Yates High School

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Official name	Jack Yates Senior High School
Principal	Winston S. Steele (as of 2007)
Location	3703 Sampson Houston, Texas
Link	School website
Enrollment	1,302 (2004-2005 [1])
Established	1926
Mascot	Mighty Lions
School colors	Crimson and Gold

Jack Yates Senior High School is a secondary school located at 3703 Sampson in Houston, Texas with a zip code of 77004. Yates High School handles grades nine through twelve and is part of the Houston Independent School District.

Yates was named after Reverend John Henry "Jack" Yates, a former slave and a minister.^[1]

Yates is a tradition in the Third Ward and many of the alumni of Yates are passionate about the school.

Yates has HISD's magnet program for communications (Broadcast TV, Radio, Print, and Photography). Eye on the Third Ward [2], a collection of works made by Yates students, was posted in the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH).

[edit] History

Ryan Middle School exists at the first location of Yates Colored High School

Yates was established on February 8, 1926 as "Yates Colored High School" with 17 teachers and 600 students. The school, initially located at 2610 Elgin, was the second school for African-Americans established in Houston.^[2]

The first principal, James D. Ryan, served as the principal from the opening until his death in 1941.

Yates relocated to its current location in September 1958. Yates' former location became Ryan Colored Junior High School (now Ryan Middle School), named after the first principal of Yates. Schools in Houston ISD were named after former principals William S. Holland and James E. Codwell.^[2]

Houston ISD desegregated in 1970.

The Yates photography magnet began in fall 1978.^[2]

In 2006, Houston mayor Bill White proclaimed February 7 as "Jack Yates Senior High School Day."^[3]

In 2007 Johns Hopkins University referred to Yates as a "dropout factory" where at least 40 percent of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year.^[4]

Yates, along with Sam Houston High School and Kashmere High School, had been consistently low-performing in test scores from 2001 to 2004. Because of this problem, there were movements to have the state or another organization take over the schools for a period so the test scores will be at acceptable levels. Yates received an "acceptable" rating from the Texas Education Agency in 2005.

Yates' enrollment had been declining in the 2000s; some neighborhoods zoned to Yates had rising real estate costs. Many poor households with Yates students are being priced out of the neighborhoods and forced to move outside of the Yates attendance boundary. Several neighborhoods that were zoned to Yates were rezoned to Lamar High School in the 1990s. In addition, students who live in middle and upper class subdivisions such as University Oaks, Oak Manor, Riverside Terrace, and University Woods who remain in the public education system choose to attend other schools, including Lamar, High School for Performing and Visual Arts, and Bellaire high schools; the exodus of well-performing students frustrated the administration. ^[5]

[edit] Neighborhoods served by Yates

Several areas inside the 610 Loop that are south of Downtown, including the Third Ward, Timbercrest, University Oaks, Oak Manor, University Woods, Scott Terrace, South Union, Foster Place, Washington Terrace, MacGregor Place, and LaSalette Place, as well as most of Riverside Terrace, are zoned to Yates.^[6]

Cuney Homes [3], a unit of public housing, is zoned to Yates.

[edit] School uniform

As of 2007 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students at Yates are required to wear a school uniform. The uniform differs by grade level.^[7]

[edit] Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Yates^[6] include:

• Blackshear ^[8]
• Foster ^[9]
• Hartsfield ^[10]
• Lockhart ^[11]
• MacArthur ^[12]
• Turner ^[13]

(partial)

• Dodson ^[14]
• J. P. Henderson ^[15]
• J. W. Jones ^[16]
• Kelso ^[17]
• Peck ^[18]
• Thompson ^[19]
• Whidby ^[20]

Portions of Cullen ^[21] and Ryan Middle Schools ^[22] feed into Yates.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Debbie Allen - Professional actress ^[23]
• Johnny Bailey - Former NFL football Player for the Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, and St. Louis Rams. ^[23]
• Garnet Coleman - State representative for District 147 in Houston. ^[23]
• Kevin Cooper - Director of Public Relations, Houston Texans ^[23]
• Santana Dotson - Former NFL football Player and member of the 1996 Super Bowl Champion (XXXI) Green Bay Packers. ^[23]
• Booker Huffman, a professional wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment.
• Conrad O. Johnson - world-renowned jazz saxophonist and leader of the Conrad Johnson Orchestra. ^[23]
• Monica V. Lamb - Former member of the Houston Comets. ^[23]
• Dexter Manley - Former NFL football Player and member of the 1982 Super Bowl Champion [XVII] Washington Redskins. ^[23]
• Phylicia Rashad - Professional actress best known for her role opposite famed comedian Bill Cosby as "Claire Huxtable" on the 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show.^[23]
• John Roper - Former NFL football Player for the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles. ^[23]
• Dave Webster - Former AFL All-Pro football player for the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs, Prairie View A&M University Hall of Fame inductee and one of the first blacks to play professional football in the American Football League.^[23]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Jack Yates Alumni
• A website created by people trying to take Yates High School out of the low performing school decision process
• School officials tighten focus on Yates High issues / Emphasis is on special education rates, increasing feeder resources