Sartartia Middle School, located in New Territory, is beginning its ninth year.. Sartartia was the name of the eldest daughter of L.A. Ellis who, along with E.H. Cunningham, owned thousands of acres in this area. The two men partnered in 1875 to create a large scale sugar cane operation which became one of the most successful in the state of Texas. After nine years of partnership, the pair split with Ellis retaining 5300 acres and Cunningham retaining 12,500 acres including the sugar mill. Ellis named his plantation "Sartartia" after his daughter, known for her beauty. About 2000 acres of the original Sartartia Plantation existed where New Territory now does. In the 1920's Benjamin Clayton purchased the piece of property for a dairy plantation and kept the unusual name.

Sartartia is pronounced Sa-tar-sha.
Enrollment: 6th-8th grades is about 1256 students
Founded: 2001
School Colors: Black and Gold
Mascot: Jaguar
Principal: Dr. Sara Thurman
Associate Principal: Stephanie McElroy
Assistant Principal: Carl Peters

At Sartartia our mission is: Exemplary Education Everyday, E^{3 .}

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1st Period: 8:50 - 9:40
2nd Period: 9:45 - 10:35
3rd Period: 10:40 - 11:30
 
"A" LUNCH: Lunch: 11:30 - 12:00
................ 4th Period: 12:05 - 1:05
 
"B" LUNCH: 4th Period: 11:35 - 12:05
................ Lunch: 12:05 - 12:35
................ 4th Period: 12:40 - 1:05
 
"C" LUNCH: 4th Period: 11:35 - 12:35
................. Lunch: 12:35 - 1:05
 
5th Period: 1:10 - 2:00
6th Period: 2:05 - 2:55
7th Period: 3:00 - 3:50

Sartartia Middle School is under the leadership of Dr. Sara Thurman. Dr. Thurman has served over 18 years in public education and eight of those as Assistant Principal and Principal of Walker Station Elementary. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has designated Walker Station as an Exemplary Campus since 1996. The campus also has Gold Performance Awards in Math, Reading, Writing, Science and Attendance by the TEA. The Texas Staff Development Council gave Walker Station the Outstanding Campus Staff Development Program Award in 2005. For the past two years, Sartartia Middle School has earned the rating of Exemplary from TEA under Dr. Thurman's leadership.
 
Dr. Thurman began her career in 1989 at Duchense Academy in Houston as a fifth and sixth-grade math teacher. In Alief ISD, she taught sixth grade students at Alief Middle School, and at Owens Intermediate School as an English/Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. She was named the Owens Middle School Teacher of the Year in 1995. Prior to joining Fort Bend ISD in 1997, Thurman taught seventh and eighth English/Language Arts and Reading Improvement at Killough Middle School in Alief ISD.
 
Thurman has a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership, K-12, and a Master of Education degree in Curriculum Instruction from The University of Houston. She has a Bachelor of General Studies degree with a family counseling emphasis from the University of Texas at Dallas, and received her Texas Elementary Teaching Certificate at Angelo State University.
 
Her professional experience and affiliations include her position as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston, and as a presenter at state and national conferences. Thurman was also the Second Vice President of the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association.

Stephanie McElroy was raised in Magnolia, Texas and graduated from Magnolia High School in 1992 where she participated in the High School Band, National Honor Society, FFA, Drama Club, and was a student trainer for the baseball team. She attended Sam Houston State University and was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority, and was a member of the Kappa Delta Pi and Order of Omega Honor Societies. She graduated in 1998 with her Bachelor’s Degree in Education.
 
Upon graduating from SHSU, Mrs. McElroy started her teaching career in Katy ISD, where she spent the next 8 years. She taught grades 5-8 in a variety of different settings, including Dyslexia Intervention, Reading Improvement, and finally 8th Grade English Language Arts. It was in her first year of teaching that she met her husband, Scott McElroy. Mr. McElroy is also an educator. He is currently teaching 6th Grade Social Studies and is a high school volleyball and softball coach.
 
In 2006, Mrs. McElroy received her Master’s Degree in Educational Management from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Her first administrative position was at Sealy High School, where she served as an Assistant Principal. In 2007, she was offered a Principal position at Selman Intermediate School in Sealy where she stayed until 2009.
 
Mrs. McElroy currently lives in Sealy, TX with her husband of 10 years, and their three dogs. She enjoys country living, along with deep sea fishing, reading, cooking, gardening, and decorating her home.
 
Mrs. McElroy’s future plans are to start a family and to obtain her Doctorate Degree in Curriculum and Instruction.
 
She is thrilled to be at Sartartia Middle School. “Sartartia is such a unique place. It is a wonderful example of what can happen for students when parents, faculty, and community work together for the good of students. I am thrilled to be a part of this wonderful faculty.”

Mr. Peters was born in Sandusky, Ohio on the same day Hawaii became a state. His father was the custodian at the Farrell-Cheek steel company and his mother worked packing crayons and paints for the American Crayon Company in Sandusky. Neither of his parents graduated high school and they constantly stressed to him the need for an education. He worked hard and graduated from Sandusky High School and then Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.
 
He first taught middle school physical science as well as high school biology and earth science in New Carlisle, Ohio, for one year and was laid off due to the state’s financial cut-backs. It was very difficult to find teaching jobs at that time, so he went back to Sandusky and found a job as a salesman for a small manufacturer of pressure-sensitive labels (stickers). This lasted two years until a roommate from BGSU called and told him there were teaching jobs in Houston. So, after great thought and contemplation, he moved to Texas and landed a job teaching sixth grade science at Jackson Middle School in HISD where he stayed for 5 years.
 
He eventually moved to west Houston and taught high school physical science at Alief-Elsik HS for two years. Mr. Peters began teaching in FBISD at Hodges Bend Middle School where he taught seventh grade life science. In the meantime, he went back to school and received his Masters in Science Education from the University of Houston.
 
He became Science Department Chairperson in 1993 and then Instructional Specialist for HBMS in 1999; he went back to school again and finished his Principalship Certification in 2001. in 2002, he became the sixth grade principal at HBMS following the same group of students through all three grades and then repeated that cycle again with his next group of students.
 
In 2007, he was asked to help open David Crockett Middle School as the eighth grade assistant principal and became the sixth grade assistant principal in 2008.
 
On a personal note, his wife is Arlene Peters, an insurance agent, and he is the proud father of five daughters ranging in age from 16 to 25. He is an avid train buff and enjoys model trains of all sizes but particularly N-scale. He serves on the Kingsbridge MUD board and the St. Martin's Lutheran Church council.
 
He is very excited to have been asked to come to Sartartia Middle School this year. He is looking forward to working with Dr. Thurman and the staff to maintain Sartartia’s reputation as the best middle school in FBISD.