Wheatley High School (Houston)

Phillis Wheatley High School is a secondary school located at 4801 Providence Street in Houston, Texas, United States with a ZIP code of 77020. Wheatley is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Wheatley, named after Phillis Wheatley, is located inside the 610 Loop in the Fifth Ward.

Phillis Wheatley High School
Wheatley High School
Location
Coordinates29.7713°N 95.31982°W / 29.7713; -95.31982
Information
Opened1927
School boardHouston Independent School District
Teaching staff54.36 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment969 (2017-18)[1]
Student to teacher ratio17.83[1]
Campus size14 acres (5.7 ha)
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)     
Team nameWildcats
Last updated: 29 December 2017

Wheatley has a technology magnet program inherited from the closure of Middle College for Technology Careers in spring 2006; Wheatley's program began in fall 2006.

In 1979 Wheatley principal Charles Herbert said that "For many, Fifth Ward is Wheatley High School" and that African-Americans who grew up in the Fifth Ward "still cling closely to Wheatley" even after they had moved to other parts of the United States.[2]

History

Pre-desegregation
The Carter Career Center/DeVry Advantage Academy building, which formerly served as the Wheatley High School building

Wheatley first opened at 3415 Lyons Avenue in the former McGowan Elementary School building on January 31, 1927.[3]

In 1927 Wheatley High School was one of the largest Black high schools in the United States with 2,600 students and 60 teachers,[4] and it was such throughout the Jim Crow era, when schools were segregated on the basis of race.[5] By 1949 Wheatley's first facility on Lyons Avenue became so overcrowded that students attended in shifts. During that year the 14-acre (5.7 ha), $2.5 million 4900 Market Street campus opened. The most expensive high school built in Houston at the time, the campus was designed by the firm MacKie & Kamrath in a Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced modernist style. The campus, described by the Houston Chronicle as "the finest Negro high school in the South," had a 1,500-seat auditorium, a gymnasium, an industrial arts facility, and a swimming pool. The school district spent attention on Wheatley in order to promote the argument that segregated minority schools can be equal to segregated White schools. The former Wheatley campus became E.O. Smith Middle School,[6][7] and later the Carter Career Center.[6]

In May 1965, William Lawson, a youth minister, asked some Wheatley students to discuss a proposed school boycott. While the school district was integrating, African American leaders believed that it was being integrated too slowly. During the boycott, which occurred five days later, 10% of Wheatley students attended classes.[8]

Post-desegregation
Fine Arts Complex and John F. Codwell Auditorium

In the 1970s Houston ISD had been desegregated. As the Fifth Ward as a neighborhood experienced a surge in crime, Houston ISD rezoned the Denver Harbor neighborhood, which had many White residents, to Wheatley. At that time the neighborhood was quickly becoming Hispanic. Many area Hispanic students preferred to attend Austin High School and Furr High School as they became the majority population at those schools. John Nova Lomax of the Houston Press stated that pride and discipline at Wheatley began to disintegrate in the 1970s, as counselors complained about a low level of morale among the students. The school abolished corporal punishment around that time, since White parents did not want Black teachers to physically punish white students, and Black parents did not want White teachers to physically punish black students. In addition, many of Wheatley's new White teachers, many of whom did not live in the Fifth Ward, had a lack of experience in teaching inner city Black students. Wylie Henry, a former HISD board member, said that many of the new White teachers "came in and tried to be kids' friends instead of their teachers."[8] In 1979 Principal Herald stated that integration caused the best students and teachers to leave the school.[2]

In 1976 the school was in the bottom twelfth percentile for reading; this meant that 88% of U.S. high school students had better reading scores than Wheatley students. In 1977 it declined to the bottom 11th. In 1978 HISD proposed using smaller classes, higher teaching salary, and a redesigned educational program to ameliorate Wheatley's academic problems. In 1979 Herald stated that test scores had declined.[2]

That year Herald also stated that the situation at the school was more peaceful in the 1970s than during the Civil Rights Movement; he added that 50% of Wheatley students were attempting to gain admission in to university and that some gifted individuals still remained at the school.[2]

In the mid-1980s, as crack cocaine became an epidemic in many inner-city neighborhoods, Wheatley students and teachers complained about security issues regarding some area apartments. In 1985 three youngsters walked onto the campus and shot an English teacher who had been conducting drill team rehearsals in the cafeteria. In 1986 a Hispanic student who had transferred from Dallas shot another Hispanic student in the face. After Joan Raymond became superintendent in 1986, she considered closing Wheatley because of difficulties in making the school have acceptable academic achievement and safety. Michael Berryhill of the Houston Press said that it was not politically possible to have the school closed since there were too many Wheatley alumni who did not want their school to be closed.[9]

In the 1990s Wheatley had low test scores and high dropout rates. In 1995 Wheatley had the highest dropout rate and lowest mathematics score of the high schools in Houston ISD.[10] In 1997 none of the teachers at Wheatley High School lived in the Wheatley attendance zone.[6] During the same year, of the 1,800 high-school-age children zoned to Wheatley, less than 1,000 attended the school.[8]

2000s and 2010s

In 2007 a Johns Hopkins University study cited Wheatley as a "dropout factory" where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year.[11]

A new campus for Wheatley High School, designed by Willie Jordan, a Wheatley alum, was under construction in the same plot of land as the first 4900 Market Street campus, although the address changed to 4801 Providence Street.[12] The construction ended in fall 2006 and the new campus opened.[13] The old 4900 Market Street campus was demolished. The new campus's original budget was $35,000,000. Construction began in summer 2004 and ended during summer 2006. The lead architect was ESPA Architecture, with the lead manager as Gilbane.

The population of the school increased when Middle College for Technology Careers merged into Wheatley.[14]

Schools that received students zoned to Wheatley included Davis High School, Furr High School, Barbara Jordan High School, and Reagan High School.[15] During that year 58% of children zoned to Kashmere chose to attend a different Houston ISD school.[14]

The former Carter building later became DeVry Advantage Academy.[16] HISD plans to build the permanent Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men on the site of the former Carter Career Center. The new building will look similar to the original one.[17]

In 2019 the school received a failing ranking from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the only HISD high school to receive that ranking that year. Around that period the TEA was attempting to replace the HISD school board, and it could possibly use Wheatley's failing grade as evidence that it should take this action. This was the seventh year in a row that the school had a failing grade.[18] According to the TEA, any school which does not receive a passing grade in any of the four accountability categories, as Wheatley did, fails its overall accountability grade; this requirement came into effect in 2018. Wheatley officials stated that if the rule did not exist, Wheatley would have been ranked a "D".[19] In November of that year, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath announced that the appeal for Wheatley was rejected; the basis of the appeal submitted was that student scores should be waived due to Hurricane Harvey, but other schools did not get the waiver for that reason for that year.[20]

Demographics

In the segregation era Wheatley had one of the highest enrollments of any American high schools reserved for black students as it had about 2,600 students.[21]

In 1979 the school's student body had 1,197 blacks, 125 Hispanics, and 8 Whites.[2]

Wheatley had one of the lowest enrollments of any zoned Houston ISD high school with 836 students during the 2004–2005 school year . In 2008, Wheatley had an enrollment of 1,235.

Neighborhoods served by Wheatley

Neighborhoods zoned to Wheatley include the Fifth Ward (including Frenchtown), Denver Harbor, Liberty Heights, Barnes and Whetmore, St. Charles Square, Pecan Park Terrace, and a section of East Downtown.[22] It also serves a portion of Kashmere Gardens.[23]

Two Houston Housing Authority (HHA) public housing complexes, Clayton Homes and Kelly Village, are zoned to Wheatley.[24][25] An HHA mixed-income housing complex, Kennedy Place, is zoned to Wheatley.[26]

Campus

The current $35 million Wheatley campus opened in June 2006. The architect of the campus, ESPA Group, won an award for "Outstanding Architecture and Design in Education" by School Planning & Management magazine for the Wheatley campus. The school appears in the June 2008 issue of School Planning & Management's Education Design Showcase.[27]

In 2012 Richard Connelly of the Houston Press ranked Wheatley as the fifth most architecturally beautiful high school campus in Greater Houston. Connelly said that "High schools don't have to be classic to shine. The geometric playfulness of Wheatley gives it a distinctive look."[28]

Wheatley is located in the Fifth Ward, in proximity to an Interstate 10 access road and a park. As of 1974 a chicken restaurant was across the street from the school.[29]

In September 2014 the HISD school board approved the demolition of the 1929 Wheatley High School building.[30] That year HISD began efforts to demolish the 1929 Wheatley High School but several lawsuits filed by October of that year prevented the district from entirely destroying the building.[31] Three people, former and current residents of the Fifth Ward, had filed lawsuits in an attempt to prevent the demolition. Dan Hinde, a Texas state district judge, dismissed the lawsuits in December of that year. The district immediately proceeded with the demolition of the remainder of the structure. HISD plans to build a new school on that site.[32]

Athletics

In 1997 Michael Berryhill of the Houston Press wrote that in the pre-desegregation era Wheatley "dominated black high school basketball in Texas" but it was not a "consistent power" in American football.[6]

Basketball

The school won many trophies from the state basketball tournament, which was held at Prairie View A&M University.[6]

In a 25-year period ending in 1974, 15 of its teams made the state championships. Originally Wheatley played in the Negro leagues, but around 1968 the University Interscholastic League (UIL) opened its membership to black schools.[29] In 1968 the State of Texas held the first high school basketball playoffs. Then, the Wheatley team defeated the Thomas Jefferson High School team of Dallas, Texas by 85–80 in overtime. Through the win, Wheatley had achieved a 36–0 record.[6] In from 1968 to 1974, Wheatley received four state championship crowns, won 219 games, and lost 11 games.[29]

Historically many star basketball players moved on to Prairie View A&M University and Texas Southern University. By 1974 other, more prominent universities were considering recruiting Wheatley players.[33]

Berryhill said that basketball wins continued "periodically" after desegregation.[8]

American football

In the segregation era schools for blacks played their games on weekdays while schools for whites played their games on Fridays.[34]

Historically the American football game between Wheatley and Yates High School was among the most prominent ones in the United States. In the segregation era Wheatley did not play games against white high schools.[34] Beginning in 1927,[35] each Thanksgiving Day the school's American football team played Yates High School's football team at the Jeppeson Stadium.[6] The Yates-Wheatley Thanksgiving football match, described by On American Soil: How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II author Jack Hamann as "the most important noncollege football game in the country", often had crowds that had over 30,000 people.[36] The rivalry declined after Yates joined the UIL, and after the football leagues integrated the Thanksgiving Day Yates-Wheatley game ended.[37]

Music

Percy McDavid, one of the few American music teachers in the 1930s who taught both classical music and jazz in orchestra courses, developed Wheatley's musical programs in that decade. Duke Ellington made a 1935 visit to hear Wheatley's orchestra. Various famed musicians graduated from Wheatley in that time period,[5] including Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet. While operating this program McDavid received help from his brother, Russell McDavid.[38]

Notable alumni

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Wheatley include:[22]

Middle schools that feed into Wheatley include:

  • McReynolds[54]
  • Fleming (partial)[55]
  • Yolanda Black Navarro (formerly Stonewall Jackson) (partial)[56]

See also

References
  • Kellar, William Henry. Make Haste Slowly: Moderates, Conservatives, and School Desegregation in Houston. Texas A&M University Press, 1999. ISBN 1603447180, 9781603447188.

References
  1. WHEATLEY H S
  2. West, Richard. "Only the Strong Survive" (Archive). Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications, February 1979. Volume 7, No. 2. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p. 94. CITED: p. 178.
  3. "History" (Archive). Wheatley High School. March 22, 2003. Retrieved on July 19, 2009.
  4. Fifth Ward, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
  5. Walsh, Robb. "The Nickel Burger." Houston Press. October 31, 2002. Retrieved on October 28, 2015.
  6. Berryhill, Michael. "What's Wrong With Wheatley?." Houston Press. April 17, 1997. 2. Retrieved on March 31, 2009.
  7. "School History Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine." E.O. Smith Education Center. Retrieved on November 10, 2010.
  8. Berryhill, Michael. "What's Wrong With Wheatley?." Houston Press. April 17, 1997. 3. Retrieved on March 31, 2009.
  9. Berryhill, Michael. "What's Wrong With Wheatley?." Houston Press. April 17, 1997. 4. Retrieved on March 31, 2009.
  10. Berryhill, Michael. "What's Wrong With Wheatley?." Houston Press. April 17, 1997. 1. Retrieved on March 31, 2009.
  11. Scharrer, Gary. "Report points to 'dropout factories'." Houston Chronicle. November 7, 2007. Retrieved on July 16, 2010.
  12. http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDPortal/departments/ContentPage/0,3099,45555309_59997080_64872301,00.html. Retrieved February 7, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-10-31. Retrieved 2006-10-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. 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.
  15. "Report points to 'dropout factories'" (). Houston Chronicle, October 31, 2007
  16. "DeVry Advantage Academy and Contemporary Learning Center at H. P. Carter FAQ’s." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on December 2, 2011.
  17. "HISD approves settlement on Wheatley/E.O. Smith Archived 2015-12-07 at the Wayback Machine." Houston Defender. September 19, 2014. Retrieved on December 7, 2015.
  18. Carpenter, Jacob (2015-08-15). "Wheatley failure puts HISD on path to takeover despite strong overall showing on state ratings". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  19. Downing, Margaret (2019-08-16). "Is It For Whom the Bell Tolls Time for HISD's Trustees, Despite Kashmere's Success?". Houston Press. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  20. Downing, Margaret (2019-11-06). "HISD Loses its Ratings Appeal on Wheatley, But T.H. Rogers Moves Up to an "A"". Houston Press. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  21. Kleiner, Diana J. (2010-06-12). "FIFTH WARD, HOUSTON". Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2019-08-09. - Uploaded on June 12, 2010 and updated on February 13, 2017.
  22. "Wheatley High School Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on December 2, 2018.
  23. Original section: https://books.tax.hctx.net/v065/AE1997_65-2_0053.jpg, Extension 1: https://books.tax.hctx.net/v065/AE1997_65-2_0060.jpg, Extension 2: https://books.tax.hctx.net/v065/AE1997_65-2_0061.jpg - Compare with the school boundary map.
  24. "Clayton Homes." Houston Housing Authority. Retrieved on January 2, 2019. "1919 Runnels Houston, Texas 77003"
  25. "Kelly Village." Houston Housing Authority. Retrieved on January 2, 2019. "3118 Green Houston, Texas 77020"
  26. "Kennedy Place." Houston Housing Authority. Retrieved on January 2, 2019.
  27. "Wheatley High School Earns Architect a Design Award." Houston Independent School District. August 15, 2008. Retrieved on July 27, 2010.
  28. Connelly, Richard. "The 7 Best-Looking High Schools in Houston." Houston Press. Tuesday May 22, 2012. 1. Retrieved on May 27, 2012.
  29. Canning, Whit. "Go You Wildcats, Go!" (Archive). Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications, February 1974. Vol. 2, No. 3. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p. 80. CITED: p. 83.
  30. "Demolition of historic Wheatley High OK'd by Houston school board." Houston Chronicle. Thursday September 18, 2014. Retrieved on October 29, 2015.
  31. Mellon, Ericka. "Judge puts demolition of old Wheatley building on hold pending trial." Houston Chronicle. October 24, 2014. Retrieved on January 23, 2015. "The all-boys school is now housed in the old Crawford Elementary on Jensen Street."
  32. Mellon, Ericka. "Old Wheatley High School demolished." Houston Chronicle. Thursday December 11, 2014. Retrieved on October 29, 2015.
  33. Canning, Whit. "Go You Wildcats, Go!" (Archive). Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications, February 1974. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p. 80. CITED: p. 84. "[...]and "name" schools were beginning to peer into the Wheatley talent pool, where Prairie View and Texas Southern were the principal takers in the past."
  34. Kellar, p. 33 (Google Books PT14).
  35. Harwell, Debbie Z. "William S. Holland: A Mighty Lion at Yates High School" (Archive). Houston History. Volume 8, No. 1. p. 9-13. CITED: p. 12.
  36. Hamann, Jack. On American Soil: How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II. Algonquin Books, 2005. ISBN 1565123948, 9781565123946. p. 192.
  37. Harwell, Debbie Z. "William S. Holland: A Mighty Lion at Yates High School" (Archive). Houston History. Volume 8, No. 1. p. 9-13. CITED: p. 13.
  38. Pruitt, Bernadette. The Other Great Migration: The Movement of Rural African Americans to Houston, 1900–1941. Texas A&M University Press, October 24, 2013. ISBN 1603449485, 9781603449489. p. 127.
  39. "Distinguished HISD Alumni." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on October 28, 2015.
  40. West, Richard. "Only the Strong Survive" (Archive). Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications, February 1979. Volume 7, No. 2. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p. 94. CITED: p. 177.
  41. "Cliff Johnson Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  42. "Dogan Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  43. "Eliot Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  44. "N.Q. Henderson Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  45. "R. Martinez Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  46. "Pugh Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  47. "Scroggins Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  48. "Bruce Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  49. "Burnet Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  50. "Isaacs Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  51. "Lantrip Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  52. "Ross Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  53. "Scott Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  54. "McReynolds Middle Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  55. "Fleming Middle Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.
  56. "Navarro Middle Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.

Further reading
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