Austin High School (Houston, Texas)

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Stephen F. Austin High School is a secondary school located at 1700 Dumble Street in Houston, Texas with a zip code of 77023. The school handles grades nine through twelve and is a part of the Houston Independent School District.

The school, named after Stephen F. Austin, is located in the Second Ward area. The neighborhood was developed in the 1920s, and the school's Art Deco architecture reflects this. The school has HISD's magnet program for Teaching Professions.

The school is about two miles southeast from Downtown Houston ^[1].

[edit] History

Austin, first built in 1935 and completed in 1937, opened as an all-White high school.

Houston ISD desegregated in the 1970s, and the school became mostly Hispanic.

Austin High School was used as the filming location for the 1986 film Hard Lessons aka The George McKenna Story starring Denzel Washington.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005 the school lost its 5A UIL designation and was placed in 4A since its student population fell below 2,000 people.^[2].

In 2007 Johns Hopkins University included Austin in a "dropout factory" list of 42 Houston-area high schools; a "dropout factory" school is where at least 40 percent of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year.^[3].

[edit] Student body

In the 2005-2006 school year, Austin had 1,825 pupils ^[4].

• 95% were Hispanic
• 3% were African-American
• 1% were Caucasian-American
• less than 1% were Asian
• less than 1% were Native American.

94% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch.

In the 2000-2001 school year, the school had 2,215 students. In the 2000s, property values around the school increased ^[5]. This created the large student population decrease ^[6]. This led to the demotion of the school from 5A to 4A as per the University Interscholastic League ranking.

In spring 2006, 367 seniors graduated from Austin High School ^[7].

[edit] Neighborhoods served by Austin

Several areas inside the 610 Loop that are east of Downtown, including the area known as the East End, are zoned to Austin^[8]; several East End subdivisions such as the Second Ward, Eastwood, East View, Riverview, Forest Hill, Hampshire Oaks, Simms Woods, Houston Country Club Place, Woodleigh, Sunnylan, Broadmoor, Central Park, and some of Magnolia Park, are zoned to Austin. In addition a section of East Downtown is zoned to Austin.

[edit] School uniform

As of 2006, all Austin students are required to wear a school uniform that consists of a green, or white buttoned-down shirt and khaki trousers, skirts, or dresses. ^[9]

The Texas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform ^[10]; parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.

[edit] Transportation

Houston ISD provides school buses for students who live more than two miles away from the school or who have major obstacles between their houses and the school. Students are eligible if they are zoned to Austin or are in the Austin magnet program.

Three METRO bus stops (Polk Street @ Dumble Street, Telephone Road @ Dumble Street, and Ernestine Street @ Coyle Street) are located near the school. Bus line 36 stops at Polk @ Dumble, and bus line 40 stops at Telephone @ Dumble. Bus line 42 stops at Ernestine @ Coyle. Telephone @ Dumble is the stop closest to the school.

[edit] Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Austin ^[8] include:

• Burnet ^[11]
• Cage ^[12]
• Carillo ^[13]
• Franklin ^[14]
• Briscoe (partial) ^[15]
• Brookline (partial) ^[16]
• Dodson (partial) ^[17]
• Gallegos (partial) ^[18]
• J. P. Henderson (partial) ^[19]
• Lantrip (partial) ^[20]
• Peck (partial) ^[21]
• Rusk (partial) ^[22]
• Tijerina (partial) ^[23]

Middle schools that feed into Austin include:

• Jackson ^[24]
• Deady (partial) ^[25]
• Edison (partial) ^[26]

[edit] Notable alumni

• Diana Davila Martinez - Texas state representative of District 145 from 1993 to 1999.^[27]
• Ken Spain - Professional basketball player^[27]
• Bob Allen - Sport Director for KTRK-TV^[27]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Austin High School Homepage
• Austin Alumni