North Forest High School

North Forest High School, main campus
North Forest Ninth Grade Center

North Forest High School (NFHS) is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District; it was a part of the North Forest Independent School District until the district closed on July 1, 2013.[1]

History

Founded in 2008 as a consolidation of Forest Brook High School at 7525 Tidwell Road and M. B. Smiley High School on Mesa Drive, the school was originally located on the campus of the former Forest Brook High School.[2]

The Smiley campus was built in 1953, the Oak Village campus was built in 1967, and the Forest Brook campus was built in 1972.[3] In September of that year Hurricane Ike hit Houston and Forest Brook was damaged. Therefore, the school was relocated to the former Smiley campus.[4]

In the 2010-2011 school year, NFISD opened the Ninth Grade Center at the former Oak Village Middle School campus.[5] It opened under the direction of the Texas Education Agency (TEA)-appointed manager George McShan.[6] The Ninth Grade Center houses newly arrived ninth graders. People repeating the ninth grade attend the main campus of North Forest High School.[5]

In January 2012 the school had 1,285 students. In January 2012 an 18-year-old male student shot a 16-year-old male student. The perpetrator evaded the school's usage of metal detectors for incoming students. After the shooting, the school began requiring all students to have transparent backpacks. NFISD planned to extend the school's metal detector hours to 10 AM.[7]

After assuming control of the campus in 2013, HISD replaced all of the faculty members and spent $1.6 million to improve the campus. After Pam Farinas took over the position of the school principal in 2013, a university outside of Texas told her that it does not recruit students from North Forest High. Around 2014, organizations had decined requests from North Forest High for field trips.[8]

In 2014 students reported that the school restrooms now have soap and toilet paper. They also stated that the school hallways were not "like a party" like they were prior to the HISD takeover, and that there were no longer fires set in the restrooms.[8]

Campus

North Forest High School consists of a main campus and a ninth grade center.[9] The Ninth Grade Center is in the former Oak Village Middle School,[10] and it shares the campus with YES Prep North Forest.[11] The Jones Cowart Stadium is on the property of NFHS.[12]

After the July 1, 2013 closure of NFISD, on the North Forest High School main campus, Houston Independent School District officials found a room with a cabinet with Lenox china, a grandfather clock, furnishings, a green carpet, and flowered wallpaper. Ericka Mellon of the Houston Chronicle said that the room "looked like it belonged in a house, not a public school."[13]

The library on the main campus, the Carole M. Anderson Library, has 33 magazine titles and over 13,000 books. It was named after Carole Mae Anderson, a Smiley High School English teacher who donated books to the school's previous library facility.[14]

Demographics

As of March 2014, of the school's students, 30 female students were mothers or were pregnant. Over 100 of the students were under correctional supervision, either probation or parole. As of 2014, Jennifer Radcliffe of the Houston Chronicle stated that "[a] significant number" have addiction to kush and other addictions to controlled substances.[8]

Academic performance

In a six-year period until 2011, North Forest High was consistently ranked "academically unacceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.[15]

The dropout rate of the Class of 2011 was slightly above 30 percent.[16]

Extracurricular activities

In 2013, after the HISD takeover, the administration started the support groups for anger management, substance abuse, and defiance.[8]

Dress code

Since 2011, North Forest High has had a school uniform standard dress policy.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Barajas, Erik. "North Forest ISD officially closes today." KTRK-TV. July 1, 2013. Retrieved on July 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ Mellon, Ericka. "North Forest picks name for merged school / Forest Brook, Smiley students now North Forest High Bulldogs." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday May 20, 2008. B2. Retrieved on August 16, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Window on State Government--NFISD Texas School Performance Review, Chapter 5." Texas Education Agency. Retrieved on November 14, 2011.
  4. ↑ Home page. North Forest High School. Retrieved on November 22, 2008.
  5. 1 2 "2010-2011 District Guide & Back-to-School Handbook" (Archive) North Forest Independent School District. p. 20 (21/24). Retrieved on November 22, 2011. "The Ninth Grade Center is located at 6202 Winfield at the former Oak Village campus. The North Forest ISD Ninth Grade Center is dedicated to first-time ninth graders. All ninth grade repeaters will attend North Forest High School."
  6. ↑ Reeves, Kimberly. "Administrator Not Surprised to See North Forest ISD Shuttered by State." (Archive) Houston Press. Friday July 15, 2010. Retrieved on July 18, 2011.
  7. ↑ Shauk, Zain. "Teen shot at North Forest High School." Houston Chronicle. January 10, 2012. Retrieved on July 3, 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Mellon, Ericka. "North Forest High no longer ‘like a party’." Houston Chronicle. March 31, 2014. Retrieved on April 29, 2014.
  9. ↑ "North Forest High School Ninth Grade Center and Main Campus Standard Dress Code." (Archive) North Forest Independent School District. Retrieved on July 15, 2011. "A standard dress code has been approved for North Forest High School. All students North Forest High School attending both the main campus at 10725 Mesa Drive and the Ninth Grade Center at 6602 Winfield Road are required to adhere to the required dress code."
  10. ↑ "Directory of Schools." North Forest Independent School District. Retrieved on July 15, 2011. "Forest Brook High School 7525 Tidwell Road Houston, Texas 77016" and "Oak Village Middle School 6602 Winfield Road Houston, Texas 77050"
  11. ↑ "Welcome to YES Prep North Forest!." YES Prep. Retrieved on July 17, 2011. "Address: 6602 Windfield Rd [sic] Houston, TX 77065"
  12. ↑ "2009-2010 Improvement Plan." (Archive) North Forest Independent School District. Page 7 (8/43). Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Roaches, graffiti — and china — found in North Forest schools." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday July 3, 2013. Retrieved on July 6, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Carole M. Anderson Library." (Archive) North Forest High School. Retrieved on July 15, 2013.
  15. ↑ "North Forest ISD to shut down." KTRK-TV. Friday November 11, 2011. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
  16. ↑ Radcliffe, Jennifer. "State orders closure of North Forest ISD." Houston Chronicle. February 8, 2013. Retrieved on July 3, 2013. "North Forest High School, where the Class of 2011's dropout rate was slightly more than 30 percent, has been deemed 'academically[...]"

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Forest High School.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.