Sterling High School (Houston)

Ross Shaw Sterling High School is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas.

Sterling, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District.

The school was named after Ross S. Sterling. Sterling has Houston ISD's magnet program for Aviation Sciences.

History

Ross S. Sterling High School opened as a Junior/Senior High School (Grades 7 - 12) in the fall of 1965.

This unique, three-building campus featured designed-in air-conditioning which was a new, yet essential, feature for HISD facilities. The Sterling campus had a mirror twin sister campus - James Madison Jr./Senior High School - that opened at the same time as Sterling.

The first principal of Sterling was A.P. (Pete) Dowling - an experienced educator and administrator with HISD.

During the 1967 School Year, a local radio station - KILT (610-AM) - staged an enormous promotion contest between area High Schools. The contest was simple - each high school had to submit as many individual paper entries as possible with the name of the HS on each sheet. The winning school would be the one that submitted the most pounds of paper. Neeless to say, this created a lot of non-value added time in many classrooms as reams of copy paper and thousands of boxes of computer punch cards with stamped and signed with high school names. In the end, Ross Sterling was the winner of the KILT contest. The primary prize for winning was a school dance - sponsored by KILT - featuring a regional band named Southwest F.O.B..

Sterling became a Senior High School (Grades 10 - 12) exclusively with the 1968 - 1969 school year. The Blue Raider football team made its first playoff appearance during the 1970 season when it emerged as District Champion. The Raiders then defeated Robert E. Lee in Bid-District play, but were then victims to the Sam Houston High juggernaut in the Area round of the playoffs.

In 2007 Johns Hopkins University referred to Sterling as a "dropout factory" where at least 40 percent of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year. [" [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5259695.html Report points to 'dropout factories'] ," "Houston Chronicle", October 31, 2007]

Neighborhoods served by Sterling

Houston neighborhoods served by Sterling" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/SterlingHS.pdf Sterling High School Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".] include Autumn Glen [http://www.kbhome.com/Community.aspx?CommID=00884305] , Crestmont, South Park, Crestmont Park, Garden Villas, Wayside, Kingdom Come [http://www.choicehomes.com/Community.aspx?rid=4&chID=198] , King Estates, Edgewood, El Tesoro [http://houston.roycebuilders.com/community/eltesoro/] , Panay Park [http://www.jrkhomes.com/panay-park.htm] , Houston Skyscraper Shadows, Gulf Meadows, Airport Gardens, a portion of South Acres, a portion of South Acres Estates, a portion of Minnetex Place, Mykawa, and a portion of Santa Rosa.

chool uniforms

Sterling requires school uniforms [" [http://hs.houstonisd.org/sterlinghs/Pages/School_Policies.htm Uniform Dress Code] ." "Sterling High School".] .

The Texas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform [" [http://www.tea.state.tx.us/field/uniforms.html Uniforms] ." "Texas Education Agency".] ; parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Sterling include:
*Codwell [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/CodwellES.pdf Codwell Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Frost [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/FrostES.pdf Frost Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Mitchell [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/MitchellES.pdf Mitchell Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".] (partial)
*Alcott [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/AlcottES.pdf Alcott Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Cornelius [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/CorneliusES.pdf Cornelius Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Gregg [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/GreggES.pdf Gregg Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Grimes [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/GrimesES.pdf Grimes Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Law [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LawES.pdf Law Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Mading [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/MadingES.pdf Mading Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Rhoads [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/RhoadsES.pdf Rhoads Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Seguín [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/SeguinES.pdf Seguín Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]

While a portion of Lewis Elementary School's attendance zone corresponds with Sterling's, all of the area is occupied by Hobby Airport.

Middle schools that feed into Sterling include:
*Thomas [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/ThomasMS.pdf Thomas Middle Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Woodson K-8 School's middle school program (partial: areas east of Cullen Boulevard) [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/WoodsonMS.pdf Woodson Middle Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Hartman (partial) [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/HartmanMS.pdf Hartman Middle Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District".]

Notable alumni

*Yolanda Adams - gospel singer" [http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectDS/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=c3783acb02efc010VgnVCM10000052147fa6RCRD Distinguished HISD Alumni] ." "Houston Independent School District".]
*Robert Earl Davis (DJ Screw) - rapper, dropped out during the 10th Grade ["The Slow Life and Fast Death of DJ Screw." "Texas Monthly". [http://www.texasmonthly.com/2001-04-01/feature-2.php 2] .]
*Clyde Drexler - former NBA basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets
*Zina Garrison - retired tennis player

ee also

References

External links

* [http://hs.houstonisd.org/sterlinghs/ Sterling High School]