Booker T. Washington High School (Houston)

The school was established in 1893 in Houston's Fourth Ward as "Colored High." The first location for the school, 303 West Dallas, is considered to be within Downtown Houston as of 2007.[3] Originally it was the only secondary school for black people in the city;[4] at the time schools were segregated by race.

A 1923 Houston Informer article stated that the school building was in bad repair, calling it a "rat trap".[5]

In 1925 the school board stated that it would build a new black high school due to the increasing black population. The Houston Informer stated that the schools need to be named after prominent black people from the city and/or other successful black persons. The original colored high school was renamed after Booker T. Washington, a famous black educator who became the namesake of many black schools in the Southern United States.[4] The school was given its current name in 1928. Washington was relieved by the construction and opening of Jack Yates High School and Wheatley High School in the 1920s.[6]

It moved to its present-day location in Independence Heights in 1959.[7] Lockett Junior High School, which closed in June 1968, was established in the former Washington campus.[3] The school desegregated by 1970.

After Franklyn Wesley retired as principal in June 2007,[8] Houston ISD chose Mark Bedell, formerly an assistant principal at Worthing High School, as the principal.[9] Victor Keys, an assistant principal and an alumna of Washington, will remain as an assistant principal. Some alumni of Washington High School and members of the community around the school protested the decision to hire Bedell because they wished for the district to hire Keys instead of Bedell.[10][11] The current principal is LaShonda Bilbo-Ervin.

Wesley died September 11, 2007, at age 88. Wesley served as the principal of the campus for more than 40 years. He worked as an educator for more than 65 years, spending all of the years except for 10 in HISD.

In February 2012, because the school population was at a historic low of 823, several members of the Independence Heights community, led by Sylvester Turner, a Texas Legislature representative, advocated for reinvestment in the school. They advocated for making Washington competitive with Reagan High School and Waltrip High School.[2] The leaders argue that HISD had neglected the school.[12] Turner and Washington High School officials established a donation campaign. As of January 19, 2012, the campaign raised $135,000. Kroger donated $10,000 of the funds.[13]

Around 2012, each year 400 students from Booker T. Washington transferred to Reagan and Waltrip.[2]

By 2015, the district purchased several houses around the high school as part of its program to rebuild the high school.[14] After criminals began taking parts from the houses, residents argued that the way the houses were acquired could attract criminality.[15]

As of Fall 2018, the students and staff of Booker T. Washington entered their new building under the leadership of Carlos Phillips, II, Ed.D. (principal since Fall 2015). The new $56.5 million campus is located at 4204 Yale St., Houston, Texas 77018 and was built as part of the HISD 2012 Bond Program. The morale of the students and staff have been positively impacted by this new start and the eagles are soaring higher than ever.

In 2011 the Texas Education Agency gave the overall school an "unacceptable" rating. 51% of the school's 9th grade students passed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills mathematics portion.[2]

In 2012 Houston Community College established an auto mechanic program at Booker T. Washington. The previous auto mechanic program closed around 1997. Before 2012 the auto shop had been filled with waste. The Houston Independent School District paid $300,000 to restore the auto shop.[2]

Around 2012 Texas A&M University and Booker T. Washington partnered to give university scholarships to some engineering students.[2]

Sylvester Turner advocated for the replacement of the gymnasium floors; they were replaced in the northern hemisphere fall of 2011. Turner said in February 2012 that the campus needed an overhaul greater than the $3.8 million that the district allotted to the school as a result of the previous bond election.[2]

One Houston Housing Authority (HHA) public housing complex, Lincoln Park, is zoned to the school.[16][17]

Houston ISD provides school bus transportation to students who live more than two miles away from the school. Students zoned to the school and students who are enrolled in the magnet program are eligible for bus transportation.

The METRO city bus line also operates the 66 Yale bus line, which stops at the intersection of Yale Street and Cockerel Street.

In 1995 the school had 1,520 students.[2] In 2010 the school had about 900 students.[18] In February 2012 it had 823 students, a historic low in the population statistics.[2]

In the 2011-2012 school year, the magnet school, with a capacity of 400 students, had 226 students.[2]

As of 2015 it has a school uniform policy.[19]

Washington requires its students to feel free in the environment as long as its appropriate.

The Texas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with school uniforms (the definition includes dress codes which limit colors) may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform;[20] parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.

The following elementary schools feed into Washington High School:[17]

• Burrus[21]
• Hohl[22]
• Kennedy[23]
• Wesley[24]
• Garden Oaks (partial)[25]
• Highland Heights (partial)[26]
• Osborne (partial)[27]
• Roosevelt (partial)[28]

Most of M.C. Williams Middle School[29] and small parts of Black Middle School[30] and Alexander Hamilton Middle School[31] feed into Booker T. Washington.

• J.V. Cain - Former professional football player for the Arizona Cardinals.
• Eldridge Dickey (class of 1964) - Former quarterback/wide receiver for the AFL Oakland Raiders; in 1968 became the first African-American to be selected in the first round of a professional football draft.
• Don Goode - Former professional football player.
• Nate Hawkins - Former NFL wider receiver for the Houston Oilers.
• Mercury Hayes (class of 1992) - Former NFL wide receiver/kick returner for the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and Washington Redskins practice squad.[32]
• Jennifer Holliday (class of 1978) - Grammy award-winning singer and actress.[33]
• Mike Jones (rapper) (did not graduate) - Notable Houston Rapper
• Lawrence Marshall (class of 1951) - Former board member for Houston Independent School District [34]
• Speedy Thomas (class of 1965) - Former NFL receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, and New Orleans Saints.
• Rogers O. Whitmire, B.S., M.S., M.D. (class of 1963) - One of the first five African-American physicians to graduate from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (1973) and the first student of any race to graduate from Michigan State University's medical school in 3 years; first African-American physician to complete the OB/GYN (Obstetrics and Gynecology) program at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, Texas; in 1977 became the first African-American physician to establish a private medical office in the Texas Medical Center of Houston, Texas (active continuously from 1977 until Dr. Whitmire's death in 2015).

• History of the African-Americans in Houston

• Booker T. Washington High School
  • Booker T. Washington High School at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
  • Booker T. Washington High School at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
  • Booker T. Washington High School at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
  • Booker T. Washington High School HSEP at the Wayback Machine (archive index)