Several Pasadena families met in banker Charles Munger's home in 1893 to create a school for their children, converted his chicken coop into a small one-room schoolhouse, and made seventeen-year-old Russel Munger the first teacher. The community built a new structure the following year, and the first school census in 1898 listed 27 school age children. Gradual loss of county funds left the community financially strained and wanting separation from the county system, so voters petitioned for incorporation in 1898 and the Pasadena Independent School District was created in March of that year as the first independent school district in Harris County. In December 1904 the schoolhouse was moved to a new location and enlarged to three classrooms for 56 students. Oscar and Hanna Kruse, two Swedish immigrants, urged construction of a modern building to attract more affluent residents to Pasadena, and voters agreed. A two-story structure with six classrooms, an auditorium, and a bell tower was completed on this site in August 1910, housing grades one through seven while the few students who advanced to high school attended secondary school in Harrisburg. The Pasadena High School program began in 1923. The South Houston and Genoa school districts were absorbed into the district in 1935, after which it grew rapidly. Jackson Junior High was erected in 1937. By the end of World War II the district had more than 3,700 students, several elementary schools and a junior high were added in the 1950s and 1960s, enrollment reached 35,000 by 1970, and the district continues to develop to meet the challenges of the 21st century.