Aldine High School

Aldine Senior High School
Address

11101 Airline Drive

Houston, TX 77037
Information
Type Public high school
Established 1932
Principal Walter Stewart[1]
Grades 10-12
Enrollment 2,335 (as of 2014)[2]
Color(s)      Blue      White
Mascot Mustangs
Information (281) 448-5231
Website Aldine High School

Aldine Senior High School is a public high school located in the Greenspoint district of northern Houston, Texas, United States. It is part of the Aldine Independent School District. The senior high school campus serves grades 10 through 12. The separate Aldine Ninth Grade School hosts students in grade 9.

Location

Aldine Senior High is located at 11101 Airline Drive, at the intersection of Airline and West Road. Its 2012-2013 attendance boundaries[3] are bordered by the Sam Houston Tollway on the north, the Hardy Toll Road on the east and Veterans Memorial Drive for the majority of the western edge. The southern boundary is the Aldine Independent School District boundary line, which is a straight line about a quarter mile south of Gulf Bank Road extending from the Hardy Toll Road to Veterans Memorial Drive east to west. The North Freeway runs just to the west of the center of the zone north to south.

The approximately 12-square mile attendance zone takes in portions of Houston and unincorporated areas in Harris County in zip codes 77037, 77038, 77060 and 77088. This area includes the neighborhoods of Airline Farms, Blue Bell Village, Colonial Hills, Fallbrook, Greenridge North, Hidden Valley, Imperial Valley, North Shepherd Plaza, Northline Terrace, Oak Glen, Ridgepoint, and several smaller subdivisions. It also takes in numerous multi-family apartment complexes along Airline Drive, Aldine-Bender Road, Blue Bell Road, Fallbrook Drive, Plaza Verde Drive, Veterans Memorial Drive, West Road and Winding Bayou Trace. The school serves portions of the Aldine CDP,[4][5] the Greenspoint District,[6] the Airline Improvement District [7] and the City of Houston's Super Neighborhood 7.[8]

Ratings and Awards

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) rated Aldine Senior High as "Met Standard" in its 2014 campus accountability report.[9]

Historic Aldine High TEA Ratings[10]
YEAR RATING
2014 Met Standard
2013 Met Standard
2012 no rating given
2011 Academically Acceptable
2010 Academically Acceptable
2009 Academically Acceptable
2008 Academically Acceptable
2007 Academically Acceptable
2006 Academically Acceptable
2005 Academically Acceptable
2004 Academically Acceptable
2003 no rating given
2002 Recognized
2001 Recognized
2000 Acceptable
1999 Recognized
1998 Acceptable
1997 Acceptable
1996 Acceptable
1995 Low Performing
1994 Acceptable

Note that the TEA gave no campus or district accountability ratings in 2003 and 2012 as it was revising its ratings system.

Also in 2014, the organization Children At Risk gave Aldine Senior High a "D" and ranked it number 132 (out of 157) in the Greater Houston area.[11] The ranking represented a significant slip as the organization had given Aldine High a "C" and ranked the school number 77 (out of 150) in 2013.[12] As recently as 2006 Children At Risk had ranked Aldine High School as one of the best in Greater Houston, tabbing it as the area's sixth best high school.[13][14]

Earlier, in March 2013, San Diego State University's National Center for Urban School Transformation gave Aldine High School its National Excellence in Urban Education Bronze Award.[15]

In April 2013 U.S. News and World Report ranked Aldine Senior High number 178 [16] on its list of best high schools in the state of Texas (out of 1,870) and number 2,036 (out of nearly 22,000) in its list of best high schools in the United States. However, the magazine did not rank Aldine High among its top 189 Texas high schools in 2014 (approximately the top ten percent of state high schools), nor did the school appear on its list of best high schools nationally.

Demographics

For the 2012-2013 school year, the demographic breakdown of Aldine Senior High was:[17]

Today's demographic breakdown continues a long trend at Aldine Senior High that has seen the campus change from majority white to majority Hispanic over the past 25+ years.

Historic Aldine High Demographics 1988 - 2013[18][19][20][21][22]
1988 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2013
African American 27.2% 29.1% 34.4% 29.7% 26.5% 16.9% 11.6%
Hispanic 19.6% 23.8% 35.4% 53.0% 65.8% 78.0% 84.7%
White 46.7% 41.6% 24.6% 12.0% 6.2% 2.9% 1.4%
Other 6.5% 6.6% 5.5% 5.3% 1.5% 2.2% 1.6%

Athletics

Aldine Senior High's mascot is the Mustang and the school colors are royal blue and white.[23]

Aldine High participates in a variety of boys and girls sports in the University Interscholastic League's (UIL) District 18-6A,[24] including:[25]

W.W. Thorne Stadium serves as the home of the football and boys and girls soccer teams. The volleyball and boys and girls basketball teams play at the M.O. Campbell Center. Elliot Lansford Field hosts boys baseball games and the AISD Softball Complex is the home of the girls softball team.

Since its founding, Aldine High School has had several of its teams advance to state tournaments and finals, with squads in two sports winning championships.

The Aldine boys' basketball team reached the Class 3A state semifinals in 1960, but lost to the eventual champion Lamesa Golden Tornadoes, 51-48.[26]

The boys' baseball team won the 1970 Class 4A state championship, defeating the Bellaire Cardinals in a 4-0 no-hitter.[27]

The Aldine Senior High football team won the 1990 Class 5A Division II state championship, beating the Arlington Lamar Vikings 27-10.[28] ESPN named the 1990 Aldine Mustangs its mythical National Champions following the game.[29] The win came a year after Aldine fell 28-14 to the Odessa Permian Panthers in the 1989 Class 5A finals.[30] The Mustangs also advanced to the state 5A Division II semifinal rounds in 1991 (losing 20-13 to the San Antonio Marshall Rams)[31] and 1996 (dropping a 42-21 decision to the eventual state champion Austin Westlake Chaparrals).[32][33]

Clubs and Extracurricular Activities

Aldine Senior High students can partake in a number of clubs and extra-curricular activities, including:[34]

Feeder Pattern

Ninth Grade schools that feed directly into Aldine Senior High School include:

Middle schools in Aldine Senior High School's feeder system include:

Intermediate schools in Aldine Senior High School's feeder system include:

Elementary schools in Aldine Senior High School's feeder system include:

History

Origins (1932 - 1933)

The history of what is today Aldine Senior High School predates the 1935 creation of the Aldine Independent School District (AISD).

In the early 1930s, Harris County Common School District 29 (the predecessor to AISD) operated four wooden frame schoolhouses for white students in grades 1-7. These were scattered throughout the district in the unincorporated Aldine, Brubaker, Higgs and Westfield communities.[35] (Black students attended separate schoolhouses in Higgs and Westfield.)[36]

On June 18, 1932, District 29 residents approved a $40,000 bond to consolidate the white schoolhouses into one new, centralized school.[37] The new building was to be located just east of Aldine, as it was near the geographic center of the district.[38]

Plans were quickly drawn for a two-story, red brick campus that would contain 12 classrooms and an auditorium.[39] It would house primary grades 1-7 and also allow the district to offer the first two years of high school (grades 8 and 9).[40] (Previously, District 29 students who wanted a high school education had to commute to Houston's Jefferson Davis High. However, school attendance in Texas during the early 1930s was not compulsory past age 14.)[41]

When the 1932-33 academic year began, high school students met at Memorial Baptist Church, then located at East Montgomery Road (today's Airline Drive) and Gulf Bank Road, until construction on the new building could be completed.[42]

The S.M.N. Marrs School (1933 - 1936)

The new, as yet unnamed school opened in February 1933 at the intersection of Aldine-Bender Road and Aldine-Westfield, in what was then rural north central Harris County, 13 miles from Houston. The school was immediately filled to capacity.[43]

Marrs School circa 1947

Intensifying the crowded conditions, District 29 added grades 10 and 11 for the 1933-34 school year to complete what was then considered a full secondary education program.[44] (Twelfth grade was not common in rural Texas schools in the 1930s.)[45]

Overcrowding caused the district to move the old Aldine frame schoolhouse to the Marrs site to accommodate overflow.[46] Eventually, overcrowding became so severe that by 1935 the auditorium was partitioned into three classrooms to make room for more students.[47]

Sometime in 1933, or no later than early 1934, the school was named for S.M.N. Marrs, a state superintendent of public instruction who had recently passed away.[48] Marrs had championed rural education and financially weak school districts in his tenure.[49]

On May 25, 1934, S.M.N. Marrs School graduated its first high school class, consisting of nine students.[50]

In January 1935, the first known Marrs School athletic team participated in varsity competition. The boys basketball team, playing as Aldine High School (rural Texas high schools often competed under the local community name rather than the actual school name, if different), took on a Spring high school squad.[51]

On May 4, 1935, voters in District 29 approved creation of the Aldine Independent School District (AISD).[52]

In the fall of 1935, the high school opened a new gymnasium/auditorium. As AISD was then operating with meager funds, the district struck a deal with an area oil company to use salvaged lumber from a nearby producing field to construct the facility.[53][54]

Marrs High School (1936 - 1948)

With the S.M.N. Marrs School overflowing, AISD voters approved a $25,000 bond for construction of a new 10-classroom junior/senior high school building on September 7, 1935.[55] This new building opened in 1936 next door to the Marrs School on Aldine-Westfield Road.[56] It, too, was named S.M.N. Marrs. The older building continued in use for many more years as an elementary school and later an alternative education center. Today it still exists as the Ellen Lane School.

Marrs High School circa 1939

The Marrs football team, christened the Aldine Mustangs by a student vote, debuted in October 1936 vs the La Porte Bulldogs.[57]

Marrs High was expanded in the fall of 1939. The school constructed a six-classroom wing as well as a detached agriculture building and a home economics cottage.[58]

AISD and Marrs High added twelfth grade for the 1941-42 school year, as mandated by the state of Texas.[59]

The First Aldine High School (1948 - 1954)

Needing to accommodate a rapidly growing student population, AISD opened yet another high school located immediately to the north of S.M.N. Marrs High in the spring of 1948.[60] This campus was officially named Aldine High School, the first to formally bear that name. The former Marrs High School was turned into a junior high. Part of its structure, and several classrooms, were incorporated into the successor Aldine Middle School, built on the same site several years later and still in use today.

The first Aldine High School in 1948

Several months later, the school's 1935-era wood frame gymnasium/auditorium burned to the ground on November 19, 1948, along with the adjacent old Aldine schoolhouse.[61] The blaze took place just hours before Aldine High School's annual Homecoming dance.

Aldine High added a six-classroom wing in 1953.[62]

On November 24, 1954, the main Aldine High School building was destroyed by a six-alarm fire.[63] The fire destroyed nearly all student records and textbooks. Aldine students had to attend classes in shifts in the older junior high building until a new school could be built.

Modern Aldine High School (1956 – present)

In September 1956, a replacement campus was opened nearly five miles to the west at 11101 Airline Drive at West Road, on the site of the former Gulf Coast Airport.[64]

Aldine Senior High, along with all other Aldine Independent School District (AISD) schools at the time, canceled classes April 16 and 17, 1959, after AISD teachers walked off the job because the district was broke and couldn't make its payroll.[65] The Texas Legislature authorized the selling of $200,000 of time warrants to tide the district over until the end of the school year. However, AISD teachers walked out again on April 30, 1959. The teachers were not paid that time because feuding school board officials could not agree on who should be allowed to sign district paychecks and the district's bank would not issue checks until the matter was resolved. The second walkout lasted through May 19, 1959.[66]

Facade of current Aldine High School in 1961

In March 1965, AISD was ordered by a United States federal court to desegregate its schools, including Aldine High School.[67] (Aldine High School was ordered to be integrated by September 1, 1967.) This order was strengthened in 1977[68] and remained in effect until 2003, when it was rescinded.[69]

Aldine Senior High hosted the inaugural classes of North Harris County College, consisting of 613 students, in September 1973.[70]

A white Aldine High student was stabbed to death on April 8, 1975, by a black student who was trying to cut in the cafeteria line.[71] Although authorities could find no racial motivation in the crime, the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross on the Aldine High lawn two days later to protest the murder.[72]

Five Aldine Senior High band members were injured September 8, 1977, when a section of the home-side bleachers at the on-campus Aldine Athletic Stadium collapsed prior to an Aldine–Carver football game.[73]

The next year, Aldine High School took in about 175 Carver students[74] when that school was turned into an alternative education campus as a result of the 1977 federal desegregation order.[75]

Another federal judge ruled in May 1982 that the lyrics to the Aldine School Song, which begin with the words, "Dear God, please bless our school...", were religious in nature and that school and/or district officials could no longer lead or organize singing of the song at school events.[76]

The Aldine High School band marched in the 1993 inaugural parade for President Bill Clinton.[77]

In 1998, Aldine's ninth graders were moved to a new campus, Aldine Ninth Grade School, located behind the main campus along the North Freeway.[78] This was done, in part, to ease overcrowding, but also to make the transition to high school easier for freshmen.[79]

Aldine High School introduced four career-centered academies to its instructional program in 2005.[80] Students may choose from business and fine arts, industrial and engineering, health and human services, and law and public service. Academy students share the same teachers for their core academic courses, such as language arts, math, science and social studies. They may shift to other academies for electives.

Since its initial construction, several additions and renovations to the 1956-era campus have been made. The vocational wing was expanded in 1960, along with a paved student parking lot.[81] In 1970, the "400 Hall" wing was added, the "300 Hall" was expanded with more science labs and classrooms, and the cafeteria was enlarged to include a snack bar area.[82] Three years later, a new wing altered the front facade of the school, adding two new halls of classrooms, new administrative offices, a teacher's lounge, a new band hall and more library space.[83] Air conditioning was also added to most of the school around that time. An expansion of the gym (including the addition of a second, smaller gym) followed in 1978.[84] In 1997, additional classroom wings were added to the facade of the school.[85] Additional locker rooms were included as part of this expansion. A new Fine Arts wing was added in 2010, including a new band hall and renovations for the choir and drama rooms.[86] Several renovations on the older wings have also taken place over the years, including a major renovation of the cafeteria completed in 2009.[87]

References

  1. ↑ "ActionLine" (PDF). Aldine ISD. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "Texas Education Agency 2014 Accountability Summary" (PDF). Texas Education Agency. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Aldine High School Attendance Boundaries 2012-2013" (PDF). Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Aldine CDP". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Aldine CDP Quick Facts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Greenspoint District Boundaries Map". Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Airline Improvement District Boundaries" (PDF). Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "City of Houston Super Neighborhood 7". Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "2014 Accountability Summary" (PDF). Texas Education Agency. Texas Education Agency. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "Accountability Rating System for Texas Public Schools and Districts". Texas Education Agency. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  11. ↑ "2014 Greater Houston High School Rankings" (PDF). Children At Risk. Children At Risk. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Greater Houston High School Rankings 2013" (PDF). Children At Risk. Children At Risk. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  13. ↑ "2006". Children At Risk. Children At Risk. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  14. ↑ "Houston's Best Public High Schools". Houston Press. February 23, 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  15. ↑ "Winning Schools Selected for 2013 NCUST National Excellence in Urban Education Awards". San Diego State University National Center for Urban School Transformation. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  16. ↑ "Aldine High School Overview". Best High Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  17. ↑ "2012-13 Texas Academic Performance Report" (PDF). Aldine ISD. Aldine ISD.
  18. ↑ "Aldine High School". SchoolDigger. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  19. ↑ "1988-89 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT - SECTION II". Campus Report. Texas Education Agency. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  20. ↑ "Selected AEIS Campus Data A Multi-Year History for 1994-2002". Texas Education Agency.
  21. ↑ "Selected AEIS Campus Data Campus Name: ALDINE H S A Multi-Year History for 2003-2011". Texas Education Agency.
  22. ↑ "2012-13 Texas Academic Performance Report" (PDF). Aldine ISD. Aldine ISD.
  23. ↑ "Aldine Senior High School website". Aldine Independent School District. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  24. ↑ "2014-2016 Official Football Alignment" (PDF). University Interscholastic League. University Interscholastic League. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  25. ↑ "Get Involved at AHS". Aldine Independent School District. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  26. ↑ "1959 - 1960 3A Boys Basketball State Results". University Interscholastic League. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  27. ↑ "Baseball State Champions". University Interscholastic League. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  28. ↑ "Football State Champions". University Interscholastic League. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  29. ↑ "Aldine No. 1 in Eyes of Texas, U.S.". Houston Post. December 16, 1990.
  30. ↑ "Football State Champions". University Interscholastic League. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  31. ↑ "Aldine Upset 20-13". Houston Chronicle. 15 December 1991.
  32. ↑ "Aldine Thrown For Loss". Houston Chronicle. 15 December 1996.
  33. ↑ "Football State Champions". University Interscholastic League. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  34. ↑ "Get Involved at AHS". Aldine Independent School District. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  35. ↑ "New School Planned In Aldine District". Houston Chronicle. 23 August 1932.
  36. ↑ "600 Aldine Pupils to Enroll Monday". Houston Post. 8 September 1935.
  37. ↑ "School District 29 Votes $40,000 Issue". Houston Chronicle. June 19, 1932.
  38. ↑ "District Has Dispute Over School Site". Houston Press. 23 August 1932.
  39. ↑ "New School Planned In Aldine District". Houston Chronicle. August 23, 1932.
  40. ↑ "District Has Dispute Over School Site". Houston Press. August 23, 1932.
  41. ↑ "Compulsory Education - Raising Maximum Age, Etc." (PDF). General Laws of the State of Texas. Texas Legislature. March 1923. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  42. ↑ "Aldine School Building Near Completion". Houston Post. February 5, 1933.
  43. ↑ "Aldine School Building Nearing Completion". Houston Post. February 5, 1933.
  44. ↑ "4-Year School Is Slated". Houston Post. May 21, 1933.
  45. ↑ 1939 Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide. A.H. Belo Corp. 1939. p. 322.
  46. ↑ "Progress of Our School in 1934". The Marrs School Comet. 22 May 1934.
  47. ↑ "Proposed Marrs School Addition to be Discussed". Houston Chronicle. 4 August 1935.
  48. ↑ "Aldine School Graduation Rite Set for May 26". Houston Post. 12 May 1935.
  49. ↑ Ferrer, Ada. "Starlin Marion Newberry Marrs". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  50. ↑ "Aldine School Exercises Will Be Held Friday". Houston Post. May 20, 1934.
  51. ↑ "Third (Northern) Division Basketball Schedule". Houston Chronicle. 8 January 1935.
  52. ↑ "Westfield-Aldine District Votes For Independent Area". Houston Chronicle. May 5, 1935.
  53. ↑ "Aldine School Graduation Rite Set for May 26". Houston Post. 12 May 1935.
  54. ↑ "Head of Marshall College to Speak at Aldine School". Houston Post. 17 May 1936.
  55. ↑ "Aldine School Bond Issue Is Approved". Houston Post. September 8, 1935.
  56. ↑ "Many Schools Over County Open". Houston Chronicle. September 9, 1936.
  57. ↑ "La Porte Wallops Aldine Eleven". Houston Post. 18 October 1936.
  58. ↑ "Aldine Dedicates New $68,000 School Plant". Houston Post. 26 November 1939.
  59. ↑ "12-Grade Plan Slated for All Texas Schools". Houston Chronicle. 26 April 1941.
  60. ↑ Aldine High Roundup. 1948.
  61. ↑ "Fire Disrupts Homecoming Celebration at Aldine". Houston Post. 20 November 1948.
  62. ↑ "Aldine's School Loss $400,000". Houston Chronicle. November 25, 1954.
  63. ↑ "School Officials Hunting New Home After Aldine High Burns". Houston Post. November 26, 1954.
  64. ↑ "Humble Oil 1952 Roadmap of Houston". TexasFreeway.com. TexasFreeway.com. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  65. ↑ "Aldine Schools Closed by Teacher Walkout". Houston Chronicle. 16 April 1959.
  66. ↑ "Aldine Students Trooping Back to Classrooms Today". Bonham Daily Favorite. 20 May 1959. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  67. ↑ "Aldine Told to Integrate All Grades by Sept. 1, '67". Houston Chronicle. 24 March 1965.
  68. ↑ "Aldine Integration Plan Due in 2 Weeks". Houston Chronicle. 30 July 1977.
  69. ↑ "Aldine to Move Beyond Desegregation". Houston Chronicle. 9 January 2003. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  70. ↑ "LSCS History". Lone Star College System. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  71. ↑ "Aldine Student Stabbed, Dies". Houston Post. 9 April 1975.
  72. ↑ "Police Investigate Burning of Cross". Houston Post. 11 April 1975.
  73. ↑ "Part of Stadium Collapses; 5 Hurt". Houston Post. 9 September 1977.
  74. ↑ Aldine High Roundup. Aldine Independent School District. 1979. p. 20.
  75. ↑ "Schools Seek End of Desegregation Order". Victoria Advocate. 22 September 2002. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  76. ↑ "Aldine High Song Ruled Unconstitutional". Houston Chronicle. 21 May 1982.
  77. ↑ "Aldine Band to March at Inauguration". Houston Chronicle. 15 December 1992.
  78. ↑ Ben Wilson, Aldine ISD Assistant Superintendent of Community & Governmental Relations
  79. ↑ "Ninth-Grade Only Schools Aim to Help Students Transition". USA Today. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  80. ↑ Meeks, Flori (October 20, 2005). "Aldine school uses career-centered academies for students". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  81. ↑ Aldine High Roundup. Houston, TX: Aldine Independent School District. 1961.
  82. ↑ Hahn, Phil (February 20, 1970). "Aldine Classroom Construction Well On Way To Being Complete". The Mustang.
  83. ↑ Aldine High Roundup. Houston, TX: Aldine Independent School District. 1974.
  84. ↑ Aldine High Roundup. Houston, Texas: Aldine Independent School District. 1979.
  85. ↑ Aldine High Roundup. Houston, TX: Aldine Independent School District. 1997.
  86. ↑ "2010 Projects". Aldine ISD. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  87. ↑ Fernandez, Chantal (January 24, 2008). "Aldine High students will get a new place to eat". Houston Chronicle.

External links

Aldine ISD

Aldine High School

Aldine Mustangs Football

Coordinates: 29°55′00″N 95°24′28″W / 29.9166123°N 95.4077159°W