Alief Elsik High School
Encyclopedia
Alief Elsik High School is a secondary school
located in the Alief region of Houston, Texas
.
Elsik is divided into two campuses: the main campus (12601 High Star in Houston, zip code 77072), and the Alief Elsik Ninth Grade Center (located at 6767 South Dairy Ashford, city of Houston, 77072), which serves ninth graders. Both campuses, which are in the Alief Independent School District
, serve grades 9 through 12. The schools mascot is a Ram, and the school's basketball and football teams are well-known throughout Texas, as is the speech and debate team. The school is considered to have the best speech and debate team in all of Houston. Placing in the top ten qualifiers in the state of Texas as well as sweepstakes winners in the NFL state tournament. The academic teams at Alief Elsik, Academic Decathlon, Star Academic Challenge, and various UIL organizations do participate in regional, state, and national competitions. Alief Hastings High School
which is another high school sits adjacent to Elsik and is considered to be its sister school. The two schools enjoy a friendly rivalry that heats up each year in the final football game when they play each other in a shared football stadium.
Alief's three traditional High Schools, which includes Elsik, Hastings, and the "newer" Taylor High School now follow a 7 period schedule. On Monday through Friday there are 50 minute classes, with an hour and thirty minute lunch period (5th period). The one day with 40 minutes of class time is Wednesday, which is used to give teachers a meeting day after school. This has been in effect since the 2007-2008 school year began. Currently, Elsik has opened a night school, again, much like its fellow Alief high schools.
AP and Honors classes are graded on a 5.0 grading scale, while all other classes are graded on a 4.0 scale. Dual credit programs for English, Government, and Economics are also offered to seniors.
In 2011 Elsik was rated "Academically Acceptable
" by the Texas Education Agency
.
A separate school building partially opened in January, 1982 one block away from Hastings. The original portions were known at the time as the "North House" and the "C Building." The remainder of the building, known as the "South House," opened in January, 1983. During the construction of the South House, temporary walls existed in the South Cafeteria and classroom wing, dividing the completed portion of the building from that portion still under construction. Even after the new building was complete, certain classes and sporting facilities were shared between the two schools.
In the late 1980s, a separate building was built bridging the two schools on land formerly used for Physical Education. This new building was almost like a separate school and included its own cafeteria. It mainly filled the need for shared classes in one centralized, easily accessible location for students. Known as the "Annex".
Elsik High School is one of the largest high schools in the state.
The campus demographic is 46.9% Hispanic, 39.2% Black, 11.2% Asian, 2.6% White in the 2009-2010 school year
: the lottery can result in either Elsik, Hastings
, or Taylor
. If a student was selected by lottery to attend a high school different from the high school of a relative currently attending or graduated from, the student may opt to transfer to that respective school. Students may also complete an application for the district's magnet high school, Kerr
.
The lottery system was originally developed as a method to create balanced demographics in Alief's high schools when it was found that there was no simple geographic method of dividing the school district that would be fair and equitable. As a result of the lottery, the demographics of Alief's high schools are virtually identical. However, it is common that neighbors who had attended the same elementary and middle schools must instead go to different high schools. Alief's relatively small geographic area permits the lottery in that anyone in the school district has reasonable access to the high schools. A similar lottery in a larger school districts would result in placing a much larger burden on students as they would have to travel farther.
Neighborhoods served by AISD include Alief
, most of the New Chinatown, most of Westchase
, Bellaire West, and most of Leawood and the Alief community center.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located in the Alief region of Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
.
Elsik is divided into two campuses: the main campus (12601 High Star in Houston, zip code 77072), and the Alief Elsik Ninth Grade Center (located at 6767 South Dairy Ashford, city of Houston, 77072), which serves ninth graders. Both campuses, which are in the Alief Independent School District
Alief Independent School District
Alief Independent School District is a school district that is based in southwest Houston, Texas, United States.Alief ISD, which covers of land, covers a small portion of southwest Houston and parts of unincorporated Harris County...
, serve grades 9 through 12. The schools mascot is a Ram, and the school's basketball and football teams are well-known throughout Texas, as is the speech and debate team. The school is considered to have the best speech and debate team in all of Houston. Placing in the top ten qualifiers in the state of Texas as well as sweepstakes winners in the NFL state tournament. The academic teams at Alief Elsik, Academic Decathlon, Star Academic Challenge, and various UIL organizations do participate in regional, state, and national competitions. Alief Hastings High School
Alief Hastings High School
Alief Hastings High School is a secondary school in the Alief neighborhood of Houston, Texas, United States. Originally named Alief Junior-Senior High School, the school's present location opened in 1972....
which is another high school sits adjacent to Elsik and is considered to be its sister school. The two schools enjoy a friendly rivalry that heats up each year in the final football game when they play each other in a shared football stadium.
Alief's three traditional High Schools, which includes Elsik, Hastings, and the "newer" Taylor High School now follow a 7 period schedule. On Monday through Friday there are 50 minute classes, with an hour and thirty minute lunch period (5th period). The one day with 40 minutes of class time is Wednesday, which is used to give teachers a meeting day after school. This has been in effect since the 2007-2008 school year began. Currently, Elsik has opened a night school, again, much like its fellow Alief high schools.
AP and Honors classes are graded on a 5.0 grading scale, while all other classes are graded on a 4.0 scale. Dual credit programs for English, Government, and Economics are also offered to seniors.
In 2011 Elsik was rated "Academically Acceptable
Academically Acceptable
- Academically Acceptable :An academically acceptable rating is the one many U.S state educators use for grading schools with the most basic teaching. This rating is often common in poor areas in the U.S, such as Chicago or Newark, New Jersey....
" by the Texas Education Agency
Texas Education Agency
The Texas Education Agency is a branch of the state government of Texas in the United States responsible for public education. The agency is headquartered in the William B...
.
History
Elsik opened in 1975 on the same campus as Hastings High School as what is now known as "Hastings South". The first year Elsik only held Freshman, and added classes every year thereafter, until the school had all four grades, with the first freshman class in 1975-76 graduating in 1979. While the two schools were divided by a large courtyard and bus run, there was frequent contact with students from the other campus, which made for very interesting times during sporting events between the two schools. Certain classes were shared by both Hastings and Elsik, such as Machine Shop classes, Art classes, and Accelerated Learning or "Honor Roll" classes.A separate school building partially opened in January, 1982 one block away from Hastings. The original portions were known at the time as the "North House" and the "C Building." The remainder of the building, known as the "South House," opened in January, 1983. During the construction of the South House, temporary walls existed in the South Cafeteria and classroom wing, dividing the completed portion of the building from that portion still under construction. Even after the new building was complete, certain classes and sporting facilities were shared between the two schools.
In the late 1980s, a separate building was built bridging the two schools on land formerly used for Physical Education. This new building was almost like a separate school and included its own cafeteria. It mainly filled the need for shared classes in one centralized, easily accessible location for students. Known as the "Annex".
Elsik High School is one of the largest high schools in the state.
The campus demographic is 46.9% Hispanic, 39.2% Black, 11.2% Asian, 2.6% White in the 2009-2010 school year
Feeder patterns
All Alief ISD elementary, intermediate, and middle schools feed into Elsik as high school placement in Alief ISD is determined by a lotteryLottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
: the lottery can result in either Elsik, Hastings
Alief Hastings High School
Alief Hastings High School is a secondary school in the Alief neighborhood of Houston, Texas, United States. Originally named Alief Junior-Senior High School, the school's present location opened in 1972....
, or Taylor
Alief Taylor High School
Alief Taylor High School is a public high school, located in Alief Independent School District in unincorporated Harris County, Texas. Opened in 2001, Alief Taylor is the newest high school in Alief ISD...
. If a student was selected by lottery to attend a high school different from the high school of a relative currently attending or graduated from, the student may opt to transfer to that respective school. Students may also complete an application for the district's magnet high school, Kerr
Alief Kerr High School
Alief Kerr High School is a secondary school located in the Alief community, near the city of Houston in an unincorporated area of Harris County, Texas, in the United States. The school is a part of the Alief Independent School District and serves grades 9 through 12...
.
The lottery system was originally developed as a method to create balanced demographics in Alief's high schools when it was found that there was no simple geographic method of dividing the school district that would be fair and equitable. As a result of the lottery, the demographics of Alief's high schools are virtually identical. However, it is common that neighbors who had attended the same elementary and middle schools must instead go to different high schools. Alief's relatively small geographic area permits the lottery in that anyone in the school district has reasonable access to the high schools. A similar lottery in a larger school districts would result in placing a much larger burden on students as they would have to travel farther.
Neighborhoods served by AISD include Alief
Alief, Houston, Texas
Alief is a community in Harris County, Texas, United States that is mostly within the city limits of Houston. The Alief Community Association defines the boundaries of Alief as, "Westheimer on the north, Sam Houston Tollway on the east, Fort Bend County Line on the west and Highway 59 on the...
, most of the New Chinatown, most of Westchase
Westchase, Houston, Texas
Westchase is a business management district, with some residential and retail elements, located in western Houston, Texas, United States. The district is bounded roughly by Westheimer Road on the north, Gessner Road on the east, Wilcrest Drive on the west, and the Westpark Tollway on the south...
, Bellaire West, and most of Leawood and the Alief community center.
Notable alumni
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, recording artist - Donovan GreerDonovan GreerDonovan Orlando Greer is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League for the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, and the Detroit Lions. He played college football at Texas A&M University....
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- Brandon (747) Harrell, MTV America's Best Dance Crew Season 6 Champions I.aM.mE.