Ball High School
Encyclopedia
Ball High School is a public secondary school
in Galveston
, Texas
, United States
. Ball, which covers grades 9 through 12, is a part of Galveston Independent School District
.
Ball High School serves the cities of Galveston and Jamaica Beach
and the unincorporated communities of Port Bolivar
and Crystal Beach
on the Bolivar Peninsula
. The school mascot is the Tornado
.
and elected a board of trustees. Some 20 teachers were employed to teach students in grades one through seven. Prior to this time, all education in Galveston was private
or parochial
.
In the summer of 1883, a local dry goods businessman, George Ball, communicated his intention to support the establishment of a public high school in Galveston via a brief and simple note to the Galveston City Council. It read: "If the authorities of this city will furnish appropriate and sufficient grounds centrally located, I will contribute $50,000 for the erection of a building to be permanently dedicated to the use of the public free schools of the City of Galveston...I will be pleased to carry [this proposal] into the earliest effect with the hope that it may prove useful to the community with which I have been long identified and whose future welfare I most earnestly desire."
Ball's offer was accepted, and the cornerstone for what would become Ball High School in Galveston was laid on February 15, 1884. Contrary to custom, which places the cornerstone in the northeast corner of the building, it was placed at the southwest corner of the main portion of the building. It is a block of Dupree stone, upon the open sides of which are carved simply the words, "George Ball to the Children of Galveston." Articles placed in the cornerstone included photos of Mr. and Mrs. George Ball, autographs of the children attending public schools, the city directory, photos of the teachers, and a floor plan
of Ball High School.
Ball died on March 11, 1884, without seeing his gift completed.
The new public high school in Galveston opened its doors to 200 pupils on October 1, 1884, with a building consisting of 12 classrooms, two offices and an auditorium, and with the motto "Best school south of St. Louis and west of the Mississippi."
On March 4, 1886, the school was named in memory of its benefactor.
, history
, algebra
, arithmetic
, physical geography
, Latin
, civil government, trigonometry
, physics
, political economy
, chemistry
, mental philosophy
and physiology
.
In 1890, Mrs. George Ball spent $47,000 to remodel, enlarge and beautify the building, which bore her husband's name. At this time, the Rotunda and Dome were added to the north front of the building.
In September 1900, the great hurricane struck and Ball High School was not spared from the fury of its waves and wind. The west wall slipped; the roof blew off; plaster crumbled; windowpanes crashed; and the metal covering was stripped from the ball of the dome, showing its skeleton of steel ribs. In the storm's aftermath, citizens of the City of Galveston contributed and raised the $45,000 required to repair the high school and the other Galveston schools and also to pay the teacher's salaries. Because of the devastating loss of life and property during the storm, school attendance decreased by some 25 percent, creating an excess of teachers. Other Texas communities came to the rescue in many ways, perhaps most importantly by providing jobs to these Galveston teachers whose services were no longer needed in the island community.
While Ball High School was undergoing massive repair, students reported to the campus known as the "K" school, today the site of San Jacinto Elementary School.
By the fall of 1901, all classes were again held at the Ball High building. The school population had increased dramatically by 1915, and two wings were added to the building to accommodate the many students. The six new classrooms eased the overcrowding for a time, but by 1924 overcrowding was again a problem for students and faculty.
The wings, added in 1915, were now extended in order to provide additional classroom space. For the next 30 years, no additions or improvements were made to the building on 21st and Ball Avenue. The main Ball High School building, remodeled and expanded still stands today and houses the home offices of the American Indemnity Company.
In 1954, the Ball High School complex moved to its new location, constructed in 1952, at 41st street and Avenue O. This building cost $3.2 million and covered a four-square block area-41st to 43rd Streets and Avenue O to Avenue P. The new location received additions and renovations in 1964, 1974, 1981, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004, and 2005.
In the late 1960s, Ball high merged with Central High School, the first black high school in Texas, founded in 1885. This reorganization created the need for the expansion of the high school into the former Sam Houston Junior High School facility at 4116 Avenue N-1/2, two blocks from the main high school structure, at 4115 Avenue O, to create the two-campus Ball High School. The original campus is often referred to as Ball High South, while the former Sam Houston campus was familiarly known as Ball High North. Central school became a middle school. In the late 1970s, the Central school campus became an eight grade school which served exclusively eighth grade students throughout the school district. Years later, additional remodeling of the South campus combined with reduced enrollments resulted in consolidating the high school at one facility. The North campus reverted to an elementary school, renamed for the late Charles B. Scott, a long-time Ball High School counselor.
In 1968 Central High School, the high school for African-Americans, consolidated into Ball High School. With the closure of Central High Ball High became a very early social experiment for complete school integration and busing. While there were rumblings in the community around the unacceptability of integration, integration worked at Ball High School. Much of the reason for integration's success was due to the success of the integrated athletics teams. Multiple conference and state titles were won during the early seventies and as a result the community rallied behind Ball High School quickly. Leadership on the sports teams was critical to assure that team mates stayed focused on winning and kept the black white issue completely buried. In the mid-1970s, a state-of-the-art media center was added at Ball High South campus and air-conditioning was installed for the first time. The forty-year-old school received a major $1.5 million renovation and update in 1980. The most recent repairs, in 2004 and 2005, were made possible through school bonds which were in political standstill for seven years.
In the 2000s, rising real estate costs in Galveston forced many families to move to other areas, including League City, Texas City, and La Marque. This meant an influx of children out of Galveston ISD and into other school districts. If Hurricane Katrina
evacuees and out-of-district students are excluded, Galveston ISD lost 12% of its students between the 2002-2003 school year and the 2006-2007 school year; Ball High School is affected as it is the only public high school in Galveston.
Class) are currently in production of a Hurricane Ike
documentary entitled IKE: A DOCUMENTARY - The Story of a Torn City Rebuilt by Everyday Heroes. The film is about Galveston residents and businesses post Hurricane Ike, and how they must come together to help rebuild Galveston. The class began to film in October 2008 and is expected to finish in early May 2009. The film contains interviews and footage of Galveston mayor Lyda Ann Thomas
.
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...
in Galveston
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Ball, which covers grades 9 through 12, is a part of Galveston Independent School District
Galveston Independent School District
Galveston Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Galveston, Texas, United States.In 2009, the school district was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.- Catchment area :...
.
Ball High School serves the cities of Galveston and Jamaica Beach
Jamaica Beach, Texas
Jamaica Beach is a city in Galveston County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,075.-History:Prior to its development, Jamaica Beach was a Karankawa burial ground. Johnny Goyen and Earl Galceran of the Jamaica Corporation developed Jamaica Beach as a 2,000-lot...
and the unincorporated communities of Port Bolivar
Port Bolivar, Texas
Port Bolivar is an unincorporated area located in the Bolivar Peninsula census-designated place, in Galveston County, Texas, United States state of Texas within Galveston County and part of the metropolitan area., Port Bolivar had a population of 1,200...
and Crystal Beach
Crystal Beach, Texas
Crystal Beach is an unincorporated area in the Bolivar Peninsula census-designated place, in Galveston County, Texas, United States. Also known as Patton, Crystal Beach stretches 7 miles along Texas State Highway 87 in the middle of Bolivar Peninsula.It is located along 27 miles of beach on...
on the Bolivar Peninsula
Bolivar Peninsula, Texas
Bolivar Peninsula is a census-designated place in Galveston County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,853 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. The school mascot is the Tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
.
Gift to Galveston
In 1881, the citizens of Galveston, authorized by the legislative act of 1879 which specified that all cities of a certain size could initiate and maintain their own school system, organized a public school districtSchool district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
and elected a board of trustees. Some 20 teachers were employed to teach students in grades one through seven. Prior to this time, all education in Galveston was private
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
or parochial
Parochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
.
In the summer of 1883, a local dry goods businessman, George Ball, communicated his intention to support the establishment of a public high school in Galveston via a brief and simple note to the Galveston City Council. It read: "If the authorities of this city will furnish appropriate and sufficient grounds centrally located, I will contribute $50,000 for the erection of a building to be permanently dedicated to the use of the public free schools of the City of Galveston...I will be pleased to carry [this proposal] into the earliest effect with the hope that it may prove useful to the community with which I have been long identified and whose future welfare I most earnestly desire."
Ball's offer was accepted, and the cornerstone for what would become Ball High School in Galveston was laid on February 15, 1884. Contrary to custom, which places the cornerstone in the northeast corner of the building, it was placed at the southwest corner of the main portion of the building. It is a block of Dupree stone, upon the open sides of which are carved simply the words, "George Ball to the Children of Galveston." Articles placed in the cornerstone included photos of Mr. and Mrs. George Ball, autographs of the children attending public schools, the city directory, photos of the teachers, and a floor plan
Floor plan
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan, or floorplan, is a diagram, usually to scale, showing a view from above of the relationships between rooms, spaces and other physical features at one level of a structure....
of Ball High School.
Ball died on March 11, 1884, without seeing his gift completed.
The new public high school in Galveston opened its doors to 200 pupils on October 1, 1884, with a building consisting of 12 classrooms, two offices and an auditorium, and with the motto "Best school south of St. Louis and west of the Mississippi."
On March 4, 1886, the school was named in memory of its benefactor.
Early years of the school
The Class of 1887 represented the first graduating class of Ball High School. The school served students in grades eight through twelve. Early curriculum for Ball High School students included EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
, arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
, physical geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, civil government, trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, mental philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
.
In 1890, Mrs. George Ball spent $47,000 to remodel, enlarge and beautify the building, which bore her husband's name. At this time, the Rotunda and Dome were added to the north front of the building.
In September 1900, the great hurricane struck and Ball High School was not spared from the fury of its waves and wind. The west wall slipped; the roof blew off; plaster crumbled; windowpanes crashed; and the metal covering was stripped from the ball of the dome, showing its skeleton of steel ribs. In the storm's aftermath, citizens of the City of Galveston contributed and raised the $45,000 required to repair the high school and the other Galveston schools and also to pay the teacher's salaries. Because of the devastating loss of life and property during the storm, school attendance decreased by some 25 percent, creating an excess of teachers. Other Texas communities came to the rescue in many ways, perhaps most importantly by providing jobs to these Galveston teachers whose services were no longer needed in the island community.
While Ball High School was undergoing massive repair, students reported to the campus known as the "K" school, today the site of San Jacinto Elementary School.
By the fall of 1901, all classes were again held at the Ball High building. The school population had increased dramatically by 1915, and two wings were added to the building to accommodate the many students. The six new classrooms eased the overcrowding for a time, but by 1924 overcrowding was again a problem for students and faculty.
The wings, added in 1915, were now extended in order to provide additional classroom space. For the next 30 years, no additions or improvements were made to the building on 21st and Ball Avenue. The main Ball High School building, remodeled and expanded still stands today and houses the home offices of the American Indemnity Company.
A new location
Bill Cherry wrote in a 2004 Galveston County Daily News article that, by the 1950s, Ball High School "was not only horribly congested, but the building was in deplorable condition, the victim of years and years of deferred maintenance."In 1954, the Ball High School complex moved to its new location, constructed in 1952, at 41st street and Avenue O. This building cost $3.2 million and covered a four-square block area-41st to 43rd Streets and Avenue O to Avenue P. The new location received additions and renovations in 1964, 1974, 1981, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004, and 2005.
In the late 1960s, Ball high merged with Central High School, the first black high school in Texas, founded in 1885. This reorganization created the need for the expansion of the high school into the former Sam Houston Junior High School facility at 4116 Avenue N-1/2, two blocks from the main high school structure, at 4115 Avenue O, to create the two-campus Ball High School. The original campus is often referred to as Ball High South, while the former Sam Houston campus was familiarly known as Ball High North. Central school became a middle school. In the late 1970s, the Central school campus became an eight grade school which served exclusively eighth grade students throughout the school district. Years later, additional remodeling of the South campus combined with reduced enrollments resulted in consolidating the high school at one facility. The North campus reverted to an elementary school, renamed for the late Charles B. Scott, a long-time Ball High School counselor.
In 1968 Central High School, the high school for African-Americans, consolidated into Ball High School. With the closure of Central High Ball High became a very early social experiment for complete school integration and busing. While there were rumblings in the community around the unacceptability of integration, integration worked at Ball High School. Much of the reason for integration's success was due to the success of the integrated athletics teams. Multiple conference and state titles were won during the early seventies and as a result the community rallied behind Ball High School quickly. Leadership on the sports teams was critical to assure that team mates stayed focused on winning and kept the black white issue completely buried. In the mid-1970s, a state-of-the-art media center was added at Ball High South campus and air-conditioning was installed for the first time. The forty-year-old school received a major $1.5 million renovation and update in 1980. The most recent repairs, in 2004 and 2005, were made possible through school bonds which were in political standstill for seven years.
In the 2000s, rising real estate costs in Galveston forced many families to move to other areas, including League City, Texas City, and La Marque. This meant an influx of children out of Galveston ISD and into other school districts. If Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
evacuees and out-of-district students are excluded, Galveston ISD lost 12% of its students between the 2002-2003 school year and the 2006-2007 school year; Ball High School is affected as it is the only public high school in Galveston.
Ike: A Documentary
Students of Ball High School's Hurricane Story Tellers (Advanced Media TechnologyMedia technology
Media technology can refer to:article - category*Signal processing - :Category:Signal processing**Data recording - :Category:Recording***Data storage devices - ****Art media technology - :Category:Art media...
Class) are currently in production of a Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...
documentary entitled IKE: A DOCUMENTARY - The Story of a Torn City Rebuilt by Everyday Heroes. The film is about Galveston residents and businesses post Hurricane Ike, and how they must come together to help rebuild Galveston. The class began to film in October 2008 and is expected to finish in early May 2009. The film contains interviews and footage of Galveston mayor Lyda Ann Thomas
Lyda Ann Thomas
Lyda Ann Thomas is the former mayor of Galveston, Texas, United States. She was first elected in 2004 to succeed Roger "Bo" Quiroga. Thomas was the third female mayor of Galveston.-Education and politics :...
.