Heights High School

Coordinates: 29°47′42″N 95°23′36″W / 29.794949°N 95.393282°W / 29.794949; -95.393282

Heights High School
Location
Houston, Texas, United States
Information
Type	Public school (U.S.)
Founded	1927
Principal Administrator	Connie Berger
Enrollment	(approx) 2,830 students (2015–16school year)
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Maroon, White
Mascot	Bulldog

Heights High School, formerly John H. Reagan High School, is a senior high school located in the Houston Heights in Houston, Texas. It serves students in grades nine through twelve and is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Heights High School is HISD's Magnet School of Computer Technology and offers the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB) Middle Years Program (till 10th grade) and twenty Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Students belong either to the Computer Magnet Academy, or to the Health Science Academy, Business Academy, Engineering and Design Academy and Transportation Academy. They receive specialized hands-on training to prepare them for a career in those fields.

History

Houston Heights High School was first established for Heights residents in 1904,^[1] at the site of the present Milroy Park, at the corner of Yale and 12th. However, as was common in those days, that school also housed an elementary and middle school. When the Heights joined the City of Houston in 1918, the building at the end of Heights Boulevard and 20th known today as Hamilton Middle School became the Senior High School, and the old location became a Junior High School. When the original building on Yale and 12th burned in 1924, a new location for the high school was picked in the block between Oxford and Arlington, 13th and 14th. The new school was named John H. Reagan High School and opened in 1926 with the student body and teachers marching down Heights Blvd from the old school building to the new high school on 13th Street.

The campus was designed by John Staub and William Ward Watkin, who were designers of the original campus of Rice University. Reagan was first established as an all-white high school.

Overcrowding at Reagan was relieved by Waltrip High School when Waltrip opened in 1959.^[2] Reagan was desegregated by 1970 and its student body started to become increasingly Hispanic; by 1988 Reagan was mostly Hispanic. In 1997 a portion of the Reagan boundary was rezoned to Waltrip.^[3]

In 2006 Reagan began a renovation project. Set to end in the summer of 2007, the renovations to Reagan included the building of a new cafeteria, a new gymnasium complex, an additional academic building, a new vocational building, and a library.^[4]

In 2009 Connie Berger, principal of Reagan High School, expected around 100 former private school students to enroll because the economic conditions persuaded families to send their children to public school instead of private school.^[5]

Around 2012, each year a total of 400 students transfer from Booker T. Washington High School to Reagan and Waltrip High School.^[6]

The HISD board voted to rename the school to Heights High School in 2016.^[7] In June 2016 a group of eight Houston area residents, including alumni and parents, sued HISD to get an injunction to prevent the name changes; they did so after HISD did not accept their ultimatum to stop the name changes. Wayne Dolcefino serves as their spokesperson.^[8]

Campus

In 2006 Reagan began a renovation project that included the building of a new cafeteria, a new gymnasium complex, an additional academic building, a new vocational building, and a library. The school now also has an auditorium, a teaching theater, dance rooms, technology rooms, a piano lab, a choir/band hall, and a library with computers where the students can do research. It also has a two-story parking garage, an auto shop, and large track and field.

In 2012 Richard Connelly of the Houston Press ranked Reagan as the sixth most architecturally beautiful high school campus in Greater Houston. Connelly said that a coworker told him that Reagan looked like Rydell High School in Grease.^[9]

Academic programs

Health and Science Academy – Students progressively expand their understanding of health careers and medical terminology, they gain clinical experience by shadowing at various health care facilities and as seniors are allowed to work entry level health positions in partnership with Ben Taub Hospital. Business Academy – Coursework includes a range of classes including accounting, communications, marketing, business finance, business law and business ownership/entrepreneurship. Students work with the Genesis program to gain hands-on experience in cooperation with the school’s business partners, including Deloitte & Touche Consulting. Magnet Academy for Computer Technology – Students choose among 3 focus areas: audio/video production, computer programming, and digital media/web technology. The school’s A/V program is the only authorized Apple training center in the Houston area, giving students the opportunity to earn certification in Apple Final Cut Pro video editing software. Engineering and Design Academy – Students participate in VEX and FIRST Robotics, and have access to a NAO Humanoid Robot for programming, Markerbots 3D printers and an Arduino electronics lab. Transportation Academy – Students study in specialized labs designed for automotive mechanics and repair. The program is certified by NATEF and students compete in SkillsUSA competitions. International Baccalaureate – (IB) – In 2013, Reagan became an official IB World School offering the Middle Years Programme (from 6th to 10th grade) in partnership with Hogg Middle School. Students receive instruction centered on global mindedness, fostering a learning environment based on real world issues. The school is a candidate for the IB Diploma Programme – authorization expected for the 2016-17 school year.

Athletics

2014 was Reagan’s first year in the 6A Conference. The football team won 6 of 11 games and made it to Bi-District round of the playoffs. The football team is cheered on by the marching band composed of about 100 students.

Clubs and organizations

UIL Academics – Competing for the first time in the 6A conference in Fall 2014, Reagan students placed in Accounting, Calculator Applications, Current Issues and Events, and Ready Writing.

Neighborhoods served by the school

Reagan takes students from most of the Houston Heights neighborhood,^[10] a small portion of Downtown Houston, the Fourth Ward, East Norhill, Woodland Heights, Brooksmith, Magnolia Grove,^[11] Stude^[12] the Old Sixth Ward, The Historic 1st Ward, and a small portion of Midtown. Other parts of Houston northwest of downtown within the 610 Loop are zoned to Heights as well. Originally, all of the Houston Heights was zoned to the school. In 1997, a small portion was rezoned to Waltrip.^[3]

Feeder patterns

Middle schools feeding into Heights High School include Gregory-Lincoln Education Center,^[13] Alexander Hamilton,^[14] and Hogg,^[15]

Elementary schools that feed indirectly into Heights^[10] through the above middle schools include Browning^[16] Field^[17] Harvard^[18] (partial) Crockett^[19] Gregory-Lincoln Education Center^[20] Helms^[21] Jefferson^[22] Ketelsen (partial)^[23] Love^[24] Memorial (partial),^[25] and Travis (partial).^[26]

Magnet students must follow the HISD Magnet application process and may apply from all HISD areas.

Statistics

http://www.har.com/school/dispCampusDetail.cfm?id=101912012

Notable alumni

• Red Adair, notable oil well firefighter who extinguished the "The Devil's Cigarette Lighter"^[27]
• Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics^[27]
• Val Belcher, former CFL All-Star^[28]
• Tommy Castro, Corporal, USMCR, wounded at Chosin 1950; received the Purple Heart.
• A. J. Foyt, Sr., father of A. J. Foyt, Jr.^[27]
• Richard "Racehorse" Haynes, criminal defense attorney^[27]
• Larry Hovis, actor^[27]
• Raymond Knight, U.S. Army Air Corps^[27]
• Everett Augustus "Squatty" Lyons, retired Harris County Commissioner for Precinct 4^[27]
• Dan Rather, journalist^[27]
• Craig Reynolds, professional baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and Houston Astros^[27]
• Martha Wong, former Texas state representative^[27]
• Gwendolyn Zepeda, author^[27]

References

Further reading

• (Spanish) Mellon, Ericka. "Investigarán problemas con calificaciones de estudiantes en otra escuela de HISD" (Archive). Houston Chronicle in La Voz de Houston. May 12, 2015.
• Villareal, Mario and Claudia Macias. "A Historical Outlook of the Mexican American Population Growth at Reagan High School." History paper, fall 1994. In the possession of Professor Guadalupe San Miguel of the University of Houston. San Miguel cited the paper in his book, Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heights High School.

• Heights High School
• Reagan High School (Archive)