Westbury High School (Houston, Texas)

Westbury High School

Westbury High School is a secondary school located in Brays Oaks, of Southwest Houston, Texas, near the Westbury neighborhood. It has grades 9 through 12, and is part of the Houston Independent School District. As of 2010 the principal is Andrew Wainwright. It is known for its automotive technology program.

History

On May 18, 2001, the main education building was declared unsafe; renovation crews discovered that the concrete, intended to measure at 3,000 pounds per square inch, instead measured at 1,400 to 2,000 pounds per square inch. The district did not permit students to retrieve their belongings. The district tested the other schools built between 1956 and 1965 and did not discover structural problems. A new campus for Westbury was completed in the fall of 2004. Westbury collaborated (as have many other schools) with Brown University to set up a magnet program Coalition of Essential Schools.

On February 9, 2006, a 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in a second floor school toilet facility. The suspect escaped detection and left the campus before administrators realized that a sexual assault had happened. When the suspect was identified, it was revealed that he was already incarcerated for an unrelated incident. Ronald Walker pled guilty.

In 2006, Charles Rotramel, executive director of the nonprofit program Youth Advocates, stated in a Houston Chronicle article that Lee High School, Westbury High School, and Sharpstown High School have suffered from the actions of youth criminal gangs.

On November 28, 2006, a 16-year-old 9th grade boy named Julian Ruiz died from two gunshot wounds in the torso while walking to Westbury; he died at the 5400 block of Dryad as a result of a drive-by shooting. A tan or gold 1990s Mercury Cougar used as a getaway car for the shooters was discovered in Stafford on November 30. The two 17-year-old suspects in the shooting were identified as Augustin Miguel Marquez and Aldo Aguilar Ramirez. In a response to the incident, district and school officials said that the incident had occurred outside of the school property, and had no bearing on the safety of the students inside.

Some area residents wish to replace Westbury's rebel mascot as of January 2007.

In fall 2007, Westbury admitted Burundian refugees who were resettled in Houston.

A 2007 Johns Hopkins University/Associated Press study referred to Westbury as a "dropout factory" where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year. During that year 41% of high-school-age children zoned to Westbury chose to attend a different Houston ISD school.

The district named the Rita Woodward Environmental Nature Park on February 14, 2008.

In 2011 the Brays Oaks district expanded. Westbury High School became a part of the district.

Neighborhoods served by Westbury

Westbury High School

Many neighborhoods in southwest Houston, including almost all of Westbury, Post Oak Manor, Marilyn Estates, Willowbend, most of Willow Meadows, Glenshire, Parkwest, Maplewood South, about half of Westwood, and parts of Fondren Southwest, are zoned to Westbury High School. The Harris County portion of the city of Missouri City is also zoned to Westbury High School.

As of 2006 many middle and upper class residents of the Westbury attendance zone do not send their children to Westbury; usually they send their children to Bellaire High School, Lamar High School, or private schools.

School uniforms

Returning Westbury students, as of 2008, are required to wear a school uniform consisting of a grey, black, or white polo or oxford shirt and a pair of khaki, navy, black, or denim trousers. Only female students with religious objections to wearing trousers may wear skirts; the skirts may be khaki, black, or navy. New students are required to wear white polo shorts. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, the dress code intends to prevent "gang-affiliated colors" from being a presence in the school.

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Westbury include:

• Anderson
• Elrod
• Foerster
• Gross
• Parker
• Bell (partial)
• Kolter (partial)
• Milne (partial)
• Red (partial)
• Shearn (partial)
• Valley West (partial)

Middle schools that feed into Westbury include:

• Fondren (partial)
• Johnston (partial)
• Pershing (partial)
• Welch (partial)

All pupils zoned to Johnston, Pershing, and Long Middle Schools may apply to attend Pin Oak Middle School; therefore Pin Oak also feeds into Westbury High School.

Notable alumni

• Bennie Brazell, 2004 Olympic Games finalist in the 400 meter hurdles and former NFL wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Dave Elmendorf, former NFL football player for the Los Angeles Rams
• Edwin Harrison, current CFL offensive lineman for the Calgary Stampeders
• Bayano Kamani, Two-time Olympian and Panamanian hurdler
• Brodney Pool, current NFL safety for the Dallas Cowboys
• Paul Rubin, California resident and future psychologist
• Joan Severance, actress and former fashion model
• Michael Strahan, former NFL defensive end for the New York Giants (Strahan graduated from another school)
• Diana Villame current Rice Maker at her house.
• Ayana Walker, current WNBA basketball player for the Detroit Shock
• Shannon Walker, scientist and NASA astronaut
• Peter Alex Eze Jr. Basketball player at Stephen F. Austin State University/>
• Clark Bray, Associate Professor of the Practice in Mathematics, Duke University

External links

• Westbury High School website
• Westbury High School website in Spanish (Archive)
• Westbury Times website
• Friends of Westbury High School
• Westbury High School Class Of 1984
• Westbury High School PTO
• Westbury High School class of 1977
• Westbury Athletics
• Westbury High School Baseball
• "Stepchild" - A Houston Press article about Westbury High School's problems in the early 2000s
  • [2] - A reader response to the Press article