West Brook Senior High School is a high school in the city of

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

. It is operated by the

Beaumont Independent School District Beaumont Independent School District is a U.S. public school district serving Beaumont in Southeast Texas. The district originated in the annexation of the former Beaumont ISD by the South Park Independent School District after its trustees vote ...

and was formed in 1982 as a court-ordered measure to integrate the schools of the formerly separate

South Park Independent School District Beaumont Independent School District is a U.S. public school district serving Beaumont in Southeast Texas. The district originated in the annexation of the former Beaumont ISD by the South Park Independent School District after its trustees vote ...

. West Brook is located at 8750 Phelan Boulevard. The school's official mascot is the Bruin Bear.

History

West Brook was formed in 1982 from the court-ordered merger of two of the high schools in the former South Park Independent School District: the black

Hebert High School Hebert High School was a traditionally black high school in the South Park Independent School District in Beaumont, Texas, US. It was founded in the early 20th century to serve the black community, and became an accredited high school in 1923. In r ...

, whose campus initially housed the ninth and tenth grades, and the almost all-white Forest Park High School, which initially housed the eleventh and twelfth grades. The students voted on the name and the mascot. The other majority-white high school in the district, South Park High School, was also merged into West Brook in 1986. West Brook is now located on the former Forest Park campus.

State football championship

In its first year, an integrated team from West Brook under the former Hebert coach,

Alexander Durley Alexander Durley (December 18, 1912 – July 18, 1980) was an American college football coach, college athletics administrator, and mathematics professor. He served as the head football coach at Texas College from 1942 to 1948, at Texas Southern U ...

, won the state 5A football championship. Durley died of cancer after two seasons as head football coach of the Bruins, and the school's former stadium was named Alex Durley Stadium in his honor. West Brook now plays home games at the Carrol A. "Butch" Thomas Educational Support Center, together with other city high schools.

Bus accident

On March 29, 2006, the varsity girls' soccer team was traveling to a road game in Humble when their charter bus overturned on the highway outside Devers. Two girls were killed in the accident. The team and their parents subsequently helped pass what became known as Ashley and Alicia's Law, a state law requiring seat belts on all school buses purchased on or after September 1, 2010, and on all charter buses purchased on or after September 1, 2011.

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 2,284 students enrolled for the 2021-2022 school year is as follows: *Male - 52% *Female - 48% *Native American/Alaskan Native - 0.3% *Asian - 7% *Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander - 0.1% *Black - 48.9% *Hispanic - 20.1% *White - 21.1% *Multiracial - 2.5%

Notable alumni

Chip Ambres Raymond Payne "Chip" Ambres (born December 19, 1979) is a former right-handed Major League Baseball outfielder. Florida Marlins Ambres was born in Beaumont, Texas. As a senior at West Brook Senior High School in Beaumont, Texas, Ambres was n ...

- former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Jerry Ball Jerry Ball Jr. (born December 15, 1964) is a former professional American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) who played primarily as a nose tackle. He played professionally for the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns ...

- former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

Michael Batiste Michael James Batiste (born November 21, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A two-time All-EuroLeague sel ...

- former

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

Reggie Begelton Reggie Begelton (born August 31, 1993) is a gridiron football wide receiver for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Lamar Cardinals football, Lamar. He has also played for the Green Bay Pack ...

- Former

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

and Current

Receiver *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

- former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

Jay Bruce Jay Allen Bruce (born April 3, 1987) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and New Y ...

outfielder *

Darrell Colbert Darrell Ray Colbert (born November 16, 1964) is a former American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and the World League of American Football (WLAF). He played for the Kansas City Chiefs of ...

– former NFL and WLAF wide receiver * Ryan Grant - former NFL wide receiver *

Christine Michael Christine Lynn Michael Sr. (; born November 9, 1990) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Texas A&M, and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years A native of ...

- former

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Frank Middleton Frank Middleton Jr. (born October 25, 1974) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive guard for eight seasons in the NFL during the 1990s and early 2000s. Middleton played college football for the Fort ...

- former

* Meghan Miller - actress, contestant in season 2 of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

'' *

Taylor Reed Taylor Reed (born August 7, 1991) is a gridiron football linebacker who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Southern Methodist University. He has also been a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, New England Pat ...

- CFL

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Omar Sneed Omar Shariff Sneed (born October 9, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Beaumont Panthers of The Basketball League (TBL). A Texas native, Sneed played high school basketball at West ...

- former basketball player *

Jason Tyner Jason Renyt Tyner (born April 23, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. His MLB career spanned nine seasons from 2000 through 2008 for the New York Mets (2000), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2000-2003), Minnesota Twins (2005-2007), and Cleve ...

- former

outfielder *

Mickey Washington Mickey Lin Washington (born July 8, 1968) is a former professional American football player who played cornerback in the National Football League for eight seasons for the New England Patriots (1990–1991), Washington Redskins (1992), Buffalo Bil ...

- former

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

* Stacey Lewis Jr Beaumont ISD

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

2021-present - https://www.bmtisd.com/Page/178 * Dan Moore NFL player

References

External links

West Brook High School
*
West Brook High School
(old site) {{authority control Education in Beaumont, Texas Beaumont Independent School District high schools 1982 establishments in Texas