Prior to 1996 Alpine High School served as the high school for students from Terlingua Common School District.[7] Beginning in the 1960s, students were bussed to Alpine,[8] with the bus ride being the longest in the United States,[7] with 89.7 miles (144.4 km) of distance each way, totaling about one hour and 55 minutes.[6] A trip to and from Alpine High totaled 179.6 miles (289.0 km).[9] In 1994 about 24 students took this bus.[6] Some students then traveled to and/or from the drop-off point as additionally far as 35 miles (56 km) to and/or from their residences each way.[9] This means adding an additional 45 minutes each way, which involved parents having to wake up early. Due to the distance and because there was only one bus each day, Terlingua area students could not participate in extracurricular activities after school.[6] Additionally there was a 30% dropout rate among Terlingua area students.[10] Additionally San Vicente Independent School District sent its high school students to Alpine High.[11] In 1996 Big Bend High School opened in temporary facilities, and the Terlingua area students no longer came to Alpine High.[10] The same year San Vicente ISD students were also redirected to Big Bend High.[12]
Service area
Currently, the high school serves Alpine.[13] Residents of the Sul Ross State University family housing units, Lobo Village 5 through 7,[14] are zoned to Alpine ISD schools.
On September 8, 2016, a female student shot and injured another student in a school hallway and then committed suicide in the bathroom. A Homeland Security officer who responded to the shooting was accidentally shot by a U.S. Marshal during the incident.[23]
