Mystery Solved: boys with guns

One thing I really like about this blog is this: you can ask a question and soon folks will provide an answer.  I had a question about two odd photographs in a box of items from the Nichols family; I didn't know where they were taken, when they were taken, or how they related to Kerrville.  They were interesting because of the Zouave uniforms, a word my friend Deborah Gaudier taught me today.
The LCI on the collars stumped me.  Several readers made suggestions about what the letters might mean, but my friend Jan Wilkinson solved the riddle.  She suggested "LCI" stood for Lakeside Classical Institute, a school in San Antonio in operation at the turn of the last century.

Students, Lakeside Classical Institute, San Antonio, in Zouave uniforms

Students, Lakeside Classical Institute, San Antonio, around 1910.
One of these boys is from Kerr County, Rowland Nichols.

Jan Wilkinson sent a link to an image of the school, which showed pupils in military dress; a postcard with this image is currently for sale on eBay:

Postcard, Lakeside Classical Institution, San Antonio.  Around 1910.

Still, I needed some evidence to prove this little San Antonio school was somehow related to my box of stuff from the Nichols family.  So I turned to Uncle Google, asking for a search of Kerrville newspapers which included "Nichols" and "Lakeside Classical Institute."  Here's what I found:

Clipping, Kerrville Mountain Sun, April 1, 1954

Thanks to everyone who worked on this puzzle.  Thanks again to Deborah (who taught me a new word), and to Jan (who solved the puzzle).