Sharpstown High School is a secondary school located at 7504 Bissonnet Street in Greater Sharpstown, Houston, Texas, United States with a zip code of 77074. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Robert Gasparello is the principal.[1]
The school serves a portion of the community of Sharpstown, which was Houston's first-ever master-planned community. In addition, Sharpstown High School also serves the neighborhoods of Robindell, Braeburn Glen, Braeburn Terrace, Braeburn Valley, Braeburn Valley West, and portions of Fondren Southwest.[2]
International High School, an alternative secondary school, was located within the campus of Sharpstown High School from fall 2007[3] until fall 2010.[4]
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Sharpstown Junior-Senior High School opened in 1968 in the campus now occupied by Sharpstown Middle School. In 1970, the junior and senior high school separated, with the senior high school going into a new campus.[5]
During the final day of school around 11 A.M. on June 2, 1988, three African-American teenagers attacked a White football player in an Algebra class. The fight grew to 100 participants with around 400 students watching the race riot. Sixteen police cars and one helicopter traveled to the school, and police closed Bissonnet Street for 45 minutes. Two students were hospitalized. Police identified the main perpetrator as a 17-year-old former student who was expelled in 1987. Police said that he, along with two students, armed themselves with a nail-studded stick and a chain and looked for a target in revenge for an incident two months earlier, when a White football player beat two Black students. The Algebra teacher pressed a panic button, but it did not work, so the teacher sent a student to report the incident. A 1988 Houston Chronicle article written one day after the brawl stated that Sharpstown had a history of racial tension. Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, criticized the school. Fallon said that the school should have taken more precautionary measures to ensure a racially motivated fight did not happen. Larry Yawn, an HISD spokesperson, and principal Don Carlisle said the officials were not aware of rumors about an upcoming fight.[6][7][8]
In spring 1991, as a result of the 1988 scuffle, Carlisle prohibited students from wearing Confederate States of America-related clothing at the May 17 prom. Five White students faced ejection when they were found with the clothing; some White students criticized the school, saying that it had a double standard as it allowed African-American students to wear Malcolm X-related clothing. The same students said that racial tensions had decreased from 1988 levels.[6]
In January 1991 a fire destroyed two portable classrooms; police believed that the fire, extinguished in 20 minutes, was arson. The damages were estimated to be from $50,000 to $75,000.[9]
In September 1991 when the school increased its student parking fee from $40 to $50, some students threatened to walk out of school.[10]
The school administration wanted a magnet program to encourage area students to attend the school. By 1995 the school received a community service program.[11]
According to the Houston Independent School District October 2006 "For Your Information" newsletter, Sharpstown was one of four high schools that took the most Hurricane Katrina refugees.
A 2003 state audit of HISD's performance caused controversy. One of the district's most publicized accomplishments during the Rod Paige era was a dramatic reduction in dropout rates. When 16 secondary schools, including Sharpstown High School, were audited, it was found that most of the students who left those schools in 2000-2001 should have been counted as dropouts but were not.[12][13] It was found that the administrators at Sharpstown deliberately changed the dropout rate at the school. The Sharpstown controversy resulted in a recommendation to label the entire HISD as "unacceptable." Former Sharpstown assistant principal Robert Kimball asserts that HISD coerced administrators at many schools to lie on dropout rates. HISD asserts that the fraud is only contained to Sharpstown and that the false statistics at other schools were caused by confusion related to the state's system of tracking students who leave school.
In 2007, a Johns Hopkins University study cited Sharpstown as a "dropout factory" where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year.[14]. During that year 41% of high school-aged children zoned to Sharpstown chose to attend a different Houston ISD school.[15]
By 2010, Sharpstown High School had improved to a 587th U.S. national ranking.[16]
Texas Governor Rick Perry held a press conference on 24-Aug-2010 at Sharpstown HS to discuss educational initiatives.[17]
Charles Rotramel, the owner of the nonprofit program Youth Advocates, stated in a 2006 Houston Chronicle article that Lee High School, Westbury High School, and Sharpstown High School have suffered from the actions of youth criminal gangs.[18] By January 2006, on one internet bulletin board, various gangs stated that they "run" Sharpstown High School; Terry Abbott, the Houston ISD spokesperson, denied all such statements.[19]
As of 2009-2010, the Apollo football program is headed up by Coach Devin Heasley, and Coordinators Isaiah Johnson (Defense) and Jeff Whitehall (Offense). They rank number 2 in their district The 2011-2012 Apollo football program won their first district championship in school history (6-0) record with Dallas Blacklock as their head coach
Elementary schools that feed into Sharpstown High School [2] include:
Middle schools that feed into Sharpstown High School include:
Since any student zoned to Long may attend Pin Oak Middle School, Pin Oak also feeds into Sharpstown High School.[30]
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