Atascocita High School

Atascocita High School
Atascocita's 435,000 sq ft (40,400 m2) campus
Address
13300 Will Clayton Parkway Humble , Harris County , Texas 77346 United States
Information
Type	Public School
Motto	"Learning for life through rigor, relevance, and relationships."
Opened	2006
School district	Humble Independent School District
Superintendent	Dr. Guy M. Sconzo
Principal	Dania Rovegno
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	3,163
Campus	Suburban
Houses	Red, White, Blue, & Gold
Colour(s)	Red, White, & Blue
Mascot	Eagle
Rivals	Kingwood High School
Newspaper	The Talon
Yearbook	The Aerie
Website	Atascocita High School website

Atascocita High School is a secondary school located in Atascocita CDP, a community housed in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. Sprawling well over 430,000 square feet (40,000 m²) on nearly 100 acres (0.40 km²), the campus encompasses state-of-the-art educational, technological, art and athletic facilities, a comprehensive athletic complex, performing arts center, two gymnasiums, food court and access to career and vocational facilities.

Atascocita High School is a part of the Humble Independent School District and also serves small portions of the city of Houston. Atascocita High opened in August 2006 with grades 9-11 and, since the fall of 2007, has served grades 9-12. Atascocita originally served the Fall Creek and Summerwood subdivisions until Summer Creek High School opened in the fall of 2009.

Architecture & Design

PBK Architects Inc. of Houston, Texas designed the $50.9 million school. The architects looked to an iconic American estate, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, as inspiration for the front facade and exterior design of the school. It was named as one of the "Top 25 Texas Constructions" in 2005 by Texas Construction.

Educational Design Showcase awarded Atascocita High School a 2007 Project of Distinction Award and explained that architects were presented with a unique design challenge during the design phase of Atascocita High School. The challenge was to construct a facility that would not only enhance achievement in academia, but also give high-schoolers “personal attention-driven” education.

Based on the work of Humble Independent School District’s High Schools of the Future Task Force (HSFTF), over 150 community members, parents, students, administrators, teachers and partners, a set of educational specification recommendations were developed. These recommendations were adopted by the Humble ISD Board of Trustees, and they guide future high school construction as well as renovations to existing Humble ISD high schools. Embedded in these recommendations is the smaller learning communities (SLC) concept. Atascocita High represents a model illustration of smaller learning communities. The design-team worked in a collaborative effort with end-users in the Humble ISD to design a large, 5A high school with a personal, one-on-one “feel,” based on the HSFTF recommendations.

The primary reason for SLCs in Atascocita High’s is personalization – allowing occupants to experience academic learning in deep, relevant, meaningful and authentic ways. As the Humble ISD increases in population and diversity, SLCs will reduce the risk of students getting “lost in the mix.” That is, SLCs will ensure that teachers, administrators, and support staff know which students need specific attention, academically and in other ways, and can determine resources or develop systems and programs to meet the needs of the students so they stay in school and continue to learn.

Research has proven the positive effects of SLCs on all involved: students, teachers, parents, administrators, school districts and communities at large. School districts that face concerns like high drop-out rates, weak teacher-student relationships and declining student achievement are discovering the tremendous impact of SLCs on the educational process. It is further enhanced when design professionals and school districts are working together to optimize the effects of SLCs. Designers incorporated SLCs, now recognized as the campus's house system, into the design of Atascocita High to create a unique, and successful, learning environment.

The school was also designed to foster community business partnerships with a service learning hub, as well as internship development classrooms. Mainstream areas (gymnasiums, cafeteria, library, auditorium) have individual exterior access for community usage.

Building materials

The Monticello-inspired exterior of Atascocita High School utilizes natural building materials, relying heavily on the use of brick, stone and concrete, which augments the campus's relationship with the natural environment .

Atascocita High School's building site is set on a heavily wooded 100 acres (0.40 km²). Existing, matured trees were preserved to convey the sense of a sprawling nature reserve for the students. In addition to their commitment to the site's existing nature, PBK Architects employed nursuries to plant more than one hundred additional trees and various shrubbery around the campus' grounds. Since that time, students have engaged themselves in Atascocita's environmental role, planting additional trees in the front of the building. Solar-paneled school zone signs, fluorescent light bulbs and Energy-Star computers are used to decrease Atascocita's energy consumption.

House system

In similarity to the residential college system utilized by universities such as Yale University, Harvard University and Rice University, Atascocita High School employs a house system designed to personalize learning and foster relationships between students and faculty. The campus is designed around four communities: Red, White, Blue, and Gold. In the communities, eight houses reside: Red 1 and 2, White 1 and 2, Blue 1 and 2, and Gold 1 and 2. The Gold Community is attended by freshmen, while the upperclassmen are distributed across the other three communities. Houses are interconnected and can be reached through Atascocita's "Main Street," school's central hallway.

Students spend the majority of their school day within their community, where they attend their core academic classes of English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Students are randomly delegated to a house and reside there for the entirety of their high school academic career. This, in effect, bestows a smaller, more centered learning environment in which students will build relationships with fellow classmates, and will have more personalized interaction with teachers, counselors and administrators.

All houses have a separate administrative area where an assistant (or house) principal and counselor reside, a flex area and an LGI (large group instruction) or SGI (small group instruction). Flex areas were designed with student comfort at the forefront. Flex areas are large spaces surrounded by classrooms and lockers in the center of a house that allow students to rest and socialize between classes and, during instruction periods, work independently or in small groups. Tables and chairs are casually strewn about, all encircling a large LCD television. Directly adjacent to the flex areas, each house also presides over their own computer lab. Despite their apparent autonomy, students still are granted the opportunity for shared learning in the LGIs or SGIs. Resembling a college lecture hall, each LGI can cater to over one hundred students in a large, theater-style room.

Athletics

Atascocita High School presents students with many athletic opportunities, offering boys and girls Basketball, Baseball, Cheerleading, Cross-Country, Dance, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Diving, Tennis, Track and Volleyball programs.

The Athletic Wing

Separate from its eight houses, the Atascocita High School Athletic Wing encompasses all of the students' indoor athletic needs. The Wing gives home to Atascocita's two gymansiums, dubbed the large and small gym, a dance studio, the High School trainer and a number of work-out rooms and fitness centers, all of which take advantage of state-of-the-art athletic equipment and technology. Also located in the Wing, Atascocita High's natatorium allows athletes in swimming, diving and water polo programs to practice and compete in a heated, Olympic-sized swimming pool .

The Athletic Complex

Atascocita High School students are able to utilize its broad Athletic Complex, incorporating modern facilities to propel and motivate its athletes. Adjacent to its athletic wing, the Atascocita Athletic Complex is a large outdoor area composed of eight tennis courts, baseball and softball fields, three soccer fields, practice areas, a football field and surrounding eight-lane all-weather track. Weaving through matured trees, an organic cross-country track encircles the grounds of the Athletic Complex.

Alma Mater

By Larry D. Ward, Band Director
We pledge our trust and honor, Atascocita High;
With loyalty and courage, Our wings spread to the sky;
We hold to our traditions, Our unity is true;
And colors we wave proudly, Red and White and Blue;
Through Rigor and through Relevance, Our purpose has no plight;
Through Relationships with others, Our future will take flight;
With liberty and freedom, We'll rise up to the sky;
Our birthright is our tribute, To soar as Eagles fly.

Languages & The Arts

Languages

Students at Atascocita High School are able to take advantage of its large selection of language classes offered: French (Levels 1-4), German (Levels 1-4), Latin (Levels 1-4), Spanish (Levels 1-5) and American Sign Language (Levels 1-3). The school boasts an active French Club that regularly participates in French Symposium and cultural festivals. Atascocita's Latin Club and National Latin Honor Society work to promote the classics in the community and represent an active and high-achieving school in the Texas State Junior Classical League (TSJCL). In 2008, the Latin Club hosted the TSJCL state convention at Atascocita, in which numerous academic, creative art, and graphic art contests regarding Latin, Greek, and Greco-Roman culture are administered. Atascocita High School and its Latin Club will proudly host the 2011 convention, as well.

Music

Atascocita has committed itself to its distinguished Fine Arts programs. Band, Applied Music, Orchestra, Choir, and Vocal Ensemble compete for in the High School's music sector. Those classes utilize spacious, acoustically-observant halls.

Band

Atascocita High School's Pride of the Eagles Military Marching Band is one of only a small number of military marching bands in the nation. The marching band performs at varsity football games and competes yearly in UIL marching contest and the National Association of Military Marching Bands competition, claiming numerous awards over its history, including consistent first divisions in district UIL marching and first places and superior performances in NAMMB contests. The band also performed at Walt Disney World in 2009 and will return for a performance in 2011. In addition, Atascocita's skilled concert bands perform in concerts and achieve first divisions ratings in UIL concert and sightreading. Students work diligently to prepare for Region Band auditions and the UIL Solo & Ensemble Contest.

Theater

Atascocita's theater program offers Theater Arts, Technology Theater and Theater Productions and has produced theatrical productions recognized and awarded by the state of Texas. This is their third year to advance to the AAAAA UIL One-Act Play Competition. Theater classes have access to Atascocita's Black Box Theater and Performing Arts Center (PAC), the school's largest advanced auditorium. With seating for over seven hundred, the PAC was specially designed for multitude of space and quality of sound. By analyzing projection, reverberation, vibration and various acoustical issues, room acoustics are able to be balanced from the room's mix of materials and unique wall and ceiling design, keeping sound distortion to a minimum.

Art

Atascocita's Art division distinguishes itself in variety, presenting the students with the option of Art General, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, AP 2-D Design Port and AP 3-D Design Port. Contemporary concrete-floored art studios and classrooms provide necessary materials and technology for the students' needs.

Academics

Advanced Placement

Offered at Atascocita are the following AP courses: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Science A, Macroeconomics, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, European History, French, German, U.S. Government & Politics, Latin: Vergil, Music Theory, Physics C, Psychology, Spanish Language, Statistics, and U.S. History.

Math & Science League

Atascocita's Math & Science League is the primary extracurricular mathematics and science organization at Atascocita High School, dedicated to generating interest and providing opportunities in science and mathematics, and encouraging students to inquire, invent, and discover. The Math & Science League currently participates in the following competitions: Science Olympiad, TMSCA math/science contests, UIL Mathematics and Science, Best Robotics, the Science & Engineering Fair, Mandelbrot Math, American Math Competition, Rocket City Math, USA Biology Olympiad, National Chemistry Olympiad, and the National Physics Bowl.

Feeder patterns

The following elementary schools feed into Atascocita High School:

• Eagle Springs
• Maplebrook
• Oak Forest
• Oaks
• Pine Forest
• Timbers
• Whispering Pines

The following middle schools feed into Atascocita High School:

• Atascocita
• Timberwood

References

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External links

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• Atascocita High School
• Atascocita High Theatre
• Atascocita High School Choir Department
• Atascocita High School Band
• Atascocita High School Student Council
• Atascocita High School Math & Science League