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Stratford High School (Houston)

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Stratford High School
Stratford High School
Principal Administrator Ann Kucera
School type Public school (U.S.)
Religious affiliation None
Location Houston, Texas, United States
Enrollment 2,100 students
Campus surroundings Suburban
Mascot Spartans
School colors Green, White

Stratford High School is a secondary school in Houston, Texas.

The school is a part of the Spring Branch Independent School District and serves grades 9-12. It is located in the western portion of Houston, in the region known as the "Memorial area." Stratford High School serves several neighborhoods, including Westchester, Sherwood Oaks, Nottingham Forest VIII, Nottingham West, Wilchester, Gaywood, Wilchester West, Rustling Pines, Memorial Plaza, the SBISD portion of Thornwood, and the SBISD part of Ashford Forest. Stratford is recognized as one of the top high schools in the Houston metropolitan area. In 2005, Newsweek named Stratford one of the best high schools in the nation. In 2006, the school was ranked as 187th in the U.S. [1].

Stratford provides courses in the traditional academic subjects, as well as several foreign languages, technology, vocational education, athletics, and fine arts. Several different Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at Stratford, and consistently over 95% of seniors attend college after graduating.

Stratford High School has been named a National Exemplary School, as well as a Texas Exemplary School by the Texas Education Association. In 1978, Stratford's football team won the state championship, and the team returned to the state championship game in 1987. In the 2006 season the football team won its first District Championship since 1988 with a undefeated season, also winning them the first Playoff berth for the Spartans since 1993. The women's volleyball team advanced to the state championship game in 2001 and 2002. In the 2006 season the Lady Spartans swept the district and advanced to the playoffs. The Stratford Orchestra has been named the Texas State Honor Orchestra for multiple years. The Stratford Playhouse puts on award-winning theater productions that attract patrons from throughout the Houston area.

In the 2006 Football season the Spartans clinched the District Champion spot and won its rivalry game against Memorial High School 17-0, defeating the Mustangs and heading to the Texas 5A Division 2 Playoffs.

In keeping with the theme of its mascot, Stratford's student newspaper is The Oracle while its yearbook is Mnemosyne.

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Stratford include Meadow Wood, Nottingham, Rummel Creek, Sherwood, Thornwood, and Wilchester.

Middle schools that feed into Stratford include Memorial and Spring Forest.

Feeding from private schools

Students of some private schools, such as John Paul II School, matriculate to Stratford [2].

History

Stratford first opened in the 1974-1975 school year to relieve the overflow of students at the nearby Westchester High School. The overflow had been caused by of the rapid development of subdivisions like Yorkshire, Wilchester, and Nottingham. The school district quickly decided to open a new school when the student population at Westchester nearly tripled to 4,000. Prior to the opening of the Stratford facility, Stratford's students were housed in temporary buildings on the Westchester campus. The opening of Stratford was not completed on schedule due to construction delays, causing students to continue to languish in cramped quarters.

In the 80's, the population of Spring Branch Independent School District fell drastically. This was attributed to jobs lost to the oil bust that affected the Houston area. Many Houston residents left, causing an underutilization of campus space. Spring Branch faced a tough decision. The district voted to close four schools: Westchester High School, Spring Branch High School, Northbrook Junior High (later reopened in 1991), and Westchester Junior High. Many students from Westchester High School were sent to Stratford, and Stratford, for many years, had a permanent display case dedicated to memorabilia from Westchester High School. In recent history, Stratford has maintained its enrollment at around 2000 students. Stratford also has improved its athletics programs recently, including a number of teams that are ranked at the state level and regularly advance to playoff rounds.

In 2004, the building which housed Stratford was found to have massive structural problems, which required immediate attention. The Stratford campus was closed, and the students were moved to the Westchester Academy for International Studies while repairs went on at the Stratford campus. The irony in this situation was that most of Westchester High School's students were sent to Stratford when that school was closed, and now, in a sense, the situation had reversed itself.

In the 2006-2007 Football season, the Spartans won the district title. (For the first time in 18 years)

Notable alumni

Timothy "Kit" Sullivan.

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