Worthing High School (Houston, Texas)

Worthing High School

Evan Edward Worthing High School is a secondary school located in the Sunnyside area of Houston, Texas, United States.^[1]

Worthing serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Houston Independent School District.

Worthing has Houston ISD's magnet program for Mathematics, Science and Technology.

History

The current campus for Attucks Middle School served as Worthing's first campus

Worthing Junior-Senior High School was built in 1958,^[2] and it opened on January 27, 1958. The students zoned to Worthing previously attended Miller Junior High School and Yates High School.^[3] The school is named after Evan Edward Worthing, a Houston real-estate developer who set up a scholarship trust for African-American HISD students. A native of Michigan, he earned a mechanical engineering degree from Texas A&M University, where he was captain of the American football team. His will stated that African-Americans should inherit his wealth; this led to the opening of Worthing. The school originally covered grades 7 through 12. Worthing was originally located at 4330 Bellfort Boulevard; as the first building became overcrowded a new high school campus opened. Worthing moved to 9215 Scott Street at Reed Road, and Attucks Middle School opened at the former location.^[2]

In 2000 Worthing had over 1,700 students.^[4]

In 2007, prosecutors charged a student for "felony assault of a public servant." According to the charge, on Friday, May 11, 2007, a 15-year-old male student beat home economics Teacher Vanesta Marshall on the left side of her face, from her eyebrow to her chin, in retaliation for sending him to the principal. Marshall said that the other students restrained the attacker.^[5]

That same year, a Johns Hopkins University/Associated Press study referred to Worthing as a "dropout factory" where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year. Teenage pregnancies also occurred at the school.^[6]

In 2011, two persons opened fire during a powder-puff football game at Worthing. One man, an 18-year-old former student named Tremaine De Ante’ Paul, died. Five other people received injuries.^[7]

On Wednesday March 21, 2012, the school's renovation and expansion groundbreaking ceremony was held. The $805 million bond referendum, approved in elections in 2007, will fund the renovation and expansion. At the ceremony, Licia Green Ellis, the wife of Texas Senate member Rodney Ellis, gave a $10,000 donation to the school.^[8] The several design changes and controversies about the construction had delayed the establishment of the wing. It is a part of the 2007 bond program, and as of January 2015 it was one of the few projects from that bond still not completed. Stafford, Texas-based Fort Bend Mechanical was supposed to build the Worthing wing but it got into a legal dispute with HISD.^[4]

As part of the 2014-2015 rezoning, residents of South Park located west of Martin Luther King Boulevard will be rezoned from Jones High School to Worthing.^[9] John Modest, the principal, stated that he expected to receive 200 new students.^[10]

On December 11, 2014,^[11] the beam-signing ceremony of the new Worthing campus occurred.^[12]

In the 2013-2014 school year Worthing had 640 students. In 2014-2015 it had 685 students.^[4]

Consolidation proposal

In November 2008 Houston ISD proposed to rebuild Carnegie Vanguard High School on a site adjacent to Worthing, rebuild Worthing, and have the two schools share the same cafeteria and other facilities. School board member Larry Marshall, whose jurisdiction at the time included Carnegie and Worthing, expressed support for this proposal or otherwise to house Carnegie and Worthing on the same plot of land.^[13]

Parents at Worthing accepted the proposal while parents at Carnegie rejected it and asked for it to be discontinued.^[14] The Carnegie parents said that the higher violence levels at Worthing and the parents' fears of backlash against Carnegie students at Worthing cause them to be opposed to HISD's proposal.^[15] Peter Brown, the Houston City Council At-Large Position 1, opposed the idea. Brown said that the renovation of Worthing would be less costly than the consolidation. Brown also cited a Gates Foundation study to support his point.^[16]

On December 4, 2008 Abelardo Saavedra,the HISD superintendent, said that he would for now shelve plans since they had insufficient support from the board of trustees. School board trustee Paula M. Harris expressed support for the consolidation plan, arguing that magnet schools and small neighborhood schools, many of which were closed by the district, should be treated in the same manner.^[17] Margaret Downing of the Houston Press added that Worthing parents did not like how the controversy "denigrated" the school.^[18]

Student body

Worthing had a total of 1,026 students during the 2006-2007 school year.^[19]

The school is solidly African American; 92% of Worthing students were African American during that year. About 7% of the students were Hispanic American. About 1% of the students were White American. Less than one percent of the students each were Asian American and Native American.

Approximately 62% of Worthing students qualified for free or reduced lunch during that school year.

Neighborhoods served by Worthing

Worthing High School serves^[20] Sunnyside, Sugar Valley, Cullen Estates, Brookhaven, a portion of South Acres, a portion of South Acres Estates, Cloverland, Regal Oaks , a portion of Minnetex Place, City Park, Almeda, and Skyview Forest . Hence, Worthing's logo is "Sunnyside Pride." Worthing also serves unincorporated portions of Harris County (such as Brunswick , Brunswick Lakes , Brunswick Meadows , and Morningside Place).

Portions of the city of Pearland are in the Worthing attendance zone.

School uniforms

Worthing requires school uniforms.^[21]

Notable alumni

• August Alsina - (Dropped Out) R&B Singer from New Orleans^[22]
• Rodney Ellis - Texas State Senator Texas Senate, District 13^[22]
• Milton Carroll - Chairman of CenterPoint Energy since 2002. Chairman of Instrument Products since 1977. Director of Halliburton since 2006. Director of Health Care Service Corporation since 1998. Director of Western Gas Holdings since 2008. Director of LRR Energy, L.P. since 2011.^[22]
• Gregory "Cadillac" Anderson - Former NBA Basketball player^[22]
• Cliff Branch - Former NFL football player for the Oakland Raiders^[22]
• Terry Ellis - Founding member of 90's R&B girl group En Vogue^[22]
• Quannel Ralph Evans (Quanell X) - Leader of the New Black Panther Party in Houston, Texas.^[23]
• Chris Hudson - American football player for the Atlanta Falcons^[22]
• Larry Micheaux - Former NBA basketball player for the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Kansas City, Milwaukee Bucks, and Kansas City Kings.^[22]
• Mike Singletary - Former NFL football player for the Chicago Bears^[22]
• Lemuel Stinson - Former NFL football player for the Chicago Bears^[22]
• Wesley Weston - Houston Hip-Hop artist better known as Lil' Flip.^[22]
• Al Dugas - Former Drummer with Michael Mcdonald Top easy listen vocalist^[22]
• Otis Taylor - Former NFL Player for the Kansas City Chief.
• Gerald Dockery - Former AFL (Arena Football League)Houston Thunderbears /Grand Rapids Rampage CFL ( Calgary Stampeders)
• Karl Douglas - Former CFL quarterback
• Robert Wilson - NFL player^[24]
• Marcus Lakee Edwards - Houston Hip-Hop artist better known as Lil'Keke

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Worthing^[20] include

• Almeda ^[25]
• Reynolds ^[26]
• Young^[27]

Elementary schools that partially feed into Worthing include:

• Alcott ^[28]
• Bastian ^[29]
• Law ^[30]
• Whidby ^[31]
• Woodson K-8 School's elementary program^[32]

Middle schools that feed into Worthing include Attucks,^[33] Dowling,^[34] Thomas, and Woodson K-8 School's middle school program;^[33] No middle schools have all of their attendance boundaries zoned to Worthing.

See also

References

External links

• Worthing High School
• Worthing High School (Archive)
• Worthing High School (Archive)