Westside High School (Houston)
| Westside High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Established | 2000 |
| Principal | Paul Castro |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Black, Blue & Silver |
| Mascot | Wolf |
| Website | http://hs.houstonisd.org/westsidehs/ |
| File:Westside aerial view.jpg | |
Westside High School is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas.
Westside High School, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Its current principal is Paul Castro, who has been in the position since the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year; Castro had been principal at West Briar Middle School prior to becoming the principal of Westside. Westside has only had one other principal, Scott VanBeck, who opened the school in 2000 and is currently the Executive Principal of HISD's West District.
It is located at 14201 Briar Forest in Houston, Texas, in the 77077 zip code area. Westside High School is outside of Beltway 8 in the Briar Forest neighborhood.
Recognition and Notable Programs
Westside is well known for the Inertia Dance Company, a thriving dance troupe which has been featured in People magazine and on Good Morning America. At one point a reality show was planned for the troupe, but the idea was later scrapped because of technical issues.
Westside High School is also known for its rigorous academic programs, ranking #189 in Newsweek Magazine's 2006 list [1] of the top 1,000 high schools in the United States. Among the school's faculty is the 2005 Houston Independent School District Secondary Teacher of the Year, Nobuo Cedric French.
Westside High School has Houston ISD's magnet program for integrated technology.
Neighborhoods Served by Westside High School
When Westside opened in 2000, it relieved Lee High School of about 1,000 students that year alone.
The Westside High School zone covers small portions of the Westchase district that are north of Westheimer. Westside also covers several other neighborhoods, including Ashford Hill, Ashford Park, Ashford West, Ashford South, the Houston ISD part of Ashford Forest, Walnut Bend, Briar Oaks, Briargrove Park, Briar Village, Briarhills, Parkway Villages, Shadowbriar, and April Village.
Several gated communities, including Lakes of Parkway, are zoned to Westside High School.
Students residing in the Lee attendance zone, including the Uptown district and the neighborhoods of Briargrove, Larchmont, and St. George Place, may go to Lamar High, Lee High, or Westside High School.
In late 2005, the school absorbed more than 200 Hurricane Katrina evacuees who had moved into the Westside zone.
Transportation
Houston ISD provides school buses for students who live more than two miles away from the school or who have major obstacles between their houses and the school. Students are eligible if they are zoned to Westside or are in the Westside magnet program.
A METRO bus stop (Briar Forest Drive @ Briar Home Drive) is located next to the school. Bus line 53 (Downtown/Galleria) stops at Briar Forest and Briar Home.
Feeder patterns
Elementary schools that directly feed into Westside include all of Ashford (Pre-K through 2), Askew (Kindergarten through 4), Barbara Bush, and Shadowbriar (3 through 5), and parts of Walnut Bend (the rest of Walnut Bend indirectly feeds into Westside). Middle schools that directly feed into Westside include all of West Briar and parts of Revere. Daily Elementary School will feed into Westside when it opens in fall 2006.
Other schools also feed into Westside, since students zoned to Lee High School also have the option to go to Westside High School or Lamar High School.
Elementary schools that feed into Lee (and therefore also feed into Westside) include all of Briargrove, Benavidez, Emerson, Piney Point, and Rodriguez, and portions of Condit, Cunningham, Neff, Pilgrim, Sutton, Walnut Bend (the rest of Walnut Bend directly feeds into Westside) and White.
Middle schools that feed into Lee (and therefore also feed into Westside) include all of Grady, and parts of Long, Pershing, Revere and Sharpstown. All pupils zoned to Long and Pershing Middle Schools may attend Pin Oak Middle School; therefore Pin Oak also feeds into Lee High School and Westside High School.