In the 1970’s the educational trend to combine grades sixth, seventh, and eighth into a middle school was instrumental in the first name change for Memorial. As a result, ninth grade students were moved to the high schools, and grade six was moved away from elementary schools. Subsequently, the name for the school became Memorial Middle School. 

Memorial became a traditional middle school led by Principal Billy Jack Williamson, pictured at left. The school colors and mascot remained the same as were chosen in 1958-59. The school featured many extra-curricular activities. Sports such a football, basketball,and volleyball were enjoyed. Musical instruction was offered in the form of Acappella Choir, Girls’ Select Choir, and Symphonic Band. Organizations like Beta Club, Student Council, and Yearbook Staff held regular meetings to accomplish their goals. The school also offered Industrial Arts and Home Economics classes as part of the curriculum.

Pictured are the 1980-83 Memorial Middle School cheerleaders. They called themselves “The Rebels".

One of the oldest buildings in the Garland Independent School District, Memorial Junior High School opened in 1958, and welcomed students in grades seven and eight. The name “Memorial” was chosen for the school to honor Garland war veterans from World Wars I and II and the Korean War.

The first principal of Memorial Junior High School was James L. Moss.

He was a beloved principal and the lead administrator from 1958-1970. The first Memorial handbook was dedicated to him in the spring of 1959, referring to him as “a truly fine principal and leader". Today, his portrait, pictured at left, hangs in the school library.

During the 1958-59 school year, staff and students selected red and white as school colors and the mustang as the school mascot.

They also decided upon an alma mater and school fight song. A highlight of the first year was the Memorial Musical Minstrel. Mrs. Hanson's Small Dancers, shown below, were among the performers.

From 1970-1977, Weldon Bowden was the principal of Memorial Junior High. Over the years, the school had an outstanding student body, award winning basketball teams, cheerleaders, choirs, bands, orchestras, and dramatic events. The PTA was also highly involved in the school and community.

The Board of Trustees established Memorial Preparatory School to provide intensive remediation and improvement in self-esteem for “at-risk” students. The traditional middle school ceased to exist in 1988 when Memorial became an alternative education facility.

The MPS school colors and mascot remained the same as in the past.  Mr. Williamson remained as the MPS principal from 1988-1991. He was followed by Larry Rhodes who served from 1992-1993. 

On a Friday in October, 1988, Memorial PS had a perfect attendance day with all 211 students at school. This set a district record, and the VFW Post 6796 Ladies Auxiliary gave a donation of $50.00 to the student body in honor of their attendance. The picture above shows Mr. Williamson accepting the check with students and a staff member.

The main goal for Memorial Preparatory School was to bring sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students up to grade level in preparation for high school. The school held traditional middle school classes, provided educational field trips, and other off-campus activities such as visits to the Dallas Children’s Theatre plays. In addition, many MPS students enrolled in the after school Extended Day program which offered classes in a variety of areas from making stained-glass objects to cheerleading.  Memorial Preparatory was highly successful in terms of student achievement. TAAS and other test scores improved, and students gained knowledge and skills in their core subjects to prepare them for high school. Consequently, the majority of MPS students went to high school and graduated.

Mr. James Rust, pictured above, was the principal of MPS from 1993-2010. Mr. Rust and his staff delighted in their students’ successes. However, the fiscal aspect of operation became too much of a burden on the school district. The Board of Trustees again made a decision for change at Memorial. The plan was to phase-out the Memorial Preparatory School over a period of three years and change the emphasis to high school students who had dropped out but wanted to complete requirements for graduation. The sixth grade class of 2007-08 was the last sixth grade class at Memorial. The seventh grade class of 2008-09 was the last seventh grade class at Memorial. and the eighth grade class of 2009-10 was the last eighth grade class for those who entered as sixth graders.

During the transition of Memorial Preparatory School from a middle school into a high school for “at-risk" students, several other programs were moved to the C-Hall on the Memorial campus. For a number of years the offices for the district Special Education Department were housed in C-Hall, but in 2003 SPED moved to the Harris Hill Administration building. Then, the district's Alternative Education Center (AEC) briefly used C-Hall until it moved to its newly renovated facility, the GISD Alternative Education Center on Country Club Drive.

One ESL class for newcomer students to the United States was also in session at the Memorial location in 2005 and again in 2007. Finally, during the 2009-2010 school year, a full ESL Newcomers program was created at the Memorial campus.  This is a ninth grade high school program for students from various countries around the world who are new to this country. They are taught English and begin their freshman year. These students are usually main-streamed into regular high schools after one year on the Memorial campus.

In January 2007, the school district established the Non-Traditional High School for “at-risk" high school students. This program was housed in C-Hall of Memorial. The purpose for the NTHS was to lower the district high school drop-out rate by encouraging students to complete computer-based courses for their high school diplomas. The computer-based instruction program called APEX allows students to work at their own pace to finish high school requirements for graduation. NTHS graduated 16 students in its first semester, graduated 89 seniors the following year, and graduated 126 students in May, 2011. The enrollment at NTHS, now Memorial Pathway Academy, continues to increase and experience much success.

Following this transition, the Garland Evening School moved from the Garland High School campus. GEHS was a successful alternative high school with the purpose of accommodating a few students in an evening work-study program. The principal of GEHS from 2001-2010 was David Benson. In the 2008-2009 school year, GEHS merged with the Non-Traditional High School and became the NTHS evening program. Then in the 2010-2011 school year, it became the PM session of Memorial Pathway Academy.

In the 2010-2011 school year, Memorial had another name change to become Memorial Pathway Academy.

Mrs. Connie Skipper was named the Principal for Memorial Pathway Academy and Mr. Ed Walker became the Assistant Principal. Students chose purple and gold as the new school colors and the Jaguar as the new mascot.

In the 2012-2013 school year, Dr. Kimberly Lozada became the principal for Memorial Pathway Academy.  Dr. Lozada had previously been a vice principal at Naaman Forest High School. 

In the 2014-2015 school year, James Thomas became the principal of Memorial Pathway Academy. Mr. Thomas has faithfully served the Garland ISD for three decades. He was principal at Schrade Middle School since its opening in Fall of 1997.  

Under the direction of Principal Jim Thomas, a third program, ACE, was added in the 2014-2015 school year.  As a result, the school then housed three different programs operating simultaneously in the three halls of the facility:  Non-Traditional High School, ESL Newcomers, and the ACE Program. [The ACE Program, which included 8th grade students from various schools in the district, has since been discontinued.]

Starting the 2019-2020 school year, Ida Perales was named as MPA principal following Principal Thomas' retirement. Principal Perales became an Area Director for Garland ISD in early 2020.

Josh Tovar joined the Jaguar family mid-year as principal and helped MPA navigate the COVID virtual learning period. Principal Tovar continues to lead our blended Non-traditional and Newcomer campus today.

The Non-traditional High School operates two sessions, including morning and afternoon, to accommodate numerous student schedules.  Students work at their own pace through an online curriculum.  Students in the Non-traditional program enjoy small class sizes and one-on-one individual tutoring from their teachers.  They also perform hands on laboratory exercises, go on occasional field trips, and celebrate their achievements by placing their name on a wall in the cafeteria when they finish a course.

The ESL Newcomer program at Memorial Pathway Academy operates a day-long schedule where Newcomers begin to learn English while taking high school classes. They experience a variety of field trips and often share their own culture through dances and food days.  In addition, they learn about American holidays and traditions through special celebrations such as a pumpkin carving contest.

Our current Blended High School model serves both Non-traditional High School students and ESL Newcomer students - making Memorial Pathway Academy the unique, one-of-a-kind educational setting that makes our students so successful.