Kempner High School

I.H. Kempner High School, better known simply as Kempner High School, is a public high school in Sugar Land, Texas and a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District.

Kempner High School
Address
14777 Voss Road

Sugar Land
,
Texas

United States
Coordinates29°38′36″N 95°38′46″W
Information
TypePublic Secondary
Motto"Knowledge, Honor, Success, we are KHS!”
Established1988
School districtFort Bend ISD
PrincipalLori Oliver
Teaching staff115.15 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,095 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio18.19[1]
Campus55.88 acres (22.61 ha)
Color(s)Maroon, silver, and white
     
MascotCougar
NewspaperCougar Tracks
2011 TEA RatingRecognized
WebsiteSchool website

It was named after Isaac Herbert Kempner (1873–1967), the founder of the Imperial Sugar Corporation, which founded Sugar Land as a company-owned town in the early 1900s. Kempner serves areas within Sugar Land, including a portion of First Colony.

A small portion of the City of Houston is in the school's boundary.[2][3]

History

In 1984, Fort Bend county authorized a bond issue that allowed the construction of the fourth high school in Fort Bend county.

Isaac Herbert Kempner, founder of Imperial Sugar, contributed much to the development of early Sugar Land. For this, the school was named after him. The first Kempner principal was decided by the board on January 11, 1988 to be Mr. Wayne Emerson. He was dedicated to his work and students. The anticipation was over when Kempner opened its doors to the first Open House on August 30, 1988 at 7:30 p.m. The $15,522,300 school contained 55.88 acres of pecan trees, a 750-seat auditorium, and 100 faculty and staff members. In 1990 Kempner graduated its first senior class. Kempner was FBISD's fourth comprehensive high school.[4]

When Kempner first opened, the area surrounding it was isolated and mostly agricultural; in fact Highway 6 was only two-laned at the time. In the past years, the school has witnessed growth in both enrollment and suburban change in the surrounding areas. At one point Kempner had 3,000 enrolled students.

In the 1999–2000 school year, Dr. James May became the new principal following Dr. Wayne Emerson and served the students and staff of Kempner until his retirement in June 2008. Under Dr. May, Kempner continued its tradition of academic excellence and its reputation as a school for all students.

Troy Mooney became the 3rd principal of Kempner High School and served in that capacity until July 2010. During that time KHS achieved recognition as a Recognized High School from the Texas Education Agency as well as a 96th percentile National ranking from Newsweek magazine.

Student body

At one point (1995), Kempner had 3,000 students.

In the 2005–2006 school year, Kempner had a population of 2,616 students: 723 freshmen, 683 sophomores, 597 juniors, and 613 seniors.

Compared to other schools in the district, Kempner's student body features a diverse group of ethnicities, where not just one race predominates. According to the 2015–2016 Texas Education Agency, the student body comprises 37% non-Hispanic White, 30% Asian/Pacific Islander, 19% Hispanic, 13% African American, and <1% American Indian/Alaskan Native.

However, a demographic shift has taken place since then, and according to the 2012-2013 Spring Ethnicity Report published by FBISD,

According to the report, the school is 35.6% Asian, 15% Black, 16.3% White, and 30.3% Hispanic/Latino.

Culture

In 2013, Navjinder Singh, a worker at the Indian grocery shop Keemat Grocers who was quoted in The New York Times, stated that Kempner has hallways known for particular ethnic groups; for instance, "Desi hallway" refers to an area where students of Indian origins congregate.[5]

Boundaries and feeder patterns

Kempner High School, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. Kempner serves portions of Sugar Land and a very small section of Houston.[6] Kempner serves a portion of the First Colony development.[6][7] Most of Telfair is zoned to Kempner.[8]

The attendance boundary included the Smithville housing complex, which was employee housing of the Central Prison Unit housing minor dependents of Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) staff,[6][9] until the unit's 2011 closure.[10]

The following elementary schools feed into Kempner:[6]

  • Arizona Fleming
  • Sugar Mill
  • Townewest
  • Drabek
  • Lakeview
  • Barrington Place (partial)

The following middle schools feed into Kempner:[11]

  • Hodges Bend (partial)
  • Sugar Land
  • Garcia MS

Notable alumni

References
  1. "KEMPNER H S". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  2. http://www.fortbendisd.com/cms/lib09/TX01917858/Centricity/Domain/103/kempner.pdf
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-19. Retrieved 2014-04-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. 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[...]Kempner (1988),[...]CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. Maclaggan, Corrie. "What Ethnic Diversity Looks Like: Fort Bend." The New York Times. November 24, 2013. Retrieved on May 24, 2014.
  6. "High School Attendance Zones." Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on July 21, 2010.
  7. "Interactive Mapping." First Colony Association. Retrieved on April 4, 2010.
  8. "Community Map Archived 2011-09-05 at the Wayback Machine." (Flash file Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine) Telfair. Retrieved on October 2, 2011.
  9. "WEB0425central_unit_391623k.jpg Archived 2010-12-03 at the Wayback Machine." Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.
  10. Goodwin, Liz. "Texas to close prison for first time in state history". Retrieved on Aug. 4, 2011.
  11. "Middle School Attendance Zones." Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on June 23, 2010.
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