Georgetown ISD Names its 12th Elementary Campus: Jessie Daniel Ames Elementary School
The campus is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026
The Georgetown ISD Board of Trustees approved the name Jessie Daniel Ames Elementary School for the district’s 12th elementary campus during its Dec. 15, 2025 board meeting.
The new campus honors Jessie Daniel Ames, a nationally recognized women’s suffrage and civil rights leader whose roots and early activism are deeply tied to Georgetown. Ames played a pivotal role in expanding voting rights for women locally and across Texas and later became a leading voice in the anti-lynching movement in the American South.
Ames organized the Georgetown Equal Suffrage League in 1916 and helped women register to vote for the first time in Williamson County. In 1919, she became the first president of the Texas League of Women Voters, helping shape civic engagement opportunities for generations to come.
Following her work in the suffrage movement, Ames continued her advocacy for justice by founding the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching in 1930, mobilizing thousands of women to publicly oppose racial violence and promote social reform.
Born in 1883, Ames moved to Georgetown with her family in 1893. She attended local schools and graduated from Southwestern University in 1902. After the death of her husband in 1914, she returned to Georgetown, where she and her mother operated the Georgetown Telephone Company while Ames continued her civic leadership.
“We wanted a name that would inspire students and reflect the values we strive to teach in Georgetown ISD,” said Anthony Blankenship, Georgetown ISD trustee. “Jessie Daniel Ames was a trailblazer whose work began right here in our community, and her story of service offers meaningful lessons for future generations.”
Ames’ legacy aligns with a formative moment in Georgetown ISD history. In 1919—the same year Ames assumed statewide leadership in the League of Women Voters—Georgetown ISD held its first bond election. The voter-approved referendum funded construction of the district’s first high school, now the Hammerlun Center for Leadership & Learning.
“I’m grateful to our community for the nomination of this school name,” stated Superintendent Devin Padavil. “Jessie Daniel Ames was a fiercely courageous leader who called Georgetown home.”
Jessie Daniel Ames Elementary School is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026, welcoming students for the 2026–2027 school year. The project was funded by the 2024 Bond to support the district’s growing student enrollment. Dr. Emily Fraser was recently named principal of the new campus.
