Parkland High School (El Paso, Texas)
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Parkland High School[1] is part of the Ysleta Independent School District[2] in El Paso, Texas.
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[edit] History
Parkland High School is located in the northeastern part of El Paso, Texas. It first opened its doors as Parkland Grade School in 1958. By 1960, the school's curriculum could not accomodate high school courses. Those students who were entering high school were forced to attend nearby high schools, Irvin High and Burges High Schools. The decision was made by the Ysleta Independent School District to expand Parkland Grade School into Parkland High School. In 1959, the student body was asked to vote for the school's mascot and school colors. The Matador and black and gold were chosen. In September 1962, the doors to Parkland High School were offically open. The school only had ninth and tenth grade, as well as all primary grades.
[edit] 1960's
At the time of Parkland High's opening, there were three other high schools established, making Parkland High the fourth high school in the district. The school in 1962 consisted of 100 wing, 200 wing, the cafetorium (the current adminstration offices) as well as the nearby Parkland Elementary. Until 2006, Parkland Elementary and Parkland High had the distinction of being the only combined primary/secondary campus in the Ysleta district. Parkland High graduated its first class in 1964. One member of that class, Kathy Henry, continues the serve on the school's faculty as the mathamatical department head. It was during this time that the school was given its offical coat of arms by the Jostens Jewelry Company, which also made the school's first class rings. The school opened Matador Stadium in 1965 and the old gymnasium in 1966. By the end of the decade, Parkland High had a student population of 300 students. Parkland Elementary was separated from the school in 1967, and Parkland Junior High School was separated in 1969 and opened its doors a short distance away.
[edit] 1970's
As the school entered the 1970s, the school had become a major competitor in Northeast El Paso. The proximity of Andress High School quickly grew to a heated rivalry in both sports and academics. The old 300 wing was erected in 1976 and housed the freshmen class. This building was demolished in 2000 and replaced with a new, two story building in 2003. The school began making an impact in local sports, taking city records in basketball, football, and established a short-lived, coed gymanstics team. the school's JROTC program was among the largest in the city and even boasted a small band. The armed rifle teams practiced their marksmanship underneath the school's stadium, in a small rifle range. In 1975, a fire destroyed the school's library as well as the school's offical records. It was presumed that the school's artifacts were destroyed in the fire as well.
[edit] 1980's
The 1980s had very little impact on the school's growth, as no new buildings were erected during the entire course of the decade. The school in 1980 consisted of the original buildings from Parkland Elementary as well as the stadium, old gym, tennis courts, metric dirt track, as well as the 300 wing.
[edit] 1990's
The 1990s saw the most significant changes to the school since the 1960s. The expansion of the school started in 1992, when the dirt track in the stadium was converted to an asphalt one. In 1996, the school broke ground for a new library, band hall, and the addition of a bigger gymnasium and adjacant theater. The school also saw it student population grow as the surrounding neighborhoods experienced the city's growth northward. In 1998, the school broke ground again for a new two-story building housing new science labs and classroom space to alleviate overcrowding. The new building failed to provide enough rooms, and as a result, the entire freshmen class was located the far extreme corner of the campus in portable classrooms. The school's football team returned to glory, with a return to district play in 1994, by capturing the District 3-4A title. The basketball team began its 13 year winning streak in 1994 and 1998 won its first of 7 consecutive district titles. The track and field team emerged as one of the city's elite toward the end of the decade. The annual football game between Andress and Parkland determined which school was "Beast of the Northeast".
[edit] 2000's
The school's prosperity from the previous decade carried over to the new decade. The school condemned and demolished the old 300 wing in 2000, but turmoil in the district delayed the building's replacement until 2003. The school's basketball team won its first ever area basketball championship in 2002 and repeated in 2004. The school's entire landscape was replaced in 2004 with a junior college feel, adding numerous trees and bushes, as well as benches for students to use. The school received a new fine arts wing and fieldhouse in 2006, and renovation of the school's theater began. In late 2005, the district announced that Parkland would become the distict's new magnet program, the Math/Science/and Engineering Academy, fulfilling the district's plan of having specialized magent programs in all seven high schools. The building of a new Parkland Elementary will allow the high school to annex the grounds to help start its magnet academy. In the fall of 2006, the football team finished undefeated in the regular season for the first time ever, leading many to call the team the school's best ever. The team also defeated Riverside for the first time since 1999.
[edit] School Songs
The school's fight song was chosen in 1961, along with the school colors and macsot. It goes to the tune of an popular football song called "You Gotta be the Football Hero". The song's offical name is the Matador Fight Song, but its unoffical name is "Twelfth Man".
To be a Matador is glorious
To wear the Black & Gold is great
Yes, we will do our best to beat the rest
And to fight for victory!
To be a Matador is glorious
And we will always be victorious
Because we are all the "Twelfth Man"
Victorious Parkland is our name!
The school's alma mater was composed in 1962 by Jack Balack, a friend of the school's first choir director, Eugene Shirley. It is rarely played and few students know it even exists. The original score can be found in the school's library
From the fields of the Lower Valley
To the slopes of Mount Franklin's crest
The Black & Gold of Parkland
Represents El Paso's best
We will always pledge allegiance
To the Matadors so bold
And we'll fight for fame and glory
For Parkland's Black & Gold
We'll shout the world our story
Of the Black & Gold on high
And fill the streets of glory
From the halls of Parkland High!
[edit] Clubs, Past and Present
Since 1962, Parkland High School has actively had organizations and clubs to help it students grow and mature. Many of the school's current clubs can trace their beginnings to the start of the school.
-The Matador Band is one of the oldest clubs at Parkland. It officially started in 1962, and had about 45 members. Today, the band is still going strong and performs at all football halftime games, school pep rallies, and Homecoming parades.
-The Caperettes were originally called the Capetwirlers, an homage to the school's mascot, the Matador. This all girl club performs with the band at halftime and also acts as a crowd booster at games. The girls, when not performing, must attend a dance class to help improve their dancing skills.
-The football, basketball, boy's track and baseball are the four oldest sports at the school. Only the first three have experienced much success at their respective competitions.
-The Latin club, or Roman Senate as it was called when it first organized in 1963, was the largest and most popular club in the school's early days. This club was tasked with the honor of recording the school's history, but the fire in 1975 destroyed most of the club's earliest records. Amazingly, the club's original charter was found in the school's present library.
-The school's newspaper, the Parkland Panorama, was first published on September 21, 1962. Within its first five years, it won many city and national honors. The paper's name was changed in the late 1970s to the Parkland New Times. In the early 1990s, the name changed again to the Parkland Sun. In 2004, the name changed yet again the the Parkland Black & Gold, but later changed back to the Parkland Sun.
-JROTC was formed in 1967 and has called Matador Stadium its home ever since. The Parkland JROTC has won many district and city awards and consistently been an "Honor Unit with Distinction".
-Student Council.
-The school's yearbook, the Parkland Arena, was first published in 1961, before the school acquired high school status. It is currently published by Taylor Press Company.
-The literary magazine, the Parkland Panorama, takes its name from the first newspaper. It was created the late 1980'sand is complied with entries by various students.
Many other clubs have enjoyed brief popularity at Parkland, such as boy's hot rod clubs in the early 1960s, all girl clubs with variations on the word Matador for names, foreign language clubs, adventure clubs, and even some religious clubs, such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The school has also had a diversity club, a club against US involvement in the First Gulf War, and Parkland Pride, a club that helped promote a good image of the school to the student body and the community.
[edit] Mascot
Parkland's mascot is shared by two other schools in the district, Parkland Elementary and Parkland Middle. The two lower schools have a variation of the Matador; Parkland Elementary's mascot is the Torero, which is young Matador in training. Parkland Middle's mascot is the Novillero, a teenage Matador still in training. Parkland High's mascot is the Matador, a grown bull fighter. These three schools have the distinction of sharing the same mascot.
[edit] Feeder Schools
Four elementary schools and one middle school feed into Parkland High School.
Desertaire Elementary "Silverhawks"
Dolphin Terrace Elementary "Dolphins"
North Star Elementary "Patriots"
Parkland Elementary "Toreros"
Parkland Middle "Novilleros"
