Pin Oak Middle School

Pin Oak Middle School is a Title I secondary school that is located in Bellaire, Texas, United States.

Pin Oak, which serves grades 6 through 8, is a part of the Houston Independent School District.

Pin Oak Middle School, which was built in 2002 to relieve nearby middle schools, is an "application-only" school that accepts students by application. Anyone living in Houston ISD may apply for the Foreign Languages magnet program, while pupils who are zoned to Johnston, Long, or Pershing middle schools may apply to Pin Oak's regular program." [http://web.archive.org/web/20020214054405/http://dist.houstonisd.org/southwest/schools/pin_oak/letter5.htm Pin Oak Middle School] ." "The Southwest District". "Houston Independent School District".] The convert|174500|sqft|m2|sing=on building sits on an 18 acre campus. [" [http://asumag.com/mag/university_texas_middle_school/ Pin Oak Middle School, Bellaire, Texas] ." "American School & University".]

Pin Oak Middle School has the foreign language magnet program. Languages offered at Pin Oak include Spanish, Latin, French, Italian, Chinese, and Hebrew. The school was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2008. [" [http://dallasisdblog.dallasnews.com/blueribbonsschools08.pdf Twenty-six Texas public schools named NCLB- Blue Ribbons Schools] ." "Texas Education Agency". September 9, 2008.] [" [http://blogs.chron.com/schoolzone/2008/09/feds_award_26_texas_schools_wi_1.html Feds award 26 Texas schools with 'blue ribbon'] ." "Houston Chronicle". September 9, 2008.]

A contest called "Pin Oak Idol", a spinoff of American Idol, is held annually at Pin Oak Middle School.

Pin Oak is across the street from the Houston Community College System's West Loop Center and the Challenge Early College High School (which is located inside HCC's West Loop Center), both of which are located in the city of Houston (Glenmont Street is on the border of Houston and Bellaire).

History

Pin Oak opened in August 2002. Pin Oak's campus was designed by PBK [http://www.pbkarchitects.com/Projects/projects_ms.htm] and built for 25 million United States dollars. The school was paid for by the $678 million USD bond approved in 1998.

Before Pin Oak was built, the land that has the campus had horse stables; [http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=29.7231&lon=-95.4578] [http://www.heritagesociety.org/Hinton-Names%20of%20Houston%20Streets%20071907.pdf] . The stables were removed before construction began.

Pin Oak's 8th grade teams have won over $150k in award money over the previous six years through eCyberMission [http://www.army.mil/features/ecybermission/NationalWinners0603.htm] . In 2008, two teams were among the 30 finalists for the Christopher Columbus National Awards as presented by Disney. One of the teams was a finalist, and attended Disney with the 5 other National finalists.

In 2005, the United States Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Governor of Texas Rick Perry visited Pin Oak, since Pin Oak took more than 60 students displaced by Hurricane Katrina [http://www.ed.gov/news/photos/2005/0916/edlite-0916_1.html] [http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/issues/issues419.shtml] .

In 2008 Pin Oak was named a National Blue Ribbon School. [ [http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/2008/2008-schools.pdf] ]

Admissions

Students, regular and magnet, apply to the magnet program or to the neighborhood school. Acceptance is determined by lottery for the neighborhood application process; magnet acceptance is based on the student’s academic history [http://www.pinoak.us/ABOUT/apply.php] .

"House" systems

Pin Oak Middle School is divided in to three "house"s that students stay in throughout their years at Pin Oak. Magnet students are placed in House C, while Houses A & B are filled by neighborhood students. All advanced courses are offered to each student regardless of which House they are in. Magnet students in 6th grade take a Language Rotation course as a required elective which allows them to experience five different languages before they make their final selection as to which language they will study in depth beginning in 7th grade. All other electives at Pin Oak are offered to all students.

Electives

Pin Oak offers electives that range from choir, band, dance, theatre arts, and art, to weightlifting, bioengineering, break dance, home economics, creative writing, Yearbook. graphic novels, and advanced technology courses.

ports

Pin Oak has a lot of sports including football, soccer, basketball,baseball, and volleyball. The school also includes cross country running, a paintball club, lacrosse, and a dodgeball club.

chool uniforms

Pin Oak has a school uniform policy. Students are allowed to wear either plain white, royal blue, or light gray polo shirts or oxford shirts, or monogrammed Pin Oak blue polo shirts. Students are allowed to wear navy blue, blue denim, khaki, or official school tartan bottoms. Sweatshirts may be blue or gray. On Fridays students are allowed to wear "Charger Day Shirts" or the regular school uniform shirts [http://www.pinoak.us/ABOUT/handbook.php#dresscode] .

The uniform policy was revised for the 2006-2007 school year; before that year, only white or Pin Oak blue polo shirts were allowed. The only styles for trousers and skirts allowed were navy blue and blue denim. Also as part of the new dress code 'Pin Oak Plaid' skirts are allowed, which were modeled by the male principal at the new uniform fashion show.

Neighborhoods served

Several neighborhoods in Houston inside and outside of the 610 Loop (and inside of Beltway 8) are eligible for Pin Oak's regular program, as they are within the Pershing, Johnston, and/or Long zones." [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/PershingMS.pdf Pershing Middle Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District"] " [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/JohnstonMS.pdf Pershing Middle Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District"] " [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LongMS.pdf Long Middle Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District"]

They include Braeswood Place, Gulfton, Knollwood Village, Linkwood, Shenandoah, [" [http://www.sca77081.com/downloads/maps/NeighborhoodWithSubdivisionsMarked.pdf NeighborhoodWithSubdivisionsMarked.pdf] (Composite map). "Harris County Appraisal District". Accessed October 6, 2008.] most of Meyerland [ [http://www.meyerland.net/images/meyerland_section_map.gifMeyerland Section Map] . "Meyerland". Accessed September 20, 2008.] , Marilyn Estates, Old Braeswood, Southgate, Morningside Place, a portion of Maplewood, Post Oak Manor, a portion of Maplewood South, Sunset Terrace, parts of Upper Kirby, most of Westbury, Westridge, Westwood, Willowbend, Willow Meadows, Woodshire, Woodside, Flack Estates, and parts of Sharpstown.

In addition anyone living in the cities of Bellaire, Southside Place, and West University Place is eligible to attend Pin Oak Middle School.

tudent body

During the 2006-2007 school year, Pin Oak had 1,160 students. [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/profiles/PinOak_MS.pdf Pin Oak Middle School] " Profile. "Houston Independent School District".]
* 40% were Hispanic
* 28% were White
* 23% were African-American
* 9% were Asian
* Less than 1% were Native American

49% of the students qualified for free or reduced lunch.

Feeder patterns

The following elementary schools feed into Pin Oak Middle School's regular program:
*Benavidez [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/BenavidezES.pdf Benavidez Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Braeburn [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/BraeburnES.pdf Braeburn Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Cunningham [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/CunninghamES.pdf Cunningham Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Condit [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/ConditES.pdf Condit Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Horn [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/HornES.pdf Horn Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Kolter [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/KolterES.pdf Kolter Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Longfellow [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LongfellowES.pdf Longfellow Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Lovett [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LovettES.pdf Lovett Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Red [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/RedES.pdf Red Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Rodriguez [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/RodriguezES.pdf Rodriguez Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Shearn [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/ShearnES.pdf Shearn Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Sutton [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/SuttonES.pdf Sutton Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Mark Twain [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/TwainES.pdf Twain Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*West University [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/WestUniversityES.pdf West University Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."] (partial)
*Anderson [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/AndersonES.pdf Anderson Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Herod [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/HerodES.pdf Herod Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*McNamara [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/McNamaraES.pdf McNamara Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Roberts [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/RobertsES.pdf Roberts Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]

Pin Oak takes students from portions of the attendance boundaries of the following high schools:
*Bellaire [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/BellaireHS.pdf Bellaire High School Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Lamar [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LamarHS.pdf Lamar High School Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Lee [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LeeHS.pdf Lee High School Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."] (any student zoned to Lee may attend Lamar or Westside)
*Madison [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/MadisonHS.pdf Madison High School Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Sharpstown [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/SharpstownHS.pdf Sharpstown High School Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Westbury [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/WestburyHS.pdf Westbury High School Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]

References

ee also

External links

* [http://www.pinoak.us Pin Oak Middle School]
* [http://www.pinoakpto.org/ Pin Oak Middle School PTO]
* [http://www.mathdigpub.com Mathdigpub.com] for Pin Oak Middle School