presidio, located in the Valle de San Elizario opposite Fort Hancock, was moved to the Hacienda de los Tiburcios; the presidio kept its old name, however, and the settlement that grew up around it became known as San Elizario.
For more historical information on San Elizario, contact the San Elizario Genealogy & Historical Society at (915) 851-1682.