Kashmere High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kashmere High School is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas.
Kashmere, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District.
Kashmere contains the Conrad O. Johnson School of Fine Arts, a Houston ISD magnet school program.
Contents |
[edit] History
Kashmere, along with Jack Yates High School and Sam Houston High School, are the three high schools in Houston ISD which have been consistently low-performing in test scores from 2001 to 2004. Because of this problem, there were movements to have the state or another organization take over the schools for a period so the test scores will be at acceptable levels. While Yates got an acceptable rating in 2005, Houston and Kashmere continued to get unacceptable ratings. In August 2006 the school learned that it again is getting an unacceptable rating from the Texas Education Agency [1]. When the Houston ISD administration threatened closure if another "unacceptable" rating came the following year, the local community protested [2]. In summer 2007, Abelardo Saavedra, the superintendent of HISD, formally requested that all of the schools under consideration for closing due to academic performance should stay open [3]. Kashmere received an acceptable rating in 2007 because the Texas Education Agency has a provision allowing for a school to receive an acceptable rating even if the school fails in some of its criteria as long as the failures are within five points of the passing rate [1].
In 2007 Johns Hopkins University referred to Kashmere as a "dropout factory" [2].
[edit] Music
Kashmere High School was home of the Kashmere Stage Band, a nationally renowned band that released several jazz/funk albums in the 1960s and 1970s. They are also known for the vocal ensemble under the direction of Joan E. Hubert;a member of Houstons Ebony Opera Guild. These student's splendid talent took them to the continent of Africa in 1997. In 2003 they performed for Senator Rodney Ellis and were the featured choir in Martin Luther King Memorial Concert along with the Scott Joplin Orchestra that resides in Texas Southern University. Kashmere had Jay-Z as "principal for a day" [4] in 2002.
[edit] Student body
Kashmere, during the 2004-2005 school year, had a total of 790 students [5]. Kashmere had the lowest enrollment of any HISD comprehensive high school.
- 88% of the students were African-American
- 11% were Hispanic
- 1% were White American
No students enrolled that year were Asian or Native American.
90% of the students qualified for free or reduced lunch.
[edit] Neighborhoods served by Kashmere
Kashmere serves the Houston Gardens, Kashmere Gardens, and Trinity Gardens areas.
[edit] Former school uniforms
Kashmere required school uniforms [6] during the 2005-2006 school year.
Students are required to wear red, white, or navy blue polo shirts.
Trousers, and skirts must be khaki, navy blue, or blue jeans.
This policy was modified to include blue jeans for the 2006-2007 school year.
[edit] Feeder patterns
Elementary schools that feed into Kashmere include:
- Bowie
- Cook
- Houston Gardens
- Kashmere Gardens
(partial)
- Berry
- Isaacs
- McDade
- Ross
Two middle schools, Key Middle School and Henry Middle School, have some of their students move on to Kashmere.
Chatham, Easter, and Sanderson elementary schools fed into Kashmere prior to their closures after spring 2006; Cook is a consolidation of the three schools. Some of Concord fed into Kashmere until it was converted into an early education center; Isaacs took Concord's old zoning boundary.
[edit] References
- ^ "Exceptions rule used to Kashmere's benefit," Houston Chronicle, August 7, 2007
- ^ "Report points to 'dropout factories'," Houston Chronicle, October 31, 2007
[edit] External links
Houston Independent School District
| |
|---|---|
| Alternative and magnet K-12 schools | T. H. Rogers |
| Alternative 7-12 schools | C.L.C. |
| High schools | Austin | Bellaire | Chávez | Davis | Furr | Sam Houston | Jones | Kashmere | Lamar | Lee | Madison | Milby Reagan | Scarborough | Sharpstown | Sterling | Waltrip | Washington | Westbury | Westside | Wheatley | Worthing | Yates |
| Alternative and magnet high schools | Carnegie Vanguard | Challenge Early College | DeBakey | East Early College Eastwood Academy | H.S.P.V.A. | Barbara Jordan | H.S.L.E.C.J. | Liberty (Newcomer) |
| Alternative 9-11 schools | Houston Academy for International Studies |
| K-8 schools | Gregory-Lincoln | Woodson |
| Alternative and magnet K-8 schools | Briarmeadow | Kandy Stripe | Rice |
| 1-8 schools | E.O. Smith |
| Middle schools | Attucks | Black | Burbank MS | Clifton | Cullen | Deady | Dowling | Edison | Fleming | Fondren MS | Fonville | Grady Hamilton | Hartman | Henry | Hogg | Holland | Jackson | Johnston | Key | Long | Lanier | Marshall | McReynolds Ortíz | Pershing | Pin Oak | Revere | Ryan | Sharpstown | Stevenson | Thomas | Welch | West Briar |
| Elementary schools | Briargrove | Longfellow | Neff | Poe | River Oaks | Roberts | Twain | Walnut Bend | West University | Others |
