Memorial High School is a secondary school located at 935 Echo Lane in Hedwig Village, Texas with a zip code of 77024.
The school, which was opened in 1962, serves students in all of the Memorial Villages (including Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village, Hilshire Village, Hunters Creek Village, Piney Point Village, Spring Valley), as well as a small portion of Houston in the Memorial and Spring Branch neighborhoods. This includes several subdivisions, including Afton Village. The school has a Houston address. The school, a part of the Spring Branch Independent School District, serves grades 9 through 12. The Mustang is the mascot of Memorial High School.
Memorial was ranked as 133rd [1] in Newsweek's 2005 list of top high schools in the United States. It was also awarded the rare and prestigious five-star ranking by Texas Monthly magazine in 2005.
Academics
The school has a high standard of academic success, in both state- and national- level tests. The 2003-2004 testing results for SAT, ACT, and Advanced Placement Tests are as follows:
SAT I Test ................................................ 454 Candidates MHS Mean .................. Verbal 572 .............. Math 592 middle 50% scored ....... 500-640 .............. 520-660 Texas Mean ................ Verbal 493 .............. Math 499 middle 50% scored ....... 420-570 .............. 420-570 National Mean ............. Verbal 508 .............. Math 518 middle 50% scored ....... 430-580 .............. 440-600
ACT ....................................................... 191 Candidates ........ Perfect Scores: 1 in 2002-2003, 1 in 2003-2004 MHS Mean .............................................. Composite 24.7 Texas Mean ............................................ Composite 20.1 National Mean ......................................... Composite 20.8
Advanced Placement: May 2004 .............................. 477 Candidates Total Exams = 1218 ............... (77% of the scores were 3 or higher) Scored 5: ....................................... 247 Scored 4: ....................................... 358 Scored 3: ....................................... 327
2004 AP Recognition ................................... 188 Students AP Scholars ...................................... 97 AP Scholars with Honors .......................... 32 AP Scholars with Distinction ..................... 59 AP National Scholars ............................. 15
History Department
Mrs. Jodran's History Classes: Of special academic note at Memorial High School are the social science courses taught by Jennifer Jordan, particularly Advanced Placement European History. Mrs. Jordan is known for bringing to the classroom boundless knowledge on everything from the Avignon Papacy to the XYZ Affair. Her classes are known not only for their ability to rattle students from the doldrums of boredom, but also as a realm of revelry, where many a good time has been had.
This perhaps reached its peak in the Fall Semester of 2004 when her fourth period class was filled with an all-star cast of budding personalities. This class achieved school-wide fame on the shoulders of this rag-tag group of friends. Michael "Red-Hot" Baird was known for his all-out disregard for the rules of conduct as well as basic common sense. His antics ranged from derobing in the middle of class as an act of protest to the overwhelmingly hot atmosphere of the third-story classroom, to amassing as many objects taken from Mrs. Jordan's desk as he could. He was also known to instigate "waves", akin to those seen at sporting events, in the classroom. Will "Diamond Bill" Bielinski added an element of mystique to the group, amusing his peers with outburts of "Penis!" and homoerotic winks. Scott "Come On Guys, Settle Down" Gosnell was the rock of this group, serving as a benchmark of academic integrity and scholastic focus. His paternal insticts often attracted ridicule from his friends, but at the end of the day, they were glad he was there to keep them from getting expelled.
Jordan was recently promoted to Assistant Principal of Instruction and Assessment.
After Mrs. Jordan left, her position as Ap European History was filled by Mrs. McCall. Although Mrs. McCall had all the knowledge of the former teacher she was generally disliked by the entire class. Her unfair policies and overall hatred towards anything good in the world left the students in the class looking for anyway out of the class. Many students contacted Gary Johnson, the senior class principle, in an attempt to leave the class. These attempts were futile though, since Mr. Johnson is not as nice as most think.
Broadcast Journalism
Run by Patti Davies, the Broadcasting program reached it's peak in the 2005 school year, despite the rampant attempts by Laura "The Cheese" Runkel to sabatoge the program. Michael "Firecrotch" Baird, a.k.a Spike Taird was the rising star of the screen, but the real magic happened behind the scenes where notable studs such as Will "The Big Easy" Porter, Doug "Hotdog" Adams, and Will "Diamond" Bielinski made sure the tape went smoothly despite the best efforts of "The Cheese" and her nefarious sidekicks, the class idiots Aimee "Chump Change" Renaudin and Brooke "The Gossip" Relyea. Each spring, the broadcast department embarks to New York City with other members of the fine arts department. In 2005, the broadcast department had the pleasure of being chaperoned by Tom Clancy on the trip.
Athletics
Memorial High School is part of the University Interscholastic League, in Region 18-5A. Memorial offers many athletics for their students to enjoy.
Boys teams: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, and Track & Field.
Girls teams: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, and Volleyball.
Memorial's chief rival, after the closing of Spring Branch High School, is the Stratford High School (Houston) Spartans.
The 2004-2005 season marked a great year for the Memorial High School athletic organizations with practically all of its teams making the playoffs, with several including Boys Football and Girls Soccer having undefeated district seasons.
MHS Football
The legendary 2004 Regional Semi-Finalist Texas 5-A Football Team included eight 3-year varsity Letterman - Jordan Lake (Baylor '09), Nate Jackson (University of Houston '09), Grayson Lisenby (University of Texas '09), Drew Sims (Naval Academy '09), William Cheever Harvey (University of Texas '09), David "Dominator" Colquitt (Princeton '09), Wade Lytal (Trinity University (Texas) '09), Austen "Stone" Reade (McNeese '09). Coach by legendary Gary Koch (Stephen F. Austin University '39). Coach Koch was notably known for late night film sessions and sleeping on the field house couch. Drew Sims called the plays for the offense. They were known for the "BULL" Offense with Lake, Jackson, Reade, Mamoon Barbandi (University of Houston '09), and Christopher "Cash" Cameron (Texas Christian University '09) in the back field and and Right side of the Offensive Line.
MHS Tennis
The tennis program is affected by Senioritis, where the older players of the team lose any desire to win following the completion of the first half of senior year. There is often a comfortable balance of players who could care less and those who are overly intense about competition. This lack of desire is often attributed to the seniors' desire to be at home, asleep, rather than play tennis against people who can't even hold the racquet properly.
Unfortunately, to the dismay of many an alumnus of the Memorial High School tennis team, sucess is now imminent for the new players who get funneled into the program. The problem is rooted in the fact that the last great wave of uber-slackers (defined as those who inspired others to be slackers) have long since graduated from Memorial. The "Golden Age" of Memorial High School tennis players, consisting of Stephanie Chapparo, Austin Davis, Trey Rome, Patrick Le Feuvre, Will Porter, Mark Roberts, Bahareh Jalalabati, Sherry and Kourash Khakashani, Clayton Terrics, Emily Lindon, Arnold Nguyen, Nikolai Cooper, and Eric Boss are no longer there to inspire their companions to inform the coach that they will be back after a short run to Sonic Drive-In.
The team has been outstanding in recent years. However, the loss of Will "The Thrill" Porter and other trailblazing members has hurt the team, as their presence elevated the play of their lesser companions. Since his departure, the team has missed Porter's brilliance and has fallen on hard times. Porter went into a slump and reportedly stopped playing tennis after the retirement of his longtime mentor Denene Bammel, a charter member of the Handyman Club of America. Porter had an unusual fondness of Bammel; it has been whispered among the elite tennis circles that his nickname 'The Thrill' was actually given to him by his affectionate coach. This nickname apparently has nothing to do with his skills on the tennis court.
MHS Lacrosse
The Memorial High School Lacrosse teams have been successful since the boys team started in 1986-87. The girls'program began in 1995, and won the state championship in 2002, and have been a perennial contender ever since. Most notable among lax players are Elizabeth Robertson (Class of '01; currently the girls JV coach), Jackie Singleton (Class of '02), Lisa Raines (Class of '04), Connor Wynn (Class of '02), James Chen (Class of '03), Ryan "Sex On Wheels" Foster, and Paul "Boriqua" McCloud (Class of '05). This year the lady Mustangs hope to once again go far in the Texas High School Lacrosse League state playoffs.
Fine Arts
Memorial Orchestra
The Memorial Orchestra is comprised of more than one hundred and fifty students in grades nine through twelve at Memorial High School in the Spring Branch Independent School District. For several decades, the Memorial Orchestra has won consistent First Division ratings in UIL contest, both in string and full orchestra competition. They have been named the outstanding Orchestra at Corpus Christi's Buccaneer Festival as well as South Coast Music Festival. Recently, the orchestra has also performed concerts at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Walt Disney World's Epcot Center, Chicago's Orchestra Hall and most recently, New York's amazing Carnegie Hall. This year, the orchestra has been invited to return to New York City to present two concerts at Carnegie Hall.
Mustang Band
The Mustang Band has a great tradition of excellence in performance and competition. The band has performed for Gov. George W. Bush as well as Cy-Young Award winner Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. The band is also consistently receives Superior ratings at Marching and Concert and Sight-Reading contests. They used to be great before Michael "Mr. Entertainment" Baird (also of Broadcast Journalism fame) graduated and left them without any means of entertaining...anybody...
The Mustang Band consists of 100 student musicians involved in Marching, two Concert Bands, Winter/Color Guard, and Jazz Ensemble. The band competes in UIL and TMEA auditions and competitions through out the year. The band has recent success in the Texas Color Guard Circuit, Bands of America, and UIL Marching and Concert and Sight Reading Contests.
MHS Theatre
The theatre program at Memorial High School has a solid foundation in creating great theatre experiences. We have a five show season featuring at least one departmental musical each year. They also compete in UIL One-Act Play competition where their students have received both acting and technical awards in the past few years on a regular basis. MHS Theatre students have received state theatre scholarships and advanced to international competitions with the International Thespian Society which is the theatre honor society. Students have also received Tommy Tune Nominations for their ensemble and individual work.
MHS Debate
The debate program at Memorial High School has a storied past. The Memorial High School Debate team hosts the only Tournament of Champions' bid tournament in the Houston area. Through the years, under the direction of such coaches such as Rex Fleming, Anne Raines, Mark "Schwebb" Webber, Michael Scates, and (currently) Cecil Trent, the team continues its legacy as a strong regional and national debate program in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Policy Debate.
MHS Markettes
The Award Winning Markettes perform dances during half time in football season to music played by the Memorial High School band. When football season is over the Markettes begin to pratice for Competition.Their last performance for the year is usually the Markette Spring Show.The Director is April Graham and the Assistant Director is Sharla Flores.
Social Life
MHS is renowned in the Houston area for making lasting impressions on the community. The students are consistenly asked not to return to its formal dance venues, making the possibility of holding Homecoming or Prom in the gym a distinct possibility every year.
Parties
Memorial is often graced with the presence of famous celebrities at its various parties. Teen pop star Hilary Duff was reportedly seen at multiple parties over the summer of 2004, and even reportedly considered attending Memorial that year.
Spring Break
Memorial seniors organize a class-wide trip each year for Spring Break.
- Spring Break '05 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The senior class of 2005 travelled to Mexico to celebrate the arrival of Spring.
- Spring Break '06 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. 2006 saw the return of MHS seniors to Mexico, though like most formal events, it was in a different locale.
Senior Men's Formal
- Senior Men's 2005 The Senior Men's formal dance is consistently a lightening rod for controversy. In 2005, the danced featured a Playboy theme. Word of the scantily-clad attendees quickly spread across the Houston area, aided by a widely-distributed image of attendees via email. The controversy culminated with local NBC affiliate KPRC covering the event on television.
- Senior Men's 2006 Though it was widely believed the formal dance would never return following the previous year's events, 2006 saw the return of the Senior Men's formal. The chosen "Musicians and Groupies" theme was more mundane, yet the dance still attracted unwanted attention. A website featuring photos from the event (www.seniormens.com) brought the issue of privacy into question. After complaints from the Memorial community, the website was forced to take down its library of photos.
Other
With the growing popularity of Blogging, many Memorial students decided to join the trend and express themselves on the internet. One such student was Teddy "The Tank" Holtz, whose blog "The Trials and Tribulations of Teddy" acheived school-wide fame. Holtz generated mounds of controversy with his no-frills approach to calling the Memorial community like he saw it. His blog is notable for squaring off against a similar production by Jack Langdon, with the two students' blogs vying for superiority, each with its own camp of supporters. Holtz was forced to end his rantings in the summer of 2005, but recently returned to his element with "The Continuing Trials and Tribs of Teddy", accessible at www.teddyholtz.com. The new blog focuses on Holtz's college experience at the University of Texas.
Famous alumni
- Randy Smith
- Michael Dell (b. 1965), founded Dell, Inc.
- Cory Morrow, Texas Singer/Songwriter
- Mary Lou Retton, Olympian
- Dominique Sachse, anchor for KPRC
- John Norris, MTV News correspondent
- Adam Wexler, Sports Radio 610 KILT-AM
Feeder pattern
Elementary schools that feed into Memorial High School include Bunker Hill, Frostwood, Housman, Hunters Creek, Memorial Drive, Rummel Creek, Spring Branch, and Valley Oaks
Middle schools that feed into Memorial High School include H.M. Landrum, Memorial Middle School, and Spring Branch.