Arlington Training School was founded by Henry Kirby Taylor in September 1913. Like its immediate predecessor, it focused on offering a preparatory military school education for male students. Taylor was born in Vanceburg, Kentucky, was educated at Kentucky Wesleyan College, and served as president or superintendent of multiple schools in Kentucky between 1883 and 1909. He served as president of Northwest State Teachers College in Maryville, Missouri, from 1909 to 1913, where he earned a reputation as a capable administrator. He left Missouri for Arlington in 1913. Taylor's son-in-law, J. J. Godbey, had served as the headmaster of Carlisle Military Academy from 1911 to 1913, and he helped convince Taylor to move to Arlington and start a new military academy in the town. After arriving in Texas, Taylor reached an agreement with Carlisle Military Academy's property owners in which he promised to improve and insure the campus's buildings, organize an advertising campaign, and employ a competent staff in exchange for being allowed to keep any profits generated and having the opportunity to purchase the school and its land outright for $18,000.
