Morton Ranch High School

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Morton Ranch High School
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Motto	The Maverick Way
Established	2004
School type	Free public
District	Katy Independent School District
Grade levels	9^th through 12^th
Principal	Joe Cammaratta
Location	Katy, Texas, USA
Campus	Suburban, 112 acres
Enrollment	2,596
Faculty	173
Mascot	Maverick
Colors	Purple and White
Homepage	Morton Ranch Homepage

Morton Ranch High School is a secondary school opened in 2004 located in unincorporated Harris County, Texas. The school serves a lot of the northern sections of Katy I.S.D., and has grades 9 through 12 as part of the Katy Independent School District.

1 History
2 Campus
- 2.1 Additions
3 Awards and Honors
4 Athletics
5 Demographics
- 5.1 Student Body
- 5.2 Future Growth
6 Feeder Patterns
7 External links

[edit] History

Morton Ranch Under Construction

The following segment is about the history of the Morton Family and Morton Ranch High school. It is from the Morton Ranch High School Website.

In October 1896, Elbert M. Morton and his wife Margaret Morton moved with their six children from the Springfield, Missouri area to Katy. They purchased land in the northeast quarter of Section 82 of the H&C Railroad Company survey, which was considered to be in a "School Section," meaning that the money from the purchase went to the state's Permanent School Fund. The Mortons built their house and began farming rice and running cattle on the land. Just a few years later, however, the house was destroyed during the great storm of 1900. The Mortons built a second house at the same location, which stood until 1941 when it was replaced by their son and his wife, Charles and Beulah Morton. The most recent house was built in 2001 by James and Ida Morton, the present residents, meaning that the Morton family has lived at the original site from December 1896 to the present day. In 1996, the original 160 acres became eligible for the Texas State Heritage Farm designation, presented by the Texas State Department of Agriculture for farms that have been in some form of agricultural production and operated by a direct descendant of the founder for a period of one hundred continuous years. Keith and Lee Morton, grandsons of Charles and Beulah, continue to run the cattle and horse operation today. All seven children of Elbert and Margaret Morton attended the Katy School system, at one of the country schools and then later at the original Katy school located on Avenue A. Since then, three generations of Mortons have attended Katy ISD schools including Elbert and Margaret's six grandchildren, twelve great grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren. Today, a fifth generation two-and-a-half-year old Morton is next in line to be a Katy ISD graduate. ^[1]

[edit] Campus

Morton Ranch High School is a modified repeat design based on the award-winning Cinco Ranch High School plan. The major differences between Morton Ranch High School and Cinco Ranch High School are in the size of the science labs, the weight room, and the addition of a third gym at the east end of the building.

Specific detail changes requested by the end users have been incorporated to make a great plan even better. Also, the exterior of the building was changed to give it a different character. Morton Ranch also has a large library, located in the middle of the school.

Morton Ranch High School includes a Performing Arts Center and has been master-planned to incorporate a ninth grade center, to be built at the end of the 2006-2007 school year, and be ready for the 2007-2008 school year. ^[2]

[edit] Additions

For the growth that outdid Katy Independent School District predictions, a new bond was passed. The bond included a new Ninth Grade Center for Morton Ranch High School, that will be completed by the 2007-2008 school year.

[edit] Awards and Honors

Morton Ranch High School Awards and Honors for the 2005-2006 School Year

FFA Grand Champion Market Steer, Katy ISD Livestock Show & Rodeo

Boys' Varsity Soccer, Area Champions, advanced to Regional Quarterfinals

Diving, one student advanced to State

Science and Engineering Fair of Houston award winner

Track and Field, three students advanced to Regionals

Texas All-State Musician in Band

Two Gold Key and one Silver Key Award, Regional Scholastic Writing Competition

[edit] Athletics

Since the 2006-2007 school year, Morton Ranch High School has been entered as a 5A school. It now plays several 5A Varsity sports including:

[edit] Demographics

Morton Ranch has a higher percentage of non-whites than the rest of Katy I.S.D., especially Cinco Ranch High School, which is 75% white. Mayde Creek High School is the only high school that equally matches Morton Ranch High School's diversity.

[edit] Student Body

The breakdown for the school is White 46.0%, Hispanic 34.9%, African American 13.1%, Asian/Pacific Islander 5.9%, Native American 0.1%. ^[3]

[edit] Future Growth

The Katy I.S.D. did a study on the high schools in the district. What they came out with was that Morton Ranch High School, Seven Lakes High School, and Katy High School were the most posed for growth. Cinco Ranch High School, James E. Taylor High School, and Mayde Creek High School are pretty much built out in their zones.

The other high schools, Morton Ranch, Seven Lakes, and Katy, still have vast swarths of land in their zones, that are being gobbled up by homebuilders.

Because of this, there are proposals for Katy I.S.D. to build two new high schools. One will be between Katy and Seven Lakes High School. Another will be built north of Morton Ranch High School near the Bridgeland development (which might actually need another high school, depending on how Bridgeland grows) until that time comes, the Bridgeland community dwellers will attend Morton Ranch High School.