Named for Hightower Theodore Kealing, a 19th Century Black educator, writer, editor, and activist, Kealing Middle School opened in the fall of 1930 as the first middle school for African-American students in Austin. In 1971, the school was closed as part of Austin's desegregation efforts. In 1986, the school reopened as a middle school, both for students in the Kealing neighborhood and for students throughout Austin ISD who were accepted into its rigorous and innovative Magnet math and science program. The Kealing Academy Program, staff, families and community work together to support students in the Academy and Magnet programs daring to excel as "One School, Multiple Programs, Success for All."