The Pasadena Independent School District Board of Trustees approved the naming of three schools at its regular February meeting.

Robert “Bobby” Shaw Middle School (formerly called North Central) is being constructed on the current Southmore Intermediate campus. Lonnie B. Keller Middle School (called Northeast) will move into the present San Jacinto Intermediate building when San Jacinto moves to its new campus on Red Bluff in August. The new elementary school being constructed in the Riverstone Ranch area was named South Belt Elementary School.

Shaw was a 1940 Pasadena High School graduate who was a Musician Second Class in the United States Navy. He tragically lost his life on the USS Arizona, the infamous battleship that sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor. As a member of the PHS band, Shaw played trombone and received many honors at state competitions for his solos. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy only a few months following his graduation and entered the U.S. Navy School of Music in January 1941.

Keller was a longtime administrator and educator in the Pasadena Independent School District. He opened the San Jacinto Intermediate campus as principal in 1959 and remained in that position until 1965. Keller became principal of Pasadena High School in 1967 and served as the school’s top administrator until his retirement in 1982.

South Belt Elementary will be located in the Riverstone Ranch subdivision off of Blackhawk near Dobie High School. In selecting the name for the school, Board Member Vickie Morgan said the intent was to “honor the proud history of the area.”

All three projects are being funded by a bond program that was approved by Pasadena ISD voters in November 2004. Shaw and Keller middle schools will open in August, while the targeted completion date for South Belt Elementary is in the summer of 2009.