Clements High School has been recognized byTexas Monthly magazine in its list of the top high schools in the state of Texas. InUS News magazine's 2018 ranking of United States high schools, Clements was ranked 446th out of 27,000 high schools nationwide.[8] In 2010 and 2011, Clements High School was rated "exemplary" by the Texas Education Agency.
In 2023, as part of a $1.26 billion bond package by Fort Bend ISD, a proposition was made calling for the construction of a new $222 million rebuild of Clements on the current site's athletic facilities. The move was made due to long-standing foundation issues; large parts of the school are sinking or being raised up, with cracks becoming so wide that they could be used to pass books between classrooms. The district argued that the budgetary and time-related costs for retaining the current building would far exceeded the costs for simply constructing another building.[11][12][13] The proposal has passed, and the rebuild is currently underway.[14]
In 2014, Clements was ranked number 10 on theBest Math and Science High Schools in the Houston-Area list,[citation needed] and was listed as number 3 on theBest High Schools in the Houston-Area list.[citation needed] In 2024, Clements was ranked number 18 on theBest High Schools in the Houston-Area list,[15] The average 2019SAT scores were[16] Math 690 and Verbal 660. The average 2019ACT score was a 30.[17] The average passing rate onAP exams was 92% in 2019.[17] Clements is often recognized as one of the best high schools in the state of Texas, and has been ranked "Exemplary" by theTexas Education Agency for over 15 years.[citation needed]
In the 2010–2011 academic school year, Clements High School hosted the annualTexas French Symposium competition[19]
The Clements men'ssoccer team was the 5A Texas state championship team in 2014, led by Todd Ericson.
Clements participated in the 2016National Science Bowl, finishing in third place with an all-freshman team.
As of 2017, ClementsDECA was the largest DECA Chapter in Texas by membership[20] and has been[when?] one of the top 10 largest in the world for five years.[citation needed]
Clements has the largest number of degrees in the National Speech and Debate Association East Texas District.[citation needed] The school has gotten first at theTexas Forensic Association State Tournament in Public Forum Debate in 2009, in Congressional Debate in 2013, and in Public Forum Debate in 2015. In 2016,[citation needed]
In 2007, one day following theVirginia Tech shooting, the school received a phone call from a parent who complained that her child was playing aPC game involving shooting and killing people in an animated map of the school. Following the call, school officials promptly discovered the website where a 17-year-old alumni was distributing the map as amod forCounter-Strike. Police searched his home under consent from his mother. They found nothing illegal, but confiscated five decorative swords and ordered the boy to erase the game and maps from his computer. Although he was not charged for the incident, he was subsequently transferred to an alternative education center. The incident caused a rift within the districts board of trustees, with some suggesting that the district's reaction was overwrought. It also angered the localChinese-American community, to which the boy and his family belonged.[24][25]
Clements, along with the other Fort Bend High Schools ofElkins andDulles, was subject to an act ofcyberterrorism when a list titled Whimsical Girls of FBISD was posted onFacebook in April 2010.[26] The list named several female students from the three high schools with graphic detail of promiscuous acts that the girls performed, locations of the acts, as well as severename calling. While some described this as tattle-taling, others argued that the list was a direct form ofverbal assault and demanded the expulsion of the offender who posted the list.
On May 13, 2011, 16 students at Clements broke into the school. The group was attempting to move chairs set in place forAP testing from the gym to the roof of the school as asenior prank.[27] The security alarm tripped during this and police were promptly dispatched, where they saw the group of men running away. They were able to detain some of them and decipher what had occurred. Three students - Brian Warshauer (who was also charged with possession of a controlled substance),[28] Ali Lilani, and Taylor Ashford - were charged with burglary, evading arrest, and engaging in organized criminal activity. The charges were eventually reduced to just criminal trespassing.[29] One of the students, Brian Yu, managed to flee but turned himself in the following day. He was sentenced to six years probation and 24 hours of community service, among other conditions, after a one-day trial in June 2013.[27] 12 other students also turned themselves in, with 11 of them agreeing plea in July 2011 to be on probation. Additionally, the 11 students were forced to walk around Clements High School with signs around their neck reading "What I did was a crime not a prank," for four hours.[29] Many parents and students believed the punishment to be too excessive.[28]
On October 15, 2016, Brian Yuen, a 17-year-old member of the school's aquatics team, experienced a major medical emergency while competing at the Don Cook Natatorium. Staff performedCPR untilparamedics arrived. He died shortly after being transported to the hospital. A vigil for him was attended by hundreds of family members, friends, and local community members. AGoFundMe established by his brother Charles raised $30,000 in funeral and medical expenses. A moment of silence was held at afootball game betweenRidge Point andDulles High Schools that day, with cheerleaders and attendees wearing blue, Yuen's favorite color.[30][31][32]
On December 11, 2023, the principal of Clements High School, Brian Shillingburg, was arrested on suspicion ofsoliciting a prostitute/other payor. He was caught as part of a sting operation entitled "Operation Naughty List" by the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.[33] He was later indicted by the grand jury.[34]
^"Archived copy"(PDF).www.fortbendisd.com. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on April 3, 2012. RetrievedJanuary 13, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^"Archived copy"(PDF).www.fortbend.k12.tx.us. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on April 30, 2011. RetrievedJune 30, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^"Archived copy"(PDF).www.fortbend.k12.tx.us. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on April 30, 2011. RetrievedJune 30, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^"Archived copy"(PDF).www.fortbend.k12.tx.us. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on April 30, 2011. RetrievedJune 30, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
