LAMAR HIGH SCHOOL (HOUSTON)

'Mirabeau B. Lamar Senior High School' is a secondary school located at 3325 Westheimer Road in Houston, Texas, United States, with a zip code of 77098. Lamar High School, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of the Houston Independent School District.
Lamar High School, which is located in the Upper Kirby district, primarily serves the Houston neighborhood of River Oaks and the incorporated city of West University Place (for an exhaustive list of neighborhoods, see "Neighborhoods served by Lamar".)
Lamar has a business magnet program offering a wide array of business management courses, as well as cooperation with the Houston business community to provide internships and university scholarships.
Lamar has one of two high school-level IB Diploma programs in the Houston Independent School District, and therefore is one of HISD's six IB World Schools [1]. Lamar High School consistently has the most students who graduate with the IB Diploma in Texas [2] [3]. Lamar offers many International Baccalaureate Diploma classes, including several foreign languages: Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Spanish, and Russian. In 2006, 86 students were awarded the IB Diploma, and one third of the school population consisted of candidates for the IB Diploma. Lamar has the largest IB Diploma program in North America [4]. Lamar also hosts summer school for HISD.
The school handles grades nine through twelve. Lamar High School has neighborhood, Advanced Placement, and IB Diploma Programme (International Baccalaureate) programs. Lamar is annually one of the top schools in Texas and the United States, with some of the highest numbers of National Merit Scholars and Semifinalists. Lamar was ranked as 675th [5], 973rd [6], and 605th [7] in Newsweek's 2005, 2006, and 2007 lists, respectively, of the top high schools in the United States. Many students in other parts of Houston ISD transfer to Lamar to escape home schools that do not have a good academic performance, causing the attendance figures of those schools to suffer. [8]
The school's mascot for its sports teams is the "Redskins" (see "Sports" section).
There is a joke in the River Oaks community that states that River Oaks Boulevard is the only street with a country club at both ends. One is the River Oaks Country Club, and the "other" is Lamar High School. [9] [10]
The school is seen in the movie ''Rushmore''. In ''Rushmore'' the campus is used as the setting for Grover Cleveland High School.
The school was also featured in the Chuck Norris film: ''Sidekicks''.

Contents

History

LHS' Capital Campaign to Improve the School

Location

Lamar High School Campus

Lamar High School's 2006 Addition

Neighborhoods served by Lamar

Within Lamar attendance boundary

Student body

Transportation

School uniforms

Lamar sports

Lamar organizations and clubs

Lamar Cable Television (LCT)

School songs

Alma mater

Fight song

Sister school

Feeder patterns

Schools that feed into Lamar

Schools that feed into Lee with Lamar and Westside as options

Private schools that matriculate some students into Lamar

Notable alumni

External links

Official websites

Class alumni pages

Academic and athletic associations

Miscellaneous

History

Lamar High School was established in 1936. Earlier the Southampton Civic Club attempted to persuade Houston ISD to build Lamar at a lot along Kirby and West Alabama; the attempt failed and Lamar was built across from River Oaks. [11]
Construction began in 1933 and was complete in 1936. Lamar was the end of Westheimer Road. On its first day of operation, Lamar had an enrollment of 1,341 students and a teaching staff of 58. The first graduating class of Lamar was the Class of 1936. The school only went up to the eleventh grade and opened as an all-white high school. Lamar was the first high school ever to have an intercom system. There where only eight other high schools in the Houston area at the time - Austin, San Jacinto, Davis, Milby, Reagan, Sam Houston, Yates, and Washington.
Lamar grew rapidly to the point where Robert E. Lee High School was built in 1962 to relieve Lamar.
Lamar was desegregated in 1967 before Houston ISD was ordered to desegregate in 1970. Unlike many other Houston ISD schools, Lamar's student body has remained mostly middle and upper class.
Lamar became an IB school in 1982 [12]and the Business Administration Magnet Program was established in 1989.
In 2004, famous alumnus Tommy Tune performed at Lamar [13]; Robert Foxworth and Jaclyn Smith attended the performance.
The publicized June 6, 2006 youth street gang fight that ended at Ervan Chew Park with Ashley Paige Benton fatally stabbing Gabriel Granillo started with an argument in a Lamar parking lot between "MS-13" and Crazy Crew members; Houston ISD police forced the gang members to leave the campus [14] [15].

LHS' Capital Campaign to Improve the School

As the school is about to celebrate its 70th anniversary, the Lamar Alumni Association started a campaign to improve the facilities at Lamar [16]. The campaign is called "Reach For The Stars". The Alumni asked the Lamar HS parents to donate money for this campaign to run. The goal is to raise $3 million United States dollars. As of March 2007, $1.8 Million has been raised.
The historic auditorium is the main focus of the project. It is where Tommy Tune, Jaclyn Smith, Paula Prentiss and Robert Foxworth got their start in stardom. The auditorium currently consists of the 1936-style wooden seats, dated sound and lighting systems, and a dated stage.
The campaign also includes improvements to and additions of the horticulture Center, theater, campus fence, library, south courtyard, electronic message boards along Westheimer Road and West Alabama Road, Grand plaza, main office, college corner, JROTC center, orchestra room, choir room, Broadcast Journalism Studio/ Production Room, dance studio, FFA Classroom, furniture shop, parents' office, the principal's office, art classrooms, registrar office, piano lab, teacher's lounge, Business Magnet Office, nurse's station, counselor's office, science and computer labs, and endowment.

Location

Lamar is located in the Upper Kirby district of Houston. Lamar is next door to the neighborhood of River Oaks. As River Oaks is the wealthiest neighborhood in Houston, Lamar High School is across the street from many mansions. A small shopping center, the Lamar River Oaks Plaza, is across the street from Lamar. The Lamar Tower, a condominium complex, was named after the school and built in 1965 [17]. Many Lamar students cross Westheimer Road before or after school so they can eat at Subway [18], Baskin Robbins [19], or Crescent City Beignets (a restaurant that serves New Orleans-style food such as beignets and red beans and rice) [20]. Many other trendy restaurants and shops are in close proximity to Lamar High School. Lamar High School is also next door to the St. John's School, a K-12 private school, and the Bethany Christian Church.
The Upper Kirby district plans to establish a "teen center" at Richmond at Wake Forest geared towards students at Lamar, Lanier Middle School, St. John's, and other Upper Kirby schools and schools near Upper Kirby. Funding issues have delayed establishment of the center. [21]

Lamar High School Campus

The Lamar High School campus consists of four buildings, a baseball field, a football field, and tennis courts.
The North Building is a four-story building (including the basement level) which was the original building built in 1936. Its consists of many classrooms, the main office, attendance office, magnet office, IB office, special ed office, band room, cooking room, and the choir room.
The West Building is a two-story building that was built in 1987. It consists of science laboratories and computer laboratories. Both practice and performance gymnasiums are also found in the west building.
The East Building is a two-story building that was built at the same time as the West Building. It consists of senior classrooms, the cafeteria, art rooms, the news broadcast lab, the Lamar library, the Lamar theatre, bookroom, and JROTC rivalry rooms.
The fourth building is the natatorium. The natatorium was built in 1991 to replace the previous pool in the basement of the north building. Bailey Architects built the last three buildings. Unlike the East and West buildings, which are connected to each other and the north building through a series of second-story crosswalks, the natatorium is completely separate from any other building.

Lamar High School's 2006 Addition

November 29th 2006, Wednesday morning at 11:00am, groundbreaking for construction of a new $150,000 athletic building was held at the rear of the school complex and was attended by the donating Lamar Alumni Board, the Alumni Executive Director, Contributors, HISD officials, Lamar Principal James McSwain, staff, and many students and parents. This is the first new building on the Lamar campus in 20 years.

Neighborhoods served by Lamar

The communities that Lamar serves are predominantly made up of middle and upper class professionals with jobs in Houston. Houston ISD's school choice policies allow for the school to serve many working class families who live outside of the Lamar attendance boundary.

Within Lamar attendance boundary

Many parts of Houston west of Downtown that are inside the 610 Loop are zoned to Lamar [22]. River Oaks, Afton Oaks, Upper Kirby, Avalon Place, Avondale, Southgate, Morningside Place, Highland Village, West Lane Place, Lynn Park, Oak Estates, Royden Oaks, Old Braeswood, Boulevard Oaks, Southampton Place, Sunset Terrace, Broad Acres, Ranch Estates, Rice Village, Rice Military, Crestwood, Weslayan Plaza, the portions of Braeswood Place east of Stella Link and north of South Braeswood (including Braes Heights and Braes Oaks), most of Midtown, a small portion of Riverside Terrace, and the Neartown area (including Montrose, Cherryhurst [23], Hyde Park, Richwood, Lancaster Place, Castle Court, and North Montrose) are also zoned to Lamar.
In addition, all pupils in the "island" city of West University Place and the majority of pupils in the "island" city of Southside Place (areas east of Stella Link Road) are zoned to Lamar.
The Greenway Condominiums in Houston are also zoned to Lamar.
Residents of the Texas Medical Center's Laurence H. Favrot Tower Apartments are zoned to Lamar.
A Houston public housing complex, the Ewing Apartments, is zoned to Lamar.
===Within Lee High School attendance boundary with Lamar as an option===
Students residing in the Lee attendance zone [24], including the Uptown district and the neighborhoods of Briar Meadow, Briargrove, Briarcroft, Gulfton, Larchmont, Tanglewilde, St. George Place (Lamar Terrace), Shenandoah, Tanglewood, Woodlake Forest, Sharpstown Country Club Estates, and small portions of Westchase east of Gessner, may go to Lamar, Lee High, or Westside High. Small portions of the cities of Hunters Creek Village and Piney Point Village are also zoned to Lee, Lamar, and Westside.
Wealthier pupils who live in Uptown Houston who remain in the public education system often choose to go to Lamar.

Student body

During the 2005-2006 school year, Lamar High School was Houston ISD's largest high school with 3,539 students. The school is one of the largest high schools in Texas. Lamar was 33% Hispanic, 34% White, 28% African-American, 5% Asian, and less than 1% Native American. The amount of students on free or reduced lunch programs was 37%. [25].
In May 2006 the administration announced plans to cut the student body by 200 students for each school year for four years. This would be accomplished by cutting 200 magnet student slots per year. The target population is around 2,800 pupils. Students who are zoned to Lamar will not be affected by this move.
In the beginning of the 2006 - 2007 school year, 18 Houston ISD high schools failed to meet "No Child Left Behind" requirements, including Bellaire High School and Westside High School, necessitating student transfers to other schools that met all requirements. Lamar High School, as one such passing school, was the planned destination for a large number of transferring students. The school became extremely overcrowded and many planned transfers could not be fulfilled.

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 Lamar or are in the Lamar magnet program.
A METRO bus stop (Westheimer Road @ River Oaks Boulevard) is located at the school's entrance. Bus line 82 (Westheimer) stops at Westheimer @ River Oaks.

School uniforms

In the 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s, Lamar maintained a considerably loose dress code, which, in the 2005-2006 school year, was modified to allow students to wear cargo shorts, which was the most common offense. Starting in the 2006-2007 school year, the school requires school uniforms [26]. Uniforms consist of monogrammed navy or white Lamar polo shirts and khaki bottoms [27]. All shoe types are permitted, including flip-flops; female students are allowed to wear plaid skirts. The Texas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform [28]; parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.
The principal, James McSwain, cited safety concerns with a world after the Columbine High School massacre and the September 11, 2001 attacks as the reason for the school's adoption of uniforms. The newly-created policy received opposition from some students and parents ("Demographics may dictate uniformity," ''Houston Chronicle'', September 3, 2007); the policy was criticized in the May 16, 2006 ''Houston Chronicle'' by Alice Davidson in her "Screaming in the Halls" column in the "Yo! Houston" section of the newspaper ("Enthusiasm for stricter dress code not uniform," ''Houston Chronicle'', May 16, 2006). Alice Davidson is, as of 2006, a student columnist who attends Lamar. The ''Houston Chronicle'' printed a feature about the Lamar uniform policy in the August 22, 2006 edition of the Yo! section ("Dress to impress," ''Houston Chronicle'', August 22, 2007) ("Fashion Passion," ''Houston Chronicle'', August 22, 2007); the feature was written by Jessica Silverman, a student at Lamar as of 2006.

Lamar sports

Lamar High School's sports' mascot is the "Lamar Redskins."
There were plans to phase out the "Redskins" into the "Rangers" as "Redskins" is considered derogatory to the Native American population. So far, the girls' dancing squad, the "Arrowettes", has been permanently given a new name (the "Rangerettes").
The Lamar Life Magazine announced that the traditional use of the "Redskin" mascot will continue; any new groups, awards, or other items will be called simply Lamar or may pick another name, such as the Rangerettes drill team.
Lamar Redskins' arch rival is the Bellaire Cardinals from Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas. Their main competition are football and baseball. Lamar has record of outscoring Bellaire at football. Bellaire has records of outscoring Lamar in baseball.
Lamar has a tradition that when Lamar has a football game, students gather in the middle of the school between the North, West, and East Buildings to have a pep rally. "Big Red" which is a redskin ceramic figure, weights 250 pounds and is carried onto the field by the Lamar Warriors.
Sports at the school include:

★ Baseball

★ Basketball (Girls)

★ Basketball (Boys)

★ Cabbage Boiling

★ Cross-Country (Girls)

★ Cross-Country (Boys)

★ Field Hockey

★ Football

★ Golf (Girls)

★ Golf (Boys)

★ Ice Hockey (Boys)

★ Lacrosse (Boys)

★ Lacrosse (Girls)

★ Soccer (Boys)

★ Soccer (Girls)

★ Softball

★ Swimming (Boys)

★ Swimming (Girls)

★ Tennis

★ Track & Field (Girls)

★ Track & Field (Boys)

★ Volleyball

★ Water Polo

★ Wrestling

Lamar organizations and clubs

Lamar High School has about 85 different organizations and clubs.
'Special Interest'
American Field Service,
Amnesty International,
Army Junior ROTC, ROTC Drill Team
Art History Club,
Asian Culture Exchange,
Business Professional of America,
Chess Club,
Christian Student Union,
Computer Science Club,
Cycling Club,
Debate,
DECA (Marketing Club),
Fellowship of Christian Athletes,
French Club,
Future Farmers of America,
Family, Career, Community, Leaders of America,
German Club,
Hebrew Club,
Hispanic Cultural Club,
Huayucaltia Meso-American Cultural Club,
Industrial Technology Club,
Japanese Club,
Junior Achievement,
Junior Classical Society,
Junior State of America,
Lamar Swing Society,
Model United Nations,
National Beta Club,
Philosophy Club,
Photography Club,
Redskin Rollers (Bowling Club),
Russian Club,
SCALE (Mock Congress),
Sign Language Club,
Sociology Club,
Spanish Club,
Texas Association of Future Educators,
Ultimate Frisbee Club,
Young Entrepreneurs,
Young Life,
Gay-Straight Alliance,
Association of Asian Cultures Club.
'Performing Arts'
Art Club,
Chorale,
Choraliers,
Color Guard,
Concert Band,
Dance / Dance Theatre,
International Thespians,
Jazz Studio,
Kachina,
Madrigals,
Marching Band,
Orchestra,
Prep Choir (Boys/Girls),
Wind Ensemble.
'Academics and Honors'
Academic Decathlon,
Arrowhead (4.0 + GPA),
French National Honor Society,
German National Honor Society,
IB Diploma Candidates,
Junior Engineering Technology Society,
Junior Classical League,
Latin Honor Society,
Math National Honor Society,
Math Club (Mu Alpha Theta),
National Honor Society,
Quill and Srcoll,
Quiz Bowl,
Spanish National Honor Society.
'Service and Spirit'
Cheerleaders,
Diamonds,
Drill Ream,
Interacts,
Key Club,
Keywanettes,
Mirabeau,
R.E.A.C.H.,
Recycling Club,
Senior Class,
Students for Social Responsibility,
Students to End Prejudice,
Wakonda (Freshmen Club),
Warriors,
Wichaka.
'News'
''Orenda'' (Yearbook).
'Leadership'
Lamar Leadership League,
Lamar Student Council,

Lamar Cable Television (LCT)

Lamar High School has its own news broadcast called Lamar Cable Television [29]. In LCT, students are the reporters and they provide information about events at school and in the outside world. LCT is only seen in the Lamar campus. LCT is also used as an emergency contact from the principal to the students regarding events that are happening or have happened.
Lamar Cable Television was established in 2002,under original Station Managers Greg Ortiz and Teddy Tutson, when a major project was taking place to build the news broadcasting lab. LCT is an opportunity to students who want to work in news reporting or filming as previous graduates did.

School songs

Alma mater

The Lamar alma mater is as follows [30]:
" Hail to Lamar, Alma Mater dear

Sing her joyful praise

Sound it far and near

Rally around her banner,

We will never fail

So to Lamar, Alma Mater

Sing, Hail...Hail...Hail"

Fight song

The Lamar fight song is as follows [31]:
" Fight Lamar forever, we will see you through

We'll defend your honor all brave and so true

Fight! Fight! Fight

Hail, Hail, the gang's all here

Sound your colors true

We'll fight forever for the crimson and the blue

L-, L-, L-, A-, M;

M-, M-, M-, A-, R-,

L-, A-, M-,

M-, A-, R.

GOOOOO LAMAR!

Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Sister school

Dalian No. 24 High School [32] in Dalian, People's Republic of China has been Lamar's sister school since 2000 [33].
Dalian is one of Houston's sister cities.

Feeder patterns

Schools that feed into Lamar

Elementary schools that feed into Lamar [34] include:

★ MacGregor [35]

★ Poe [36]

★ River Oaks [37]

★ West University [38]

★ Wharton [39]

★ Wilson [40]

★ Gregory-Lincoln Education Center (partial) [41]

★ Horn (partial) [42]

★ Longfellow (partial) [43]

★ Memorial (partial) [44]

★ Roberts (partial) [45]

★ Stevenson (partial) [46]

★ St. George Place (partial) [47] (the rest of the zoning area indirectly feeds into Lamar)

★ Thompson (partial) [48]

★ Mark Twain (partial) [49]
Middle schools that feed into Lamar include:

★ Lanier [50]

★ Cullen (partial) [51]

★ Gregory-Lincoln Education Center (partial) [52]

★ Hogg (partial) [53]

★ Pershing (partial) [54]

★ Ryan (partial) [55]
All pupils zoned to Pershing Middle School may attend Pin Oak Middle School; therefore Pin Oak also feeds into Lamar High School.

Schools that feed into Lee with Lamar and Westside as options

More schools feed into Lamar as all students zoned to Lee High School [56] may instead choose to go to Lamar High School or Westside High School.
Elementary schools that feed into Lee (and therefore also feed into Lamar) include:

★ Briargrove [57]

★ Benavidez [58]

★ Emerson [59]

★ Pilgrim [60]

★ Piney Point [61]

★ Rodriguez [62]

★ Braeburn (partial) [63]

★ Condit (partial) [64]

★ Cunningham (partial) [65]

★ Neff (partial) [66]

★ St. George Place (partial) [67] (the rest directly feeds into Lamar)

★ Sutton (partial) [68]

★ Walnut Bend (partial) [69]

★ White (partial) [70]
Middle schools that feed into Lee (and therefore also feed into Lamar) include:

★ Grady [71]

★ Long (partial) [72]

★ Pershing (partial) [73]

★ Revere (partial) [74]

★ Sharpstown (partial) [75]
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 Lamar High School.

Private schools that matriculate some students into Lamar

Some students who are enrolled in private schools in the 8th grade choose to go to Lamar for high school. St. Mark's Episcopal School, River Oaks Baptist School, Presbyterian School, and Annunciation Orthodox School [76], often have alumni that matriculate to Lamar [77] [78] [79].

Notable alumni

[80]

★ Jack S. Blanton - Former CEO and chairman of Scurlock Oil

★ John Culberson - U.S. Congressman (R-TX 7) [81]

★ David Dewhurst - Lieutenant Governor, Class of '63

★ Linda Ellerbee - Former anchor of NBC News Tonight

★ JC Crowley - Notable hit songwriter and musician

★ Robert Foxworth (Actor, Falcon Crest, Six Feet Under)

★ Kelly Rowland - Grammy Award-winning member of Destiny's Child

★ Tommy Tune (Broadway Musical Performer)

★ Mark White - Former Texas Governor

★ Mike Godwin - Wikimedia Foundation general counsel and founding staff counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as the author of Godwin's law

★ A. J. Foyt, Jr. (also attended Pershing and Hamilton middle schools and San Jacinto High School)

★ Marvin Zindler (ABC Local News Anchor - Zindler graduated from a different school)

★ Lawrence Roberts (Basketball player [82])

★ Jaclyn Smith (Actor, Charlie's Angels)

★ Ashley Jones (Actor, The Bold & The Beautiful)

★ Tommy Sands (musician)

★ Ty Hardin [83] (Actor, Rio Bravo)

★ Margo Sappington (Dancer, Choreographer)

★ Lars Eighner (author)

★ James Lee Burke (author) two Edgar Awards, New York Times bestsellers - twenty plus books

★ Joe Savery (Baseball Player) [84] NCAA Freshman of the Year, 2005; Drafted #19 overall by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2007 MLB Draft

★ Dale Lloyd (football player) Lamar 2006 Graduate. Died in September, 2006 during football practice at Rice University.

★ Dan Alexander-LSU and New York Jets football player

★ Eric Eiland-Drafted in the 2007 MLB draft by the Toronto Bluejays

External links

Official websites

★ Lamar High School Homepage

★ LamarClassmates.com - Lamar High School Alumni Website (Free)

★ Lamar High School Alumni Central

Class alumni pages

★ Class of 1955

★ Class of 1957

★ Class of 1959

★ Class of 1960

★ Class of 1962

★ Class of 1963

★ Class of 1964

★ Lee-Lamar 30th reunion (Class of 1971)

★ Class of 1974

★ Class of 1976

★ Class of 1995 10-Year Reunion

★ Class of 1996

★ Class of 2009

Academic and athletic associations

★ Lamar Baseball

★ Lamar Basketball

★ Lamar Cross Country

★ Lamar High School Football Team

★ Lamar Key Club

★ Lamar High School Men's Lacrosse Team

★ Lamar Softball

★ Lamar Volleyball

Miscellaneous

★ [85] Houston InTown Magazine article about Fran Callahan's fundraising efforts for Lamar High School

★ Bailey Architects Lamar High School renovation page

★ [86] Various photographs of Lamar High School