Stratford High School (Houston, Texas)
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| Principal Administrator | Christopher Juntti |
| School type | Public school (U.S.) |
| Religious affiliation | None |
| Location | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Enrollment | 2,100 students |
| Campus surroundings | Suburban |
| Mascot | Spartans |
| School colors | Green, White |
Stratford High School is a secondary school in Houston, Texas.
The school is a part of the Spring Branch Independent School District and serves grades 9-12. It is located in the western portion of Houston, in the region known as the "Memorial area." Stratford High School serves several neighborhoods, including Westchester, Sherwood Oaks, Nottingham Forest VIII, Nottingham West, Wilchester, Gaywood, Wilchester West, Yorkshire, Rustling Pines, Memorial Plaza, the SBISD portion of Thornwood, and the SBISD part of Ashford Forest. In 2005, Newsweek named Stratford one of the highest-ranked schools in the United States. In 2006, the school was ranked as 187th in the U.S. by Newsweek. [1]
Stratford provides courses in the traditional academic subjects, as well as several foreign languages, technology, vocational education, athletics, and fine arts. Several different Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at Stratford.
In keeping with the theme of its mascot, Stratford's student newspaper is The Oracle while its yearbook is Mnemosyne.
Contents |
[edit] Feeder patterns
Elementary schools that feed into Stratford include[1]:
- Meadow Wood
- Nottingham
- Thornwood
- Wilchester
- Rummel Creek (partial)
- Sherwood (partial)
Middle schools that feed into Stratford include:
- Spring Forest
- Memorial Middle School (partial)
[edit] Feeding from private schools
Students of some private schools, such as John Paul II School, continue to Stratford.[2]
[edit] History
Stratford first opened in the 1974-1975 school year to relieve the overflow of students at the nearby Westchester High School. The overflow had been caused by of the rapid development of subdivisions like Yorkshire, Wilchester, and Nottingham. The school district quickly decided to open a new school when the student population at Westchester nearly tripled to 4,000. Prior to the opening of the Stratford facility, Stratford's students were housed in temporary buildings on the Westchester campus. The opening of Stratford was not completed on schedule due to construction delays, causing students to continue to languish in cramped quarters.
In the 80's, the population of Spring Branch Independent School District fell drastically. This was attributed to jobs lost to the oil bust that affected the Houston area. Many Houston residents left, causing an underutilization of campus space. Spring Branch faced a tough decision. The district voted to close four schools: Westchester High School, Spring Branch High School, Northbrook Junior High (later reopened in 1991), and Westchester Junior High. Many students from Westchester High School were sent to Stratford, and Stratford, for many years, had a permanent display case dedicated to memorabilia from Westchester High School. In recent history, Stratford has maintained its enrollment at around 2000 students. Stratford also has improved its athletics programs recently, including a number of teams that are ranked at the state level and regularly advance to playoff rounds.
Stratford was named a 1983-84 National Blue Ribbon School. [3]
In 2004, the building which housed Stratford was found to have massive structural problems, which required immediate attention. The Stratford campus was closed, and the students were moved to the Westchester Academy for International Studies while repairs went on at the Stratford campus. Despite the temporary campus being close by, this move still posed as somewhat of an inconvenience because the near 2000 strong student body would now have to cram into a building designed for only 800. Many noted the irony of the temporary move, noting that the building that had once shut down as a high school and sent its students to Stratford will once again house the area's highschoolers, and many of which are the children of Westchester grads.
In the 2006-2007 Football season, the Spartans won the district title.
In February 2008 the UIL announced that Stratford would be realigned to Class 4A, District 23 effective in the 2008-2009 school year. The new alignment would affect not only football, but all UIL activities. The schools in the new district stretched from Richmond to Bay City and El Campo. Spring Branch ISD appealed the realignment, citing outrage at the loss of a 34-year long rivarly with Memorial High School, as well as concern that Stratford would have the most travel of any Houston-area school. In the appeal hearing, the UIL ruled that Stratford would be allowed to remain in Class 5A, and the Spartans were assigned to District 18, where they will face the three other SBISD schools (including Memorial), three high schools from Alief ISD, and private school Strake Jesuit.
[edit] References
- ^ "Schools by Feeder Pattern." Spring Branch Independent School District.
- ^ "Middle School Overview." John Paul II School.
- ^ [http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-1982.pdf}
[edit] External links
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|---|---|
| High schools | Memorial H.S. | Northbrook | Spring Woods | Stratford |
| Middle schools | Memorial M.S. | Spring Branch M.S. |
| Elementary schools | Bunker Hill | Frostwood | Hunters Creek | Memorial Drive |
