Arlington Heights High School

Arlington Heights High School
Location
4501 W. Freeway Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Coordinates	32°43′55″N 97°23′9″W
Information
School type	Public secondary
Established	1922
Principal	Jason Oliver
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,800
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	royal blue and gold
Mascot	Yellow Jackets
Newspaper	Jacket Journal
Website	School Website

Arlington Heights High School is a secondary school located in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Fort Worth Independent School District. The school mascot is the Yellow Jacket and the school colors are blue and gold.

Arlington Heights High School serves western portions of Fort Worth including the Como Arlington Heights,^{[citation needed]} Ridglea, Meadows West, and Rivercrest neighborhoods and the City of Westover Hills. As of 1996 some students are bussed in from the Butler subsidized housing in Downtown Fort Worth and some communities in southeast Fort Worth with racial and ethnic minority groups.

Hollace Weiner of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said in 1996 that the school was "A scholastically touted institution that draws students from private schools[...]"

History

Arlington Heights High School was established in 1922 and hosted 715 students in its inaugural year. The current building was built in 1937. Originally, students from this area attended Stripling High School in the 1920s, which is now a feeder middle school.

At that time, students at Heights were referred to as 'teasippers', a nickname Texas A&M Aggies used to call Texas Longhorns because UT students were more likely to be doctors and lawyers, while Aggies were more likely to go into ranching and related fields. Heights was generally wealthy and white until the late 1960s, hosting many children of notable Fort Worthians such as the Belknaps and Dickeys, as well as Governor Connally's children. Other notables such as John Denver, Betty Buckley, Delbert McClinton, Lee Harvey Oswald, Bill Paxton Cairol Aitken Dawson, Turner Gill and more recently Blake Brokermeyer, James Rowland Murphy, III, ("Jim") as well as former Steeplechase President William Ratliff also attended Arlington Heights. African American students attended Como High School, which no longer exists and was merged with Arlington Heights at its closing. Students at Arlington Heights referred to their school as 'the hill' because it sat up higher than the surrounding area at the time.

Arlington Heights has had a rich tradition throughout the years. By the 1950s, the Allied Youth Club was the largest chapter in the world with a membership of over 800. This club was intended to teach the facts about alcohol and making wise decisions about its consumption.

Despite the school's reputation as an academically solid school, in 1995 the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) standardized test mathematics scores among Black and Hispanic students were low. 32% of Hispanic students and 28% of black students passed the mathematics test. 33% of students labeled economically disadvantaged passed. In 1996 the scores among low income students and racial and ethnic minorities were also low, and the school was labeled low performing as a result; state law required a passing rate of 30% in each and every category, or else the school eceived a "low performing" status. In 1996, on the TAKS mathematics portion, 78% of White Anglo students passed, 29% of Hispanic students passed, and 23% of the Black students passed. Of the students labeled economically disadvantaged, 28% passed. In 1996 other scores were above the 30% threshold. In reading, 93% of White Anglos, 48% of Blacks, and 47% of Hispanics passed, and 50% of low income students passed. In writing, 96% of whites passed, 71% of blacks passed, and 57% of Hispanics passed. 64% of low income students passed writing.

School layout

Arlington Heights Yellow Jacket

The school occupies a red brick building that is visible from Interstate 30 (West Freeway).

The main building houses 74 classrooms, a library, band hall, auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, workrooms and administrative offices. Outside buildings include a second gymnasium, field houses with concessions stands, and a weight room. The new wing opened in the fall of 2004 and houses six classrooms and a state of the art dance studio. The surrounding grounds are covered with tennis courts, baseball, softball, a unique multi-purpose athletic facility, soccer and football fields and an all-weather track which is open to public use. [1]

Student programs

• AHHS has established the only ranch management program in FWISD with over 200 students participating.
• AHHS has established the only Navy JROTC program in FWISD.
• AHHS is host to one of the only Peace Clubs in the region.

Athletics

Arlington Heights has won 75 state championships at all levels involved in: Soccer, Swimming, Football, Cheer, Golf, Tennis, Volleyball, Cross Country/Track

However, Arlington Heights has won a State Championship in baseball in 1996

Alleged discrimination against pregnant athlete

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating allegations of discrimination against a pregnant athlete by AHHS.

Student body

In 1996, about 1,500 students attended the school. 61% were White Anglo, 21% were Hispanic, and 16% were Black. 15% of the students were low income.

School organizations

• Debate Team
• Hispanic Youth Association
• National Honor Society
• The Yellow Jacket Yearbook
• The Jacket Journal Newspaper, established 1933
• Journalism
• A.Heights Step Team
• Whiz Quiz
• Athletic Booster
• Dance Guild
• Inter-Act Club
• PTSA
• Arlington Heights Chess Association
• Band
• Orchestra
• UIL competitions

Notable alumni

• Cairol Aitken, thriller/horror novelist and intl. poet as Cairol Dawson.
• Michael A. Andrews, United States Representative from Texas (1983-1995)
• Blake Weeks Brockermeyer, former NFL player for the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, and Denver Broncos, and former Texas Longhorns linemen
• Betty Buckley, Tony Award-winning actress and singer^{[citation needed]}
• John Denver, folk rock musician
• Willie Flores, United States Coast Guard Medal recipient.^{[citation needed]}
• Tony Franklin, former placekicker for the Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, and Miami Dolphins^{[citation needed]}
• Pete Geren, United States Representative from Texas (1989-1997) and Secretary of the Army (2007–current)
• Turner Gill, head football coach for the Kansas Jayhawks, former Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback^{[citation needed]}
• Delbert McClinton, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and musician
• Bill Paxton, actor and film director
• Mike Renfro, former NFL player for the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys, college player at TCU
• Sergio Reyes, former U.S. Olympic boxer
• Tom Schieffer. Former U.S. Ambassador to Australia and Japan; Candidate for Democratic nomination for Governor of Texas
• Tommy Thompson, author
• Van Williams, The Green Hornet
• Cullen Davis, son of oil tycoon Stinky Davis, accused and acquitted twice for murder at his mansion
• Ronnie Mills, former American swimmer. Mills won Gold & Bronze medals at the age of 17 at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City

Notable attendees that did not graduate

• Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of John F. Kennedy, President of the United States

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools

• Burton Hill
• North Hi Mount
• M.L. Phillips
• Ridglea Hills
• South Hi Mount
• I.M. Terrell
• Van Zandt-Guinn
• Como
• Como montessori

Middle schools

• William Monning
• W.C. Stripling

Rivalries

• R.L. Paschal High School

External links

• Arlington Heights High School