Glen Couch Elementary School

Year Opened: 2005

Mascot: Comets

School Colors: Blue and Gold

School Mottos:

Read, Read, Read to Succeed!

We Are College Bound!

Couch Elementary School pledge

Today I will be successful.

I will make the right choices.

I will live up to my responsibilities,

and reach for the STARS!

Where did Couch Elementary get its name?

Couch Elementary is named in honor of Glen B. Couch, who was a coach, a meteorologist, a math teacher, a principal and a true Texan. His search for a quality education for all children was a reflection of his value for hard work and his reputation for being honest to a fault. Glen Benjamin Couch was a champion for equality and in 1965 he joined the late Earl Luna to develop the Freedom of Choice desegregation plan.

When Mr. Couch became Superintendent in 1953, there was one high school and four elementary schools with less than 3,500students. Over one-half of the district's existing campuses opened during his reign of more than twenty years. Between 1953 and 1974, Mr. Couch presided over a district that's population growth created a need for three high schools, nine junior highs, and 28 elementaries. Student enrollment reached close to 30,000. In 1953 he could invite the entire professional staff of the Garland ISD to a backyard fish fry. At that time the staff numbered a mere 200.

Mr. Couch was present at the meeting of the Board of Trustees when they voted to name a future elementary school after him. At the time he said, "I want (the students of Couch Elementary School) to know that I was a person who cared for the education of all children."

Garland is now the fourth-largest school district in the area, and the 12th largest in the State of Texas, serving almost 60,000 students. Mr. Couch will be remembered as a leader whose practical and prudent long-range vision was a critical factor in shaping the outstanding school system that the Garland ISD has become today.