Elkins High School (Missouri City, Texas)

29.5452°N 95.5581°W / 29.5452; -95.5581

Lawrence E Elkins High School
Lawrence E. Elkins High School
Address
7007 Knights Court

Missouri City
,
Texas
77459

United States
Information
TypePublic
Established1992
School districtFort Bend ISD
PrincipalCourtney Muceus
Staff133.49 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,572 (2020-21)[1]
Student to teacher ratio18.26[1]
Color(s)  Royal Blue and
  Gold
NicknameKnights
NewspaperThe Round Table
2011 TEA RatingRecognized[2]
WebsiteElkins High School

Lawrence E. Elkins High School, more commonly known as Elkins High School is a comprehensive public high school in Missouri City, Texas, that serves communities in Sugar Land and Missouri City. The school, which handles grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. Elkins was established in 1992, with its first graduating class in 1995.

Elkins received a Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education in 2002.[3] In addition, Elkins high school was ranked 715th among the top 1000 schools in the United States by Newsweek in 2005.[4] The Washington Post also ranked Elkins High School among the Top High Schools in the Nation in 2011.[5]

History

Lawrence E. Elkins High School was established as a grade 9 and 10 school in the fall of 1992[6][7] to alleviate overcrowding from three other district high schools, Dulles, Clements, and Willowridge. Elkins was FBISD's fifth comprehensive high school.[8]

Neighborhoods served

Areas served by the school include Quail Valley,[9] Meadow Creek, Lake Olympia, and all of Riverstone.[10]

It formerly served Arcola, Fresno, Juliff, and parts of the area near Rosharon in Fort Bend County.[11]

Academies

The Engineering Academy informs and encourage students to learn about the potential of a career in engineering. Courses include Engineering Principles & Systems and Engineering Computer Applications. Advanced Engineering Internship is also offered in which students are able to work alongside professional engineers.

In Internship, students will work with NASA and other programs dedicated to the engineering arts and studies. Elective classes include the classical courses in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, emerging courses also include those in the area of Domestic Engineering and Waste Management.

Mix It Up Day

On November 16, 2004, the principal of Elkins High School allowed the school to participate in the nationwide Mix It Up Day.[12]

Academic competition
  • Academic decathlon
    • 3rd place regional 2006
    • 21st place state 2008
    • 16th place state 2011
    • 2nd place region 2017
    • 12th place state 2017
    • 1st place individual student score of Houston-area medium schools 2017
  • Academic octathlon
  • Math and science club (UIL and TMSCA)
    • School merit roll, AMC 12 A&B
      • 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009
    • 8th place TMSCA state 2003
    • 5th place TMSCA state 2004
    • 6th place TMSCA state 2008
    • 4th place TMSCA state 2009
    • 5th place TMSCA state 2010
    • 1st place TMSCA state 2022
  • Speech and debate (TFA and NFL)
    • 5th place state 2007
    • 1st place duet interpretation state 2007, Lindsley Howard and Darry Hearon
    • 6th place duet interpretation state 2007
    • 3rd place duo interpretation state 2007, Sami Atassi and Shannon Kitner
    • 4th place LD state 2008, Andrew Cockroft
    • Top 8 LD Tournament of Champions (TOC) 2008, Andrew Cockroft
    • 6th place TFA State International Extemp 2023, Robert Zhang
  • UIL academics
    • 1st place conference 5A state academic champions, 1994–95
    • 1st place conference 5A state academic champions, 1995–96
    • Calculator applications
      • 2nd place state 1995
      • 3rd place state 1995
      • 1st place state 1996
      • 6th place state 1996
      • 1st place state 2001
      • 3rd place state 2001
      • 6th place state 2002
      • 1st place state 2004
      • 2nd place state 2022
    • Mathematics
      • 1st place state 1996
      • 5th place state 2004
    • Number sense
      • 3rd place state 1995
      • 4th place state 1995
      • 1st place state 1996
      • 5th place state 1996
      • 6th place state 2001
    • Science
      • 5th place 1994
      • 2nd place 1995
      • 1st place 1996
    • Computer applications
      • 4th place state 2002
  • Constitutional law
    • 1st place state 2005, 2008, 2011
  • AFJROTC
  • 3rd place armed drill team regulation fort bend drill comp 2009
  • 1st place male color guard fort bend drill comp 2009
  • 1st place altitude rocketry meet 2005 (Major Richard Mayfield)
  • 1st place drift rocketry meet 2005 (Major Richard Mayfield)

Fine arts
  • Art
  • Band
    • In 2005, Lawrence E. Elkins HS had the most students in TMEA All-State of any school in Texas.
    • In 2009, the Elkins HS Honors Band was one of 18 bands selected in the USA to attend and perform at the BOA Music For All National Concert Festival in Indianapolis.
    • In 2015, Elkins Knights placed fifth at the area sweepstakes in Waller, Texas.
    • In 2016, the Elkins HS Honors Band advanced to the state honor band finals and placed as the twelfth ranked band in the state of Texas.
  • State marching season
  • Drumline
    • Marching season
    • Indoor drumline: Won 1st place at the TCGC state indoor finals in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2nd place in 2002, 2005, 2012
  • Knightbeats
  • Knightingales
  • Schola cantori
  • Bell canto
  • End effect
  • Camerata
  • Elite dance team
  • Drama (theatre)
  • Orchestra

Honor societies

Athletics

Clements / Elkins rivalry

In 1992, after Elkins was built to alleviate overcrowding from William P. Clements High School, zoning issues forced many families in different subdivisions around the city of Sugar Land to send their children to both high schools. Still today, it is not uncommon to find next door neighbors or siblings going to opposing schools as feeder middle schools and zoning patterns overlap.[13]

In 1996, after an outbreak of senior pranks between the two schools, the principals of both high schools decided to focus the rivalry in a less destructive manner. After meeting with both schools' Student Councils, the principals decided to hold an annual, year-long competition.

Each school's athletic program can earn points based on wins against the other school in UIL competition. The competitions include: boys' football, basketball, baseball, and soccer, and girls' volleyball, basketball, softball, and soccer. A school earns one point when it defeats the rival school. A game ending in a tie score will award both teams one-half point. As often occurs, the schools sometimes meet more than once per year. In the event of a tie for the overall competition, the school's band that is ranked the highest at the Texas UIL regional marching band competition[14] will be the year's winner.

Since 1997, the schools have held the competition every year. As both schools' mascots (the Ranger and the Knight) typically ride horses, the "Golden Horse" trophy is awarded and displayed in the champion school's trophy case at the beginning of each new school year.

Notable alumni

Notoriety

Cyber-bullying

Girls from Elkins and the other Fort Bend High Schools of Dulles and Clements, were cyber-bullied in April 2010 on a Facebook page titled Whimsical Girls of FBISD. The page listed several female students on each school's "naughty" list. Police and the school district were unable to determine who was responsible for the page, but Facebook took the page down at the district's request.[27]

Blackface incident

In late 2016, controversy erupted after a photo emerged of a white Elkins High School student in blackface. The photo appeared on Snapchat before spreading rapidly, eventually arriving on Twitter. The student, alleged to be a sophomore at the time of the incident, privated her Twitter account before deleting it outright.[28]

2020 Firearm incident

On October 2, 2020, a 15-year-old student at Elkins was arrested for allegedly bringing a firearm to a junior varsity football game against Marshall High School. Principle Cindy Ward stated that an Elkins staff member swiftly isolated the individual and confiscated the weapon. Fort Bend ISD district police later took the student into custody without incident.[29][30]

2021 School shooting threat

Shortly after the 2021 Oxford High School shooting, a verbal threat was made at the school.[31]

2023 teacher misconduct allegations

On April 13, 2023, a teacher was accused of misconduct involving a student. She was immediately removed from campus when the allegations were brought up.[32][33]

Advanced placement desks controversy

In the 2022-2023 school year, Elkins had 1,609 students testing for Advanced Placement courses, an increase of 335 from the 2021-2022 school year. While students were taking AP exams in May, 2023, desks from classrooms were moved to the gymnasium, causing some classrooms to be short on desks, and forcing many students who were not testing for AP courses to sit on the floor. This incident caused uproar among the parents of the school.[34]

Feeder patterns

The following elementary schools feed into Elkins:

  • Austin Parkway (partial)
  • Commonwealth (partial)
  • Lantern Lane
  • Lexington Creek (partial)
  • Palmer (partial)
  • Quail Valley
  • Settlers Way (partial)
  • Anne Sullivan

The following middle schools feed into Elkins:

  • Fort Settlement (partial)
  • First Colony (partial)
  • Lake Olympia (partial)
  • Quail Valley

References
  1. "LAWRENCE E ELKINS H S". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  2. "TEXAS RECOGNIZED SCHOOL". Fort Bend. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  3. Blue Ribbon Award Archived 2006-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Diane Moser Properties, Inc.: Newsweek - 2005 America's Best High Schools (Houston Area)". www.texasbest.com. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  5. "Washington Post ranks six Fort Bend ISD high schools as top schools in nation". 27 May 2011. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  6. "Elkins High School Profile" (PDF). FBISD. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-11.
  7. Fort Bend ISD History Archived September 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Solomon, Jerome (1997-08-28). "FOOTBALL 1997/HIGH SCHOOLS/FORT BEND BONANZA/Phillips, Dulles in hunt to add to town's memories". Houston Chronicle. p. Special 33. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2011-12-31. It remained the lone high school in the area until Willowridge opened in 1979[...]Elkins (1992)[...]{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. "Schools." Quail Valley Fund. Retrieved on July 20, 2017.
  10. "High school". Riverstone. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
  11. "Elkins High School." Fort Bend Independent School District. January 16, 1997. Retrieved on October 31, 2017.
  12. National Mix It Up Day Schools
  13. "FBISD Zoning." Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on December 11, 2010.
  14. "Texas UIL Region 13 Band." Texas Music Educators Association. Retrieved on December 11, 2010.
  15. "Cornelius Anthony". DatabaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  16. "Texans select TCU DT, Elkins alumnus Ross Blacklock in second round of the 2020 NFL Draft". khou.com. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  17. "KARON COLEMAN". profootballarchives.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  18. Langosch, Jenifer (June 15, 2012). "Carpenters build Matt's baseball future together". MLB.com. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  19. Sewing, Joy (2023-02-13). "Miss Universe R'Bonney Gabriel says sustainable fashion, and skills to make it, can save the world". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  20. Goff, Keli (June 5, 2013). "Teachers often help us see potential before it develops". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  21. "Raiders Take CB D.J. Hayden in 1st". Raiders.com. April 25, 2013. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  22. Khan, Sam (October 23, 2009). "Matthews becoming Houston's first family of football". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  23. Burston, Rusty (September 1, 2013). 100 Things Texas A&M Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Triumph Books. ISBN 9781623682873.
  24. Marshall, Jamal (9 May 2016). "JMNFL".
  25. KTRK (2019-09-10). "Local rapper Travis Scott receives key to Missouri City". ABC13 Houston. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  26. Tezeno, Diane (November 22, 2010). "Crystle Stewart returns home". YourHoustonNews.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  27. "Cyber-bullies terrorize dozens of Fort Bend County girls Archived 2010-06-15 at the Wayback Machine." KHOU, Houston, Texas. Retrieved on June 7, 2011.
  28. Turner, Ashlynn (2016-12-02). "Elkins High School student in blackface sparks outrage". KPRC. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  29. Smith, Tierra (2020-10-01). "15-year-old Elkins HS student taken into custody after bringing firearm to junior varsity football game, school says". KPRC. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  30. Nix, Kristi (2020-10-02). "Elkins High student arrested for allegedly bringing gun to game". Chron. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  31. "Fort Bend ISD investigating 2 separate high school threats: 'It's the world's greatest fear'". ABC13 Houston. 2021-12-11. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  32. "Fort Bend ISD teacher under investigation after being accused of misconduct involving student". khou.com. April 13, 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  33. Fountain, Ken. "Elkins High School teacher removed from classroom after misconduct allegation". Fort Bend Star. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  34. "Students at Elkins HS forced to sit on floor during class after desks moved for AP testing". ABC13 Houston. 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
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