ran north and south and were mostly one room divided by a chalkboard. Decades later, three more classrooms would be added to accommodate students’ needs as the T shape evolved into a U. Before indoor plumbing, two outhouses, one for girls and another for boys, were situated in the back of the schoolhouse. Carroll School was the only public building in the now-Southlake area. Families and friends regularly gathered at the school, and it quickly became the heart of the community. According to Southlake historians, “the school was the hub of activity in those early years. Students and teachers coming and going during the week; on the weekends, town business and elections, fall carnivals and football games on the 80-yard, hand-sprigged field.” Carroll School was the dedicated polling location when residents made their voices heard and elected to incorporate as the town of Southlake in 1956. Local residents felt pressure from nearby towns pursuing unincorporated territories. Residents and landowners in the area wanted to maintain their community as it was. The vote passed and A. Gail Eubanks was elected as the first mayor. Southlake’s city council met once each month at Carroll School on Saturdays. In March 1959, voters approved the establishment of its own school district, and the Carroll Independent School District (CISD) was born. Principal Jack Johnson was hired as the first superintendent and another bond election passed — this time to build additional classrooms for a returning ninth grade as well as the first Dragon football stadium. The first seven-member Carroll ISD board of trustees also took form under then-President Clyde Cheatham. In 1961, a new high school building was approved. By 1965, the three remaining high school grades were added and the complete 12 grades of the CISD were accredited by the Texas Education Agency. By all accounts, 1965 was a successful year as the fledgling school enjoyed many firsts; its first Carroll Homecoming, its first district football championship, and its first graduating class of 24 seniors. Throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, the district experienced an increasing number of families moving to Southlake who were drawn to the exceptional educational opportunities offered at Carroll ISD. To accommodate the growth, improvements and additions were made to existing classrooms and sports facilities, and new schools were built. Today the district includes five elementary schools, two intermediate schools, two middle schools, one high school and one senior high school. The 11 total campuses are at the forefront of Texas education, but their history can be traced back to the little school on the hill at 1055 N. Carroll Avenue.
DRAGON LOGO
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TRADEMARKED LOGO The origination of the Dragon as Carroll’s mascot dates back to the 1950s. Students of the then-Carroll Common school, were looking for a mascot when student Tony Eubanks suggested the school’s co-ed softball team be named “The Dragons.” The name stuck and years later, a search began to create an official Dragon logo for the newly formed Carroll ISD. The fire-breathing dragon Southlake has grown to love was originally inspired by the insignia of the U.S. Navy Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ-130), also knows as the “Zappers.” A storied electronic warfare squadron established by the Navy in 1959, the Zappers originally flew AD-5Qs and EAK-3B Skywarrior planes during Carrier Airborne Early Warning missions and electronic countermeasures. Back then, the squadron was deployed from aboard aircraft carriers based throughout the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. In 2013, the Navy’s oldest electronic warfare squadron supported Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. In 1984, Carroll Freshman Shawn Lynch was asked by a teacher to modify the Zappers squadron logo. He drew a tougher-looking dragon and set it within the state of Texas. Former Carroll Football Coach and Athletic Director Bob Ledbetter liked what he saw. “The next year it was on the football helmets. I was pretty proud of it,” Lynch said. Two years after Lynch’s drawing, it was on the cover of the Dragon yearbook—and 32 years later, the 46-year-old Grapevine resident and General Motors employee can find the trademarked Dragon logo on a wide variety of items from hats and shirts to pillows and smartphone cases.