The school was named after a former mayor of the city of Houston, R. H. Fonville. Fonville was elected mayor of the city of Houston from 1937 to 1939.   Richard H. Fonville was a pharmacist, successfully operating  modest shop in downtown Houston for a number of years

Originally, Fonville Middle School had grades 7-9. Years ago, Durkee Elementary School was located on the site where Fonville Middle School now stands. Anyone who has knowledge of Fonville in the sixties and seventies is encouraged to contact the webmaster.

It is now Fonville Middle School and has grades 6-8. Fonville Middle School is located at 725 E. Little York Road, halfway between I-45 North and the Hardy Toll Road.

History of Fonville Middle School

Fonville Junior High opened in January, 1960. It was built to relieve overcrowding at Burbank Middle School. However, Fonville began as a small city of temporary buildings behind Burbank MS in the fall of 1959. I have heard from an alumni of that first class of students that "the birth of Fonville was epic and heroic. The in-crowd was always the Burbank kids and Fonville kids were uninvited guests, but we persevered and later excelled when we got our home. Both Burbank and Fonville students went to Sam Houston and Fonville's stay at Burbank was just about as traumatic to the Burbank students. It was an over-crowded, hostile environment-kind of like having cats in a sack. I don't know how the teachers ever managed to control us."