Thomas Elementary School

Achievements
PISD Teacher of the Year; PISD Superintindent award Staff Winners; U.S. Department of Education Drug Free School; Keep Plano Beautiful award of Excellence (three times); Texas Successful Recognized School award; PISD Exemplary Writing School; many regional and district science fair winners; City of Plano Recycling and Earth Day award; Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year; Plano Education Foundation Grants to Educators winners; Character Education Partnership's Promising Practice award winner for anti-bullying campaign; and Healthy Zone School.

Campus Programs
Before school breakfast academic club; book club; breakfast served daily; campus recycling program; Family Fun Night (all grades); fifth-grade honor choir; Marathon Kids; Plano Academic Creative Education (PACE) for identified gifted and talented students; PASAR (after-school childcare); science club; science lab; self-manager program; student council; student service committee; ELMS club; cross grade level reading buddies; Parent Academy; technology club; Thomas Texans' Recognition assemblies; D.R.U.M. Circle; Rocking Recorder club; Thomas Chime Stars; Parent Involvement Day; and jogging club.

Parent Involvement Opportunities
Camp counselors (fifth-grade); club sponsors; class parties; classroom and library volunteers; jogging club; kindergarten centers; math lab (before school on Wednesdays); mentors; office helpers; Parent Involvement day; PTA; field trips; PTA membership; PTA sponsored activities; School-Based Improvement Committee (SBIC); science club; shoebox science; tutoring; and yearbook.

Community/Business Partnerships
Thomas Elementary School has community involvement through our student mentor program; approximately 70 Volunteers from several local churches, businesses and community members come to Thomas weekly to mentor and meet with individual students. 

History of Thomas

James Lawrence Thomas, or "Mr. Jim", as the namesake of this school was known by the citizens of Plano, was known throughout the more than 60 years that he lived in Plano as an unselfish humanitarian. He provided food and shelter not only for his own family of 11 children, but also for the children of other families.

Mr. Thomas opened the first laundry service in the city, provided janitorial service for most of the downtown businesses and found time to be Plano's first African American fireman. He died in 1968 at the age of 78.

Thomas Elementary opened in 1978 at a cost of $1.3 million and had one addition in 1980.