Memorial High School (Hedwig Village, Texas)

Memorial High School

Memorial High School (MHS) is a secondary school located at 935 Echo Lane in Hedwig Village, Texas, United States.^[1]

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 and serves grades 9 through 12.

History

Memorial Senior High School opened in 1962 to relieve overcrowding at Spring Branch High School. Memorial was the second high school to open in the Spring Branch Independent School District. At the time, students living north of Old Katy Road would attend Spring Branch and students living south of Old Katy Road would attend 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, 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 Every building in the school was gutted and refurbished, outdated facilities were replaced and the campus was made more secure.

Neighborhoods served

Memorial serves students in all of the Memorial Villages (including Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village, Hilshire Village, Spring Valley Village, and most of Hunters Creek Village and Piney Point Village). While the school has a Houston address, it is located in the city of Hedwig Village and it draws from a small portion of Houston in the Memorial and Spring Branch regions (including Afton Village, Brykerwoods, Monarch Oaks, Spring Oaks, Sandalwood, Whispering Oaks, and portions of Westview Terrace).^[2] A section of the Memorial City district is within the school's attendance zone.^[3]

Athletics

Memorial has a rivalry with Stratford High School.^[4] Memorial also went to the state semifinals in December of 2010.

Notable alumni

• Kevin Ahrens ^[5] - Prospect Third basemen in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.
• Doug Dawson - Former NFL offensive lineman for the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Oilers, and Cleveland Browns.
• Michael Dell ^[6] - Founder and CEO of Dell, Inc.
• Cory Morrow ^[7] - Country singer and songwriter.
• Steve Munisteri - chairman of the Republican Party of Texas since June 12, 2010^[8]
• Dominique Sachse ^[9] - Houston news anchor.
• Jim Sheeler - 2006 Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author^[10]
• Kiki DeAyala - Former NFL Defensive End for the Cincinnati Bengals, also played in the USFL for the Houston Gamblers
• Anne Clutterbuck - Houston City Council Mayor Pro Tempore
• Adam Dell - Dell Computers
• Ted Poe - United States House of Representatives
• Niloufar Molavi - PwC US Energy Leader

Awards and honors

Memorial was named a 1988-89 National Blue Ribbon School. ^[11]

Memorial was ranked 258th,^[12] 133rd,^[13] 103rd,^[14] and 126th^[15] in Newsweek's 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007 lists, respectively, of top high schools in the United States.

It was awarded five stars and ranked in the top ten high schools in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine in 2002.^[16] test

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Memorial High School include:^[17]

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

Middle schools that feed into Memorial High School include:^[17]

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

References

1. ^ "Hedwig Village city, Texas." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on October 7, 2009.
2. ^ "High School Boundaries." Spring Branch Independent School District. Retrieved on March 25, 2009.
3. ^ Memorial City Management District Boundary." Memorial City District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
4. ^ Connelly, Richard. "Memorial High: Staying Classy As Ever With The Stratford Rivalry." Houston Press. Tuesday October 6, 2009. Retrieved on October 7, 2009.
5. ^ "Kevin Ahrens." MILB. Retrieved on October 7, 2009.
6. ^ "Michael Dell." Texas Association of School Boards. March 15, 2008. Retrieved on October 7, 2009.
7. ^ "CORY MORROW." Utopia Artists.
8. ^ "Biography: Personal Information for Stephen P. Munisteri". betweenthesynapse.com. http://www.betweenthesynapse.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Bio-explained-3.pdf. Retrieved September 27, 2010. 
9. ^ "Dominique Sachse" Channel 2 News. Retrieved on October 7, 2009.
10. ^ "[1]." "Texas Almanac".
11. ^ [2]
12. ^ America's Top Public High Schools 2003 at MSNBC.com
13. ^ The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools (2005–2006)
14. ^ America's Top Public High Schools 2006 at MSNBC.com
15. ^ America's Top Public High Schools 2007 at MSNBC.com
16. ^ Texas Monthly's Best High Schools
17. ^ ^{a b} Spring Branch ISD feeder schools

External links

• Memorial High School
• Memorial High School Baseball Official Site
• Memorial High School Theatre
• Memorial High School Mustang Band
• MHS Orchestra
• Memorial Mustang Outreach Bunch

Preceded by Governor's School

National Academic Championship champion 1996

Succeeded by Edison High School

Preceded by Houston Jones High School

Texas 4A State Basketball Champions 1966

Succeeded by San Antonio Lee High School