On August 2, 2024, Hays CISD will cut the ribbon on Jim Cullen Elementary School. It’s the 16th elementary school campus in the district and the 27th overall campus.

Cullen Elementary, home of the Cubs, is 117,611 square-feet with a 900 student capacity. Construction was approved by voters in May 2022 and completed in time for the 2024-2025 school year. The school colors are navy and gold.

Jim Cullen - A Hays CISD Legend

Jim Cullen Elementary School is named after a Hays CISD legend and a true Texan! He was born in San Antonio near the Alamo on March 2nd (Texas Independence Day), and he grew up in La Porte near the San Jacinto Monument. Following high school and college, he served in the United States Army, rising to the rank of sergeant. It was during his Army years that he married his college sweetheart, Luanne Pruitt.

From 1980, and for the next eleven years, Jim and Luanne both taught at Alpine Independent School District. In 1991, they moved to San Marcos. Luanne taught for Comal ISD for two years and then for Hays CISD until her retirement in 2004. Jim taught for 14 years for Hays CISD. He began teaching Texas History in Hays CISD in 1991, at Dahlstrom Middle School; then helped open Barton Middle School in 1993, and taught there until moving to Wallace Middle School in 2000.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Jim was president of the Hays Educators Association (the local Texas State Teachers Association – TSTA – chapter). In 2001, he was selected as the Wallace Middle School Teacher of the Year and the district’s Secondary Teacher of the Year, eventually being named the Texas Education Agency Region 13 Secondary Teacher of the Year. Jim was an early and longtime member of the Hays Education Foundation, and he was honored by five former students as their choices for their most influential teacher at the district’s annual Linebarger Top Ten Percent banquets.

In 2005, Jim retired from the classroom, but continued to foster his district connections. He first worked as a reporter covering the district for the Hays Free Press. Then, he contracted with the district from 2009 to 2020, to serve in a critical new role – the district’s first official photographer. Websites, social media, and other new and emerging technologies demanded photographs of the great things happening in the district. Jim captured so many important memories for students, parents, colleagues, and the community. Many of his award-winning photographs are still used and displayed around the district and in businesses in the community.

Jim’s educational focus has always been on building positive, personal relationships – a trait that helped lead to many positive outcomes in his classroom. Giving back to his community—specifically the students and staff of the Hays CISD educational community—remains a driving force in his life.

In 2020, Jim received the first Hays CISD Lifetime Achievement Award.

Cullen ES opens August 2024