Chávez High School (Houston)

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Cesar E. Chavez High School^[1] is a secondary school located at 8501 Howard in Houston, Texas, United States.

Chavez High School, which is a part of the Houston Independent School District, serves grades 9 through 12. Chavez serves several areas of Houston outside of the 610 Loop in southeast Houston, including the neighborhoods of Glenbrook Valley, Gulf Freeway Oaks, and Park Place.

Chavez High School serves a mainly Hispanic and immigrant population located nearby Hobby Airport. Chavez High School was named after Cesar E. Chavez.

The school has the Environmental Science program for HISD. The school's principal is (as of June 2006) Daniel Deleon. The school's mascot is the "lobo" (Spanish for "wolf").

[edit] History

Chavez was established in 2000 to relieve Milby High School, which had a swelling enrollment due to immigration into southeast Houston ^{[2] [3]}.

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

[edit] Environmental issues

A group called the Unidos Contra Environmental Racism (UCER) protested the school's proximity to many chemical plants soon after it opened ^[5]; the school is located less than one quarter mile from plants owned by Texas Petroleum, Denka Chemical, USS Chemical, and Goodyear Chemical.

Juan Parras, the leader of the UCER group, stated that the school would take the brunt of a chemical leak. ^[6]

Heather Browne, a spokesperson for Houston ISD stated that the Chavez site was tested for environmental hazards in the air and soil in 1992 and 1996; no problems were found in the tests. Browne also stated that one park, three public swimming pools, the City Hall of South Houston, and one golf course are within two miles of Chavez. ^[7]

[edit] Neighborhoods served by Chavez

Neighborhoods served by Chavez^[8] include Forest Oaks, Glenbrook Valley, Meadowbrook, and Meadowcreek.

[edit] School uniform

All students at Chavez are required to wear school uniforms ^[9]. All articles of clothing must be either black, tan or white. Trousers must be "dickie" or "docker" style. Jackets must be solid color of black, tan or white, and hoods may not be worn when on campus. Shoelaces must be white or black.

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] Student body

Chavez had 2,297 students ^[11] as of the 2006-2007 school year.

The racial breakup is as follows:

• 82% Hispanic
• 13% African-American
• 3% Non-Hispanic White
• 3% Asian
• Less than 1% Native American

78% of the students qualified for free or reduced lunch.

[edit] Feeder pattern

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

• Bonner ^[12]
• Park Place ^[13]
• Patterson ^[14]
• Bellfort Academy (partial) (4-5) ^[15]
• Cornelius (partial) ^[16]
• Lewis (partial) (K-3) ^[15]
• Rucker (partial) ^[17]
• Sanchez (partial) ^[18]

Middle schools that feed into Chavez include:

• Ortiz ^[19]
• Deady (partial) ^[20]
• Stevenson (partial) ^[21]

[edit] Small Learning Communities

Chavez High School established six Smaller Learning Communities (SLCs) in the 2002-2003 school year. The SLC structure provides a more personalized learning environment where students and teachers remain together through all four years of high school.

The SLCs consist of four Career Academies (Arts, Communications, & Media; Business & Criminal Justice; Health Science & Human Services; and Engineering & Advanced Technology), one Magnet Program (Environmental Science), and one Newcomers' Academy for beginning ESL students.

All students are enrolled in one of the Career Academies based on their career interests. Students in the Magnet program must apply for enrollment in the program according to Houston ISD Magnet School guidelines, and students in the Newcomers' Academy are enrolled based on their LEP status. Newcomers' students select one of the four Career Academies when they reach the third (intermediate) level of English Language Proficiency.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

Houston Portal

[edit] External links

• Chavez High School
• Chavez Lobo Football - American football
• Haynes Whaley Architecture page on Chavez High School
• FKP Architecture page on Chavez High School's interior