M.B. Smiley High School was a public secondary school in

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. Smiley, which served grades 9 through 12, and was a part of the North Forest Independent School District. M.B. Smiley was featured in the film '' Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story'', which aired on

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

. The campus is now used as the main campus for

North Forest High School North Forest High School (NFHS) is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD); it was a part of the North Forest Independent School District (NFISD) until t ...

.Directory of Schools
" North Forest Independent School District. Retrieved on July 15, 2011.North Forest High School Ninth Grade Center and Main Campus Standard Dress Code
." North Forest Independent School District. Retrieved on July 15, 2011. "A standard dress code has been approved for North Forest High School. All students North Forest High School attending both the main campus at 10725 Mesa Drive and the Ninth Grade Center at 6602 Winfield Road are required to adhere to the required dress code."

Marilyn Gambrell Marilyn Gambrell is a parole-officer-turned-teacher who started the program '' No More Victims'' at the M.B. Smiley High School in Houston, Texas. The program was developed to assist children with incarcerated parents, hoping to prevent them from ...

, a parole officer who became a teacher, started a program called "

No More Victims No More Victims, founded in 2002, is a 501(c)(3) program that works with the children of incarcerated parents in Houston. The program was founded by former parole officer, Marilyn Gambrell, and addresses the physical, emotional, academic and social ...

", which was designed to prevent children of incarcerated individuals from going to prison. The library, the Carole M. Anderson Library, was named after Carole Mae Anderson, a Smiley English teacher who donated books to the school's previous library facility.

History

The original Smiley facility was built in 1953.Window on State Government--NFISD Texas School Performance Review, Chapter 5
."

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

. Retrieved on November 14, 2011. In July 1980, the school's main building was burned to the ground, due to arson. A series of portable buildings was brought in, and the completed new building opened in 1984. Hveem, Todd.
Jaguars could share Elmore's Gym with Smiley
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. July 26, 2001. Retrieved on February 19, 2015. In June 2001 Tropical Storm Allison damaged Forest Brook High School and NFISD officials temporarily closed the school. District officials wanted to put the children on the Smiley campus. NFISD residents protested the plan. Some argued that because Forest Brook and Smiley were rivals, putting the students on the same campus would lead to incidents. On July 19, 2001 district officials announced that they would move Forest Brook students to B. C. Elmore Middle School until Forest Brook was repaired. During the 2001-2002 school year, Smiley had 1,631 students. It had a capacity of 3,125 students. This gave the school a 52% classroom usage rate.Chapter 5 FACILITIES USE AND MANAGEMENT NORTH FOREST INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
." Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved on November 21, 2011. On July 20, 2007, some teenagers vandalized Forest Brook High with a water hose. After the vandalism of Forest Brook High School, North Forest ISD decided to merge Forest Brook's population into Smiley until Forest Brook was repaired. Some parents and observers criticized the decision, fearing territorial rivalries would cause tension between Forest Brook and Smiley students. School officials states that the repair would take at least four months. Forest Brook re-opened in the spring. In 2007

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

referred to Smiley as a "dropout factory" where at least 40 percent of the entering freshman class did not make it to their senior year. In March 2008 North Forest ISD announced that it would consolidate its two high schools. The new school, initially located in the Forest Brook building, was named

.Mellon, Ericka.
North Forest picks name for merged school / Forest Brook, Smiley students now North Forest High Bulldogs
" ''

''. Tuesday May 20, 2008. B2. Retrieved on August 16, 2009. However after

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

North Forest High moved to the Smiley location. North Forest High used the Smiley building until 2018, when the Houston Independent School District (which absorbed North Forest ISD) opened a new North Forest High across Mesa Drive and converted the former Smiley building into the Education Learning Center, a

professional development Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning Informal learning is characterized "by a low degree of planning and ...

facility.

References

External links

M.B. Smiley High School
(2005-2008)
M.B. Smiley High School
(2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smiley, M. B. High School Former high schools in Houston Educational institutions disestablished in 2008 2008 disestablishments in Texas North Forest Independent School District high schools Public high schools in Houston