Memorial High School (Hedwig Village, Texas)

Memorial High School (MHS) is a secondary school located at 935 Echo Lane in Hedwig Village, Texas, United States, in Greater Houston.[2]

Memorial High School
Memorial High School
Address
935 Echo Lane

Hedwig Village
,
Texas
77024

United States
Coordinates29.78061°N 95.52278°W / 29.78061; -95.52278
Information
TypePublic
Opened1962
PrincipalLisa Weir
Faculty146.93 (FTE)[1]
Grades9 - 12
Enrollment2,607 (2019-20)[1]
Student to teacher ratio17.74[1]
Color(s)   
NicknameMustangs
RivalStratford High School
NewspaperThe Anvil
YearbookThe Reata
Websitemhs.springbranchisd.com

Memorial serves students in portions of the Memorial and Spring Branch regions of Houston and several enclaves within the portions. Memorial is part of the Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) and serves grades 9 through 12. As of 2005, the district was granted a $500 million education grant, $150 million of which belongs to Memorial High School.

History

Memorial Senior High School opened in 1962 to relieve overcrowding at Spring Branch High School.[3] Memorial was the second high school to open in SBISD. At the time, students living north of Old Katy Road attended Spring Branch and students living south of Old Katy Road attended Memorial. This arrangement lasted until Spring Woods High School opened in 1964.

The design of the school was classic early 1960s in the South, with a large, open campus. Each classroom building opened into an outside breezeway, to maximize air flow as the school did not have air conditioning.

When Memorial first opened, the area surrounding the school was largely forest and rice fields, but it rapidly grew as new subdivisions were built, and by the mid-1960s, Memorial's enrollment exceeded 3,000 students, a number much larger than the school was meant to hold. This problem was resolved with the opening of Westchester Senior High School in 1967,[4] and later Stratford Senior High School in 1974.

At the time, Memorial's main rivals were the Spring Branch Bears and Westchester Wildcats. However, by the mid-1980s, the enrollment of nearly every school across the district had dropped precariously, and it was decided that Westchester and Spring Branch High Schools would be closed. Memorial remained open, and took in students from both Westchester and Spring Branch High Schools.

Today, Memorial is the oldest high school still operating in Spring Branch ISD. The school has received extensive renovations, which began during the 1996–1997 school year. Every building in the school was gutted and refurbished, outdated facilities were replaced and the campus was made more secure.

In 2011, Memorial High School was named the #10 most posh public school in the country, as it pulls from a very wealthy area of Houston.[5]

In January 2017 a vandal sprayed graffiti of a racist character on the school property.[6]

Campus
The inside of the school campus

The campus is two blocks south of Interstate 10. Memorial City Mall is to the west.[6]

Neighborhoods served

Memorial serves[7] students in all of the Memorial Villages (including Bunker Hill Village,[8] Hedwig Village,[9] Hilshire Village,[10] Spring Valley Village,[11] and most of Hunters Creek Village[12] and Piney Point Village[13]). While the school has a Houston address, it is located in the city of Hedwig Village,[9] and it draws from a small portion of Houston in the Memorial and Spring Branch regions (including Stablewood, Afton Village, Brykerwoods, Monarch Oaks, Spring Oaks, Sandalwood, Whispering Oaks, and portions of Westview Terrace).[7] A section of the Memorial City district is within the school's attendance zone.[14] Memorial High School has eleven lunch vendors that deliver meals to students on campus during their respective lunch periods.[15]

Athletics
Memorial High Stadium

Memorial has a rivalry with Stratford High School.[16][17]

Memorial also has a formerly successful football team, which went to the state semifinals in December 2010 in the Division II bracket. The 1979 Mustangs went all the way to the state finals, a school record as of yet unbeaten.

As of 2012, the Memorial tennis team had a district record of 73-0 and has finished in the state finals for 2010, 2011, and 2012. As of 2019 for Memorial has participated in 11 back to back trips to the UIL Team Tennis State Tournament.[18][19] Of these tennis tournaments Memorial has won the state championship twice.[20]

Memorial has a men's basketball team that has had some success historically although it has not seen success in recent years.[21] Under the school's original basketball coach, Don Coleman, they were able to win a state title in 1966.[3] Memorial also has a girls' basketball team.[22][23]

Memorial has both a boys' and girls' soccer team.[17] The girls' team has had much success, most recently winning a state championship title in 2018.[24][25]

Memorial also has track & field,[26][27] cross country, swimming/diving, golf,[28] baseball,[29] softball, and volleyball teams.[30] The school also has a club field hockey team for girls, and club lacrosse and rugby for both boys and girls.

Demographic information

As of 2019 according to STAAR data[31]

  • Total number of enrolled students: 2620
  • Racial/Ethnic group:
    • Asian/Pacific Islander 16.25%
    • Hispanic/Latino 19.50%
    • Black 2.06%
    • White 59.06%
    • Native American 0.15%
    • Two or more races 2.98%
  • Sex of Teachers:
    • Female Teachers 58.76%
    • Males Teachers 41.31%

Awards and honors

Memorial was named a 1988-89 National Blue Ribbon School.[32]

The school was ranked 258th,[33] 133rd,[34] 103rd,[35] 126th,[36] 225th,[37] 307th,[38] and 254th[39] in Newsweek's 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2013 lists, respectively, of top high schools in the United States since the list's inception in 2003.[note 1] It was also ranked 239th[40] and 233rd[41] in U.S. News' 2012 and 2013 lists, respectively, of top high schools in the United States.

Memorial was given the College Readiness Award by the Texas ACT Council in 2008 and 2010. The school was awarded the Just 4 The Kids (NCEA) High Performing School award in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, it was named an Honor Roll School by the Texas Business & Education Coalition.[42] Memorial was named one of the Top 10 Best High Schools in the Area by Children at Risk in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012. It was also given the TAKS Gold Performance Award in 2012.[43]

The school achieved "recognized" status in the accountability ratings system by the Texas Education Agency in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.[44][45][note 2]

It was awarded five stars and ranked in the top ten high schools in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine in 2002.[46]

Feeder patterns

Feeding from public schools

Elementary schools that feed into Memorial High School include:[47]

  • Bunker Hill
  • Frostwood
  • Hunters Creek
  • Memorial Drive
  • Valley Oaks
  • Housman (partial)
  • Rummel Creek (partial)
  • Wilchester (partial)

Middle schools that feed into Memorial High School include:[47]

  • H. M. Landrum (partial)
  • Memorial Middle School (partial)
  • Spring Branch Middle School (partial)

Feeding from private schools

Some private schools, such as First Baptist Academy,[48] Grace School,[49] Presbyterian School,[50] River Oaks Baptist School,[51] St. Francis Episcopal Day School,[52] and The Regis School of the Sacred Heart,[53] have students that matriculate into Memorial.[54][55][56][57][58][59]

Notable alumni

Controversies

2017 Graffiti

Memorial was shocked in January 2017 when vandals broke into the school over winter break and vandalized the campus with racist graffiti.[6][81][82] The vandalism included a crudely drawn swastika, multiple uses of the n-word, pentagrams, the phrase "white power," sexually explicit phrases and offensive symbols.[83] The Anti-Defamation League would take notice of this event and comment on it, bringing notoriety to the event.[84]

Thug Day

Memorial would face controversy in May 2019 over a spirit week tradition of "Thug Day' which was tweeted out by an upset student and went viral.[85][86][87] Critics would claim that the event was racially insensitive to African-Americans and was an example of cultural appropriation due to the utilization of basketball jerseys, cornrows, do-rags, gang signs, and fake tattoos.[85][88] Critics would range from media organizations and alumni to the local chapter of the NAACP.[88] Memorial High would go on to cancel the 'spirit week' over the racist undertones of 'thug day' which the school claimed was an unofficial extension of the spirit week's 'jersey day.'[89][90] Students went on to claim that campus tension increased as a result of the fallout, alongside mixed reception from alumni.[88][91]

Notes
  1. Note that Newsweek did not compile a list in 2004.
  2. Note that no state accountability ratings were assigned in 2003 and 2012.

References
  1. "MEMORIAL H S". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  2. "Home". Memorial High School. Retrieved 2022-01-24. 935 Echo Lane Houston, TX 77024
    Compare address to the map: "City of Hedwig Village Zoning Districts" (PDF). City of Hedwig Village. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  3. Young, Matt; Chronicle, Houston (2020-02-16). "Legendary Houston high school basketball coach Don Coleman dead". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  4. Hughes, Kim. "Westchester High all-alumni reunion planned for Nov. 10" (Archive). Houston Chronicle. November 4, 2007. Retrieved on June 25, 2015.
  5. The 10 Most Posh Public School Systems in America
  6. Webb, Shelby; Andrew Kragie (2017-01-04). "Racist graffiti scrawled across Memorial High in Spring Branch ISD". Memorial Examiner at the Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
  7. Memorial High School Zone. Spring Branch Independent School District. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
  8. "City Map." Bunker Hill Village. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
  9. "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Hedwig Village city, TX." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
  10. "Zoning Map." Hilshire Village. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
  11. "Zoning Map." Spring Valley Village. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
  12. "Zoning Map." City of Hunters Creek Village. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
  13. "Street Map." City of Piney Point Village. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
  14. Memorial City Management District Boundary Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine." Memorial City District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  15. "Welcome to Memorial High School!". Memorial High. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  16. Connelly, Richard. "Memorial High: Staying Classy As Ever With The Stratford Rivalry." Houston Press. Tuesday October 6, 2009. Retrieved on October 7, 2009.
  17. Coleman, Adam (2019-02-11). "Chron's boys athlete of the week: Max Mouer, Memorial". HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  18. Koch, Joshua (2019-10-28). "Inside the Program: Houston Memorial Tennis heads to State for 11th-straight year". VYPE. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  19. Marrion, Jack (2019-10-28). "Memorial tennis headed back to state". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  20. Coleman, Adam (2019-11-01). "Memorial brings home 6A state team tennis championship". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  21. Coleman, Adam (2020-02-20). "Memorial's basketball resurgence comes at a perfect time". HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  22. Marrion, Jack (2020-02-03). "Memorial girls basketball honors seniors, prepares for final stretch". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  23. Coleman, Adam (2020-02-15). "High school girls basketball bi-district playoff schedule". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  24. Gleason, Joseph (2020-03-06). "Memorial HS soccer team making strides to win 2nd state championship title". ABC13 Houston. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  25. "Athletes Of The Week: Memorial High School Soccer team wins state championship". khou.com. April 26, 2018. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
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  27. Scarmardo, Peter (2019-04-01). "Chron's girls athlete of the week: Claire Bryant, Memorial". HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  28. Marrion, Jack (2020-05-26). "Memorial, Lamar golfers make TXAGC all-state". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  29. Marrion, Jack (2019-05-10). "Thomas Vincent pitches Memorial to series lead against Travis". HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
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