Memorial High School (Hedwig Village, Texas)
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Memorial High School (MHS) is a
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
located at 935 Echo Lane in Hedwig Village,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, in
Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...
. Memorial serves students in portions of the
Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...
and Spring Branch regions of Houston and several enclaves within the portions. Memorial is part of the
Spring Branch Independent School District Spring Branch Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Hedwig Village, Texas, United States in Greater Houston. The district serves portions of western Houston,Morales, Katherine.Residents working to retain superintenden ...
(SBISD) and serves grades 9 through 12. As of 2005, the district was granted a $500 million education grant, $150 million of which belongs to Memorial High School.


History

Memorial Senior High School opened in 1962 to relieve overcrowding at Spring Branch High School. Memorial was the second high school to open in SBISD. At the time, students living north of Old Katy Road attended Spring Branch and students living south of Old Katy Road attended Memorial. This arrangement lasted until
Spring Woods High School Spring Woods High School is a public secondary school in Spring Branch, Houston, Spring Branch, Houston, Texas, United States. The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is operated by Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD). Spring Wood ...
opened in 1964. The design of the school was classic early 1960s in the South, with a large, open campus. Each classroom building opened into an outside breezeway, to maximize air flow as the school did not have air conditioning. When Memorial first opened, the area surrounding the school was largely forest and rice fields, but it rapidly grew as new subdivisions were built, and by the mid-1960s, Memorial's enrollment exceeded 3,000 students, a number much larger than the school was meant to hold. This problem was resolved with the opening of Westchester Senior High School in 1967,Hughes, Kim.
Westchester High all-alumni reunion planned for Nov. 10

Archive
. ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, 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''. ...
''. November 4, 2007. Retrieved on June 25, 2015.
and later Stratford Senior High School in 1974. At the time, Memorial's main rivals were the Spring Branch Bears and Westchester Wildcats. However, by the mid-1980s, the enrollment of nearly every school across the district had dropped precariously, and it was decided that Westchester and Spring Branch High Schools would be closed. Memorial remained open, and took in students from both Westchester and Spring Branch High Schools. Today, Memorial is the oldest high school still operating in Spring Branch ISD. The school has received extensive renovations, which began during the 1996–1997 school year. Every building in the school was gutted and refurbished, outdated facilities were replaced and the campus was made more secure. In 2011, Memorial High School was named the #10 most posh public school in the country, as it pulls from a very wealthy area of Houston. In January 2017 a vandal sprayed graffiti of racist symbols on the school property.


Campus

The campus is two blocks south of
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. Memorial City Mall is to the west.


Neighborhoods served

Memorial servesMemorial High School Zone
Spring Branch Independent School District Spring Branch Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Hedwig Village, Texas, United States in Greater Houston. The district serves portions of western Houston,Morales, Katherine.Residents working to retain superintenden ...
. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
students in all of the Memorial Villages (including Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village,2010 Census – Census Block Map: Hedwig Village city, TX
"
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
. Retrieved on December 6, 2018.
Hilshire Village, Spring Valley Village, and most of Hunters Creek Village and Piney Point Village). While the school has a Houston address, it is located in the city of Hedwig Village, and it draws from a small portion of
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
in the
Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...
and Spring Branch regions (including Stablewood, Afton Village, Brykerwoods, Monarch Oaks, Spring Oaks, Sandalwood, Whispering Oaks, and portions of Westview Terrace). A section of the Memorial City district is within the school's attendance zone.Memorial City Management District Boundary
." '' Memorial City District''. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
Memorial High School has eleven lunch vendors that deliver meals to students on campus during their respective lunch periods.


Athletics

Memorial has a rivalry with Stratford High School. Memorial also has a formerly successful football team, which went to the state semifinals in December 2010 in the Division II bracket. The 1979 Mustangs went all the way to the state finals, a school record as of yet unbeaten. As of 2012, the Memorial tennis team had a district record of 73-0 and has finished in the state finals for 2010, 2011, and 2012. As of 2019 for Memorial has participated in 11 back to back trips to the UIL Team Tennis State Tournament. Of these tennis tournaments Memorial has won the state championship twice. However, in 2024, the Memorial tennis team was beaten in the regional finals by Seven Lakes High School, thus ending their 15 year streak of competing in the state championship. Memorial has a men's basketball team that has had some success historically although it has not seen success in recent years. Under the school's original basketball coach, Don Coleman, they were able to win a state title in 1966. Memorial also has a girls' basketball team. Memorial has both a boys' and girls' soccer team. The girls' team has had much success, most recently winning a state championship title in 2018. Memorial also has track & field, cross country, swimming/diving, golf, baseball, softball, and volleyball teams. The school also has a club field hockey team for girls, and club lacrosse and rugby for both boys and girls.


Demographic information

As of 2019 according to STAAR data * Total number of enrolled students: 2620 * Racial/Ethnic group: ** Asian/Pacific Islander 16.25% ** Hispanic/Latino 19.50% ** Black 2.06% ** White 59.06% ** Native American 0.15% ** Two or more races 2.98% * Sex of Teachers: ** Female Teachers 58.76% ** Males Teachers 41.31%


Awards and honors

Memorial was named a 1988-89
National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...
. The school was ranked 258th, 133rd, 103rd, 126th, 225th, 307th, and 254th in ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
''s 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2013 lists, respectively, of top high schools in the United States since the list's inception in 2003. It was also ranked 239th and 233rd in ''
U.S. News ''U.S. News & World Report'' (''USNWR'', ''US NEWS'') is an American media company publishing news, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. The company was launched in 1948 as the merger of domestic-focused weekly newspaper ''U.S. News'' and ...
'' 2012 and 2013 lists, respectively, of top high schools in the United States. Memorial was given the College Readiness Award by the Texas ACT Council in 2008 and 2010. The school was awarded the Just 4 The Kids (NCEA) High Performing School award in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, it was named an Honor Roll School by the Texas Business & Education Coalition. Memorial was named one of the Top 10 Best High Schools in the Area by Children at Risk in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012. It was also given the TAKS Gold Performance Award in 2012. The school achieved "recognized" status in the accountability ratings system by the Texas Education Agency in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. It was awarded five stars and ranked in the top ten high schools in Texas by ''
Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...
'' magazine in 2002.


Feeder patterns


Feeding from public schools

Elementary schools that feed into Memorial High School include: * Bunker Hill * Frostwood * Hunters Creek * Memorial Drive * Valley Oaks * Housman (partial) * Rummel Creek (partial) * Wilchester (partial) Middle schools that feed into Memorial High School include: * H. M. Landrum (partial) * Memorial Middle School (partial) * Spring Branch Middle School (partial)


Feeding from private schools

Some private schools, such as First Baptist Academy, Grace School, Presbyterian School, River Oaks Baptist School, St. Francis Episcopal Day School, and The Regis School of the Sacred Heart, have students that matriculate into Memorial.


Notable alumni

* Ed Young — Lead Pastor of Fellowship Church * Reid Gettys -
Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...
basketball player in 1980’s
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era *
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— founder and CEO of
Dell, Inc Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...
* Jeffery Hildebrand—Founder Hilcorp Energy Company * Michael Simms — publisher, founder of Autumn House Press * David Fahrenthold — 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author *
Sarah Isgur Sarah Maureen Isgur (born November 9, 1982) is an American attorney, political commentator, and former spokesperson at the United States Department of Justice. In 2016, Isgur was a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics. Isgur was deputy ...
- Political commentator * Jennifer Williams — Diplomat * Steve Munisteri — chairman of the
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from 2010 to 2016. * Alex Kim — State Judge, 323rd District Court of Tarrant County, Texas * Bill Baumann — former San Antonio attorney * Cory Morrow — country singer and songwriter * Walker Lukens — singer-songwriter *Alan Sneider —
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personality * Otto Wood — drummer of
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*
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— former
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Offensive Lineman * Gene Chilton — former NFL Offensive Lineman * Kiki DeAyala — former NFL Linebacker * Graham Godfrey — Former
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* Chrisian Roa — Pitcher in
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* Wayne Taylor — former
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and
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in Minor League Baseball * Kacy Clemens — former
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in Minor League Baseball, and son of
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* Kody Clemens — former
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in Minor League Baseball, and son of Roger Clemens * Koby Clemens — former Catcher, First Baseman, and Third Baseman, and son of Roger Clemens * Kevin Ahrens — former Third Baseman in Minor League Baseball. Drafted 16th overall in the 2007 MLB draft


Controversies


2017 Graffiti

Memorial was shocked in January 2017 when vandals broke into the school over winter break and vandalized the campus with racist graffiti. The vandalism included a crudely drawn swastika, multiple uses of the n-word, pentagrams, the phrase "white power," sexually explicit phrases and offensive symbols. The Anti-Defamation League would take notice of this event and comment on it, bringing notoriety to the event.


Thug Day

Memorial would face controversy in May 2019 over a spirit week tradition of "Thug Day' which was tweeted out by an upset student and went viral. Critics would claim that the event was racially insensitive to African-Americans and was an example of
cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or cultural identity, identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. Such a controversy typically ari ...
due to the utilization of basketball jerseys, cornrows,
do-rag A durag ( alternate spellings) is a close-fitting cloth tied around the top of the head to protect the hair; similarly a wave cap is a close-fitting cap for the same purpose. Durags may be worn to accelerate the development of long curly/kinky ...
s, gang signs, and fake tattoos. Critics would range from media organizations and alumni to the local chapter of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
. Memorial High would go on to cancel the 'spirit week' over the racist undertones of 'thug day' which the school claimed was an unofficial extension of the spirit week's 'jersey day.' Students went on to claim that campus tension increased as a result of the fallout, alongside mixed reception from alumni.


Sexual misconduct

In December 2023, a teacher at Memorial High School was placed on administrative leave after being accused of having inappropriate sexual misconduct with a former student. The teacher is facing felony charges for their relationship with a former student.


Notes


References


External links


Memorial High SchoolMemorial High School Baseball official siteMemorial High School TheatreMemorial High School Mustang BandMHS OrchestraMemorial Mustang Outreach BunchSpring Branch ISD News
{{authority control Spring Branch Independent School District high schools Public education in Houston Educational institutions established in 1962 1962 establishments in Texas