Joe Dan Mills Jr was a local community educator who was dedicated to teaching kids in Texas for more than 30 years! Born in Coleman, Texas in March 1945, Joe Dan Mills Jr. spent a lifetime dedicated to improving the lives of students. After receiving his degree from Southwest Texas State University (SWT), he went on to marry his college sweetheart Carole Moore in February 1967. Mills went on to receive his Masters degree from SWT in 1969, and so began his three decades long journey in South Austin, his first home being on South First Street. 
 

In 1984, Mills nominated Emma Herrera Galindo to have a new school named after AISD’s first bilingual instructional coordinator and a celebrated special educator. Having died at age 52, Galindo had made an indelible impression on Mills, as he asked to be assigned to the newly built school as a teacher and ultimately as a principal. After moving on from teaching to becoming an area supervising principal, Joe Dan Mills Jr ultimately retired after 30 years with AISD. But his passion for education did not stop with his retirement from the district. Mills spent time in other areas of the Texas educational system, including the TEA. In November 1997, Joe Dan Mills Jr. passed away at the age of 52. His wife Carole, also a lifelong educator, spent the next year championing her husband’s work with AISD, ultimately having a beautiful school in Southwest Austin named in honor of him in 1998. We are proud to be named after such a hardworking and dedicated educator. We are Mills Elementary School!