| Booker T. Washington High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
 | |
4204 Yale Street , Texas 77018 United States | |
| Coordinates | 29°49′19″N95°23′56″W / 29.821837°N 95.398854°W /29.821837; -95.398854 |
| Information | |
| Established | 1893 |
| Principal | Carlos Phillips II |
| Staff | 87.87 (FTE)[1] |
| Enrollment | 837 (2023–2024)[1] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 9.53[1] |
| Colors | Blue and gold |
| Mascot | Golden Eagle |
Booker T. Washington High School (nicknamed "Booker T.") is a secondary school located in theIndependence Heights community inHouston, Texas.[2] Washington serves grades 9 through 12, and is a part of theHouston Independent School District. The school has a neighborhood program that serves neighborhoods outside the610 Loop and insideBeltway 8 in the northwest part of Houston, including the neighborhoods ofIndependence Heights,Highland Heights, and most ofAcres Homes. The school was named after education pioneerBooker T. Washington.
TheHigh School For Engineering Professions is located on the campus.
The school was established in 1893 in Houston'sFourth Ward as "Colored High." The first location for the school, 303 West Dallas, is considered to be withinDowntown Houston as of 2007.[3] Originally it was the onlysecondary school for black people in the city;[4] at the timeschools were segregated by race.
A 1923Houston Informer article stated that the school building was in bad repair, calling it a "rat trap".[5]
In 1925 the school board stated that it would build a new black high school due to the increasing black population. TheHouston Informer stated that the schools need to be named after prominent black people from the city and/or other successful black persons. The original colored high school was renamed afterBooker T. Washington, a famous black educator who became the namesake of many black schools in theSouthern United States.[4] The school was given its current name in 1928.[6] Washington was relieved by the construction and opening ofYates andWheatley high schools in the 1920s.[7]
The school moved to its current location in Independence Heights in 1959.[8] Lockett Junior High School, which closed in June 1968, was established in the former Washington campus.[3] The schooldesegregated by 1970.
After Franklyn Wesley retired as principal in June 2007,[9] Houston ISD chose Mark Bedell, formerly an assistant principal atWorthing High School, as the principal.[10] Victor Keys, an assistant principal and an alumna of Washington, would remain as an assistant principal. Some alumni of Washington High School and members of the community around the school protested the decision to hire Bedell because they wished for the district to hire Keys instead of Bedell.[11][10] The current Washington principal is Carlos Phillips II.[12]
Wesley died September 11, 2007, at age 88. He served as the principal of the campus for more than 40 years, and worked as an educator for more than 65 years, spending all of but 10 of those years in HISD.[9]
In February 2012, because the school population was at a historic low of 823, several members of the Independence Heights community, led bySylvester Turner, aTexas Legislature representative, advocated for reinvestment in the school. They advocated for making Washington competitive withReagan High School andWaltrip High School.[2] The leaders argue that HISD had neglected the school.[13] Turner and Washington High School officials established a donation campaign. As of January 19, 2012, the campaign raised $135,000.Kroger donated $10,000 of the funds.[14]
Around 2012, each year 400 students from Booker T. Washington transferred to Reagan and Waltrip.[2]
By 2015, the district purchased several houses around the high school as part of its program to rebuild the high school.[15] After criminals began taking parts from the houses, residents argued that the way the houses were acquired could attract criminality.[16]
Using funds from the Houston ISD 2012 bond, the district constructed a new building for the school, which opened at the beginning of the 2018–2019 school year.[17][18]
In 2011 theTexas Education Agency (TEA) gave the overall school an "unacceptable" rating. 51% of the school's 9th grade students passed theTexas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills mathematics portion.[2]
In 2012Houston Community College established an auto mechanic program at Booker T. Washington. The previous auto mechanic program closed around 1997. Before 2012 the auto shop had been filled with waste. TheHouston Independent School District paid $300,000 to restore the auto shop.[2]
In 2012Texas A&M University and Booker T. Washington partnered to give university scholarships to some engineering students.[2]
In 2019 the TEA gave the school an overall rating of 'C', with grades of 'D' and 'C' in Student Achievement and School Progress respectively.[19]
Sylvester Turner advocated for the replacement of the gymnasium floors; they were replaced in the northern hemisphere fall of 2011. Turner said in February 2012 that the campus needed an overhaul greater than the $3.8 million that the district allotted to the school as a result of the previous bond election.[2]
OneHouston Housing Authority (HHA)subsidized housing complex, Lincoln Park, is zoned to the school.[20][21]
Houston ISD provides school bus transportation to students who live more than two miles away from the school. Students zoned to the school and students who are enrolled in the magnet program are eligible for bus transportation.
The METRO city bus line also operates the 66 Yale bus line, which stops at the intersection of Yale Street and Cockerel Street.
Washington had 1,520 students in 1995,[2] about 900 students in 2010,[22] and 823 students in February 2012, a historic low based on population statistics of the area.[2]
In the 2011–2012 school year, the magnet school, with a capacity of 400 students, had 226 students.[2]
As of 2020[update] Washington has a school uniform policy.[23]
Washington requires its students to feel free in the environment as long as its appropriate.[citation needed]
TheTexas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school withschool uniforms (the definition includes dress codes which limit colors) may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform. However, parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.[24]
The following elementary schools feed into Washington High School:[21]
Most of M.C. Williams Middle School[33] and small parts of Black Middle School[34] and Alexander Hamilton Middle School[35] feed into Booker T. Washington.
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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