Chávez High School (Houston)

César E. Chávez High School[2] is a secondary school located at 8501 Howard Drive in the Allendale neighborhood in Houston, Texas, United States.[3]

Chávez High School
Address
8501 Howard Drive

Houston
,
Texas
77017

United States
Coordinates29°41′13″N 95°15′16″W
Information
TypePublic High School
MottoWe Are Chavez
School districtHouston Independent School District
PrincipalLuis Landa
Staff170.60 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment3,067 (2017-18)[1]
Student to teacher ratio17.98[1]
Color(s)Blue, White, Silver, Black
Athletics conference18-6A
NicknameLobos
NewspaperThe Paw Print
Feeder schools
Websitehttp://www.houstonisd.org/chavez

The school is part of the Houston Independent School District, and serves grades nine through twelve. Chavez serves several areas outside the 610 Loop in southeast Houston, including the neighborhoods of Glenbrook Valley, Gulf Freeway Oaks, and Park Place.

Chavez High School serves a mainly Hispanic population located near Hobby Airport. The school is named for civil rights activist Cesar E. Chavez.

HISD's Environmental Science magnet program is offered at Chavez. The school's principal (as of June 2019) is Dr. Luis Landa. The "Lobo" (Spanish for "wolf") is the school's official mascot.

The school became an International Baccalaureate school which started offering Diploma Programme classes in 2017-2018.[4]

History

By 1991 the East End area schools Austin High School and Milby High School had among the largest enrollments in Texas. In December of that year school district trustees voted to construct a new high school in September 1995 instead of 1997 due to the severity of overcrowding.[5] By 1997 the new high school had not yet been constructed; area community leaders and parents anticipated the construction of Chávez as Austin and Milby were still overcrowded.[6]

In the fall of 2000, Chávez opened and took most of Milby's traditional neighborhoods. In turn Milby absorbed some students from Austin.[7]

A group called the Unidos Contra Environmental Racism (UCER) protested the school's proximity to many chemical plants soon after it opened;[8] the school is less than .25 miles (0.40 km) from plants owned by Texas Petroleum, Denka Chemical, USS Chemical, and Goodyear Chemical. Juan Parras, the leader of the UCER group, stated that the school would take the brunt of a chemical leak.[9] Heather Browne, a spokesperson for Houston ISD, stated that the Chavez site was tested for environmental hazards in the air and soil in 1992 and 1996; no problems were found in the tests. Browne also stated that one park, three public swimming pools, the City Hall of South Houston, and one golf course are within 2 miles (3.2 km) of Chavez.[10]

In 2007, an Associated Press/Johns Hopkins University study referred to Chávez as a "dropout factory" where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year.[11] During that year 21% of high school age children zoned to Chávez chose to attend a different Houston ISD school.[12]

In 2014 HISD superintendent Terry Grier stated that Chávez should reduce its enrollment to around 3,000 students.[13]

Operations

Students at Chávez use the former Kay Elementary School in Harrisburg as a "land lab".[14]

Demographics

For the 2012-13 school year:

  • African American: 11.6%
  • Hispanic: 82.9%
  • White: 1.7%
  • American Indian: 0.2%
  • Asian: 3.1%
  • Pacific Islander: 0.5%
  • Two or More Races: 0.0%
  • Economically Disadvantaged: 79.9%

As of 2009 Chávez's enrollment mostly consists of low income Hispanic and Latino students.[15]

AP Courses Offered at Chávez
  • AP World History
  • AP United States History
  • AP English Language and Composition
  • AP English Literature
  • AP Spanish Language
  • AP Spanish Literature
  • AP Economics
  • AP United States Government
  • AP Calculus AB
  • AP Calculus BC
  • AP Chemistry
  • AP Physics
  • AP European History
  • AP Biology
  • AP Environmental Science
  • AP Computer Science

Athletics and Arts

Chavez fields eighteen varsity teams in the University Interscholastic League's Region III, District 20-5A with the Houston Independent School District's largest high schools. The campus has a field house that includes an athletic training room, weight room, team meeting rooms, coaches' offices, coaches and officials' lockers, and large locker room areas for male and female athletes. Other campus athletic facilities include an 8-lane all-weather track, 4 tennis courts, an outdoor basketball court, a practice gymnasium, basketball court, secondary weight room, natatorium with olympic-sized competition pool, football, baseball, softball, soccer fields, and a cross country running course over wooded terrain.

Varsity sports offered at the school include:

  • Cross Country (boys, girls)
  • Volleyball (girls)
  • Football (boys)
  • Soccer (boys, girls)
  • Baseball (boys)
  • Softball (girls)
  • Basketball (boys, girls)
  • Wrestling (boys, girls)
  • Golf (boys, girls)
  • Tennis (boys, girls)
  • Track & Field (boys, girls)

Chavez High School has a band and orchestra program, as well a choir and piano class. Chavez also has a Theatre program that consists of acting, musical theatre, and tech.

In media

In the 2011 novel What Can't Wait, the sports team of the Houston high school attended by the main character is the "Loyal Lobos".[16] Chávez High's real-life mascot is the "Lobos",[17] and the novel's author, Ashley Hope Pérez, once worked as a teacher at Chávez.[18] In the acknowledgements section Pérez thanked the students of Chávez High.[19]

Feeder pattern

Elementary schools that feed into Chavez [20] include:

Middle schools that feed into Chavez include:

Notable alumni

References
  1. "CHAVEZ H S". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  2. Houston Independent School District Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine listing for Chavez High School
  3. Harris County Block Book Maps: Volume 52, Allendale. Pages: Blocks 1-7 (PDF and JPG) on Page 131. Blocks 8 to 15 (PDF and JPG) on Page 132. Blocks 21 to 24. (PDF to JPG) on Page 134. Cesar E. Chavez High School is indicated on these map, with its dedicated map in Volume 119, on Page 594.
  4. César E. Chavez High School: "IB Diploma Programme" (2017) Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  5. "News briefs." Houston Chronicle. Friday December 13, 1991. A34. Retrieved on April 24, 2009.
  6. Rodriguez, Lori. "NEIGHBORLY NEEDS/Help for homeless touches raw nerve in the East End." Houston Chronicle. Sunday March 16, 1997. A1. Retrieved on April 25, 2009.
  7. Berryhill, Michael. "The Unchanging Face of Milby." Houston Press. October 9, 1997. 7. Retrieved on April 25, 2009.
  8. Auliff, Lily. "New High School Under Fire For Environmental Concerns." Citizens' Environmental Coalition Houston. Retrieved on April 25, 2009.
  9. Sierra, Javier. "A Toxic Bone Archived 2006-12-01 at the Wayback Machine." Sierra Club. Retrieved on April 25, 2009.
  10. Dunne, Dianne Weaver. "Environmental Injustice: Poor and Minorities Suffer Most from Sick Schools." Education World. 2003. Retrieved on April 25, 2009.
  11. Scharrer, Gary. "Report points to 'dropout factories'." Houston Chronicle. October 31, 2007
  12. Radcliffe, Jennifer. "Critics: In HISD, too many don't go where zoned / Black leaders argue bond has no fix to get kids back to schools in their neighborhoods." Houston Chronicle. Sunday October 14, 2007. B1 MetFront.
  13. Mellon, Ericka. "Grier: 3 popular HISD high schools must reduce enrollment." Houston Chronicle. October 16, 2014. Retrieved on October 17, 2014.
  14. "Elementary Schools (K-Z)." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on June 15, 2016.
  15. Radcliffe, Jennifer. "More students than expected play catch-up." Houston Chronicle. December 21, 2009. Retrieved on December 23, 2009.
  16. Pérez, Google Books PT15 (First page of Chapter 2): "Over the weekend, the sign for our high school got vandalized again. Supposedly we're the Loyal Lobos,[...]"
  17. "Chavez Lobos." Chávez High School. Retrieved on November 8, 2015.
  18. "A Q&A with Ashley Hope Pérez, Author of “What Can’t Wait”" (). University of Texas at Austin. February 4, 2011. Retrieved on November 7, 2015.
  19. Pérez, Google Books PT192 (Acknowledgements): "This book would not exist without the many remarkable students I taught at Chávez High School"
  20. "Chávez High School Attendance Zone Archived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  21. "Bonner Elementary Attendance Zone Archived 2006-05-16 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  22. "Park Place Elementary Attendance Zone Archived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  23. "Patterson Elementary Attendance Zone Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  24. "Cornelius Elementary Attendance Zone Archived November 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  25. "Lewis Elementary Attendance Zone Archived November 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  26. "Rucker Elementary Attendance Zone Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  27. "Sanchez Elementary Attendance Zone Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  28. "Ortiz Middle Attendance Zone Archived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  29. "Deady Middle Attendance Zone Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  30. "Stevenson Middle Attendance Zone Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
  31. "HISD - Distinguished HISD Alumni". HISD. Archived from the original on 2012-05-15. Retrieved 2011-02-24.

Further reading
  • Harris County Block Book Map of the Campus Site: JPG and PDF. Volume 119, Page 594.
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