Elkins High School (Missouri City, Texas)

29°32′43″N 95°33′29″W / 29.5452°N 95.5581°W / 29.5452; -95.5581

Lawrence E Elkins High School
Lawrence E. Elkins High School as pictured in June 2020
Address
Map
7007 Knights Court

Missouri City
,
Texas
77459

United States
Information
TypePublic
Established1992
School districtFort Bend ISD
PrincipalCourtney Muceus
Staff140.38 (FTE)[2]
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,718 (2023-2024)[2]
Student to teacher ratio19.36[2]
Color(s)  Royal Blue and
  Gold
NicknameKnights
2011 TEA RatingRecognized[1]
WebsiteElkins High School

Lawrence E. Elkins High School, more commonly known as Elkins High School is a comprehensive public high school in Missouri City, Texas, that serves communities in Sugar Land and Missouri City. The school, which handles grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. Elkins was established in 1992, with its first graduating class in 1995.

Elkins received a Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education in 2002.[3] In addition, Elkins high school was ranked 715th among the top 1000 schools in the United States by Newsweek in 2005.[4] The Washington Post also ranked Elkins High School among the Top High Schools in the Nation in 2011.[5]

History

Lawrence E. Elkins High School was established as a grade 9 and 10 school in the fall of 1992[6][7] to alleviate overcrowding from three other district high schools, Dulles, Clements, and Willowridge.[citation needed] Elkins was FBISD's fifth comprehensive high school.[8]

On May 17, 2024, rapper and alumnus Travis Scott gifted the graduating class of 2024, 600 free pairs of Air Jordan 1 Low Canary Yellows, a pair of Nike shoes utilizing Elkins’ school colors as a tribute.[9]

Neighborhoods served

Areas served by the school include Quail Valley,[10] Meadow Creek, Lake Olympia, and all of Riverstone.[11]

It formerly served Arcola, Fresno, Juliff, and parts of the area near Rosharon in Fort Bend County.[12]

Academies

The Engineering Academy informs and encourage students to learn about the potential of a career in engineering. Courses include Introduction to Engineering Design, Engineering Principles, Civil and Aerospace Engineering introduction courses

Academic competition

  • Math and science club (UIL and TMSCA)
    • 1st place TMSCA state 2022
  • Speech and debate (TFA and NFL)
    • 1st place duet interpretation state 2007
    • 1st place TFA State Domestic Extemp 2024
  • UIL academics
    • 1st place conference 5A state academic champions, 1994–95
    • 1st place conference 5A state academic champions, 1995–96
    • Calculator applications
      • 1st place state 1996
      • 1st place state 2001
      • 1st place state 2004
    • Mathematics
      • 1st place state 1996
    • Number sense
      • 1st place state 1996
    • Science
      • 1st place 1996
  • Constitutional law
    • 1st place state 2005, 2008, 2011
    • National Champion 2008
  • AFJROTC TX-932:
    • Unit Awards:
    • Academics Awards:
      • 1st place altitude Rocketry meet, 2005
      • 1st place Drift Rocketry meet, 2005
    • Drill Team Awards:
      • 1st place male color guard fort bend drill comp 2009

Fine arts

  • Art
  • Band
    • In 2005, Lawrence E. Elkins HS had the most students in TMEA All-State of any school in Texas.
    • In 2009, the Elkins HS Honors Band was one of 18 bands selected in the USA to attend and perform at the BOA Music For All National Concert Festival in Indianapolis.
  • State marching season
  • Drumline
    • Marching season
    • Indoor drumline: Won 1st place at the TCGC state indoor finals in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2nd place in 2002, 2005, 2012
  • Knightbeats
  • Knightingales
  • Schola cantori
  • Bell canto
  • End effect
  • Camerata
  • Elite dance team
  • Drama (theatre)
  • Orchestra

Honor societies

Athletics

Clements / Elkins rivalry

In 1992, after Elkins was built to alleviate overcrowding from William P. Clements High School, zoning issues forced many families in different subdivisions around the city of Sugar Land to send their children to both high schools. Still today, it is not uncommon to find next door neighbors or siblings going to opposing schools as feeder middle schools and zoning patterns overlap.[13]

In 1996, after an outbreak of senior pranks between the two schools, the principals of both high schools decided to focus the rivalry in a less destructive manner. After meeting with both schools' Student Councils, the principals decided to hold an annual, year-long competition.

Each school's athletic program can earn points based on wins against the other school in UIL competition. The competitions include: boys' football, basketball, baseball, and soccer, and girls' volleyball, basketball, softball, and soccer. A school earns one point when it defeats the rival school. A game ending in a tie score will award both teams one-half point. As often occurs, the schools sometimes meet more than once per year. In the event of a tie for the overall competition, the school's band that is ranked the highest at the Texas UIL regional marching band competition[14] will be the year's winner.

Since 1997, the schools have held the competition every year. As both schools' mascots (the Ranger and the Knight) typically ride horses, the "Golden Horse" trophy is awarded and displayed in the champion school's trophy case at the beginning of each new school year.[citation needed]

Notable alumni

Notoriety

Cyber-bullying

Girls from Elkins and the other Fort Bend High Schools of Dulles and Clements, were cyber-bullied in April 2010 on a Facebook page titled Whimsical Girls of FBISD. The page listed several female students on each school's "naughty" list. Police and the school district were unable to determine who was responsible for the page, but Facebook took the page down at the district's request.[28]

Advanced placement desks controversy

In the 2022-2023 school year, Elkins had 1,609 students testing for Advanced Placement courses, an increase of 335 from the 2021-2022 school year. While students were taking AP exams in May, 2023, desks from classrooms were moved to the gymnasium, causing some classrooms to be short on desks, and forcing many students who were not testing for AP courses to sit on the floor. This incident caused uproar among the parents of the school.[29]

Feeder patterns

The following elementary schools feed into Elkins:

  • Austin Parkway (partial)
  • Commonwealth (partial)
  • Lantern Lane
  • Lexington Creek (partial)
  • Palmer (partial)
  • Quail Valley
  • Settlers Way (partial)
  • Anne Sullivan
  • Sonal Bhuchar (adjacent to Elkins)

The following middle schools feed into Elkins:

  • Fort Settlement (partial)
  • First Colony (partial)
  • Lake Olympia (partial)
  • Quail Valley

References

  1. ^ "TEXAS RECOGNIZED SCHOOL". Fort Bend. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "LAWRENCE E ELKINS H S". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  3. ^ Blue Ribbon Award Archived 2006-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Diane Moser Properties, Inc.: Newsweek - 2005 America's Best High Schools (Houston Area)". www.texasbest.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  5. ^ "Washington Post ranks six Fort Bend ISD high schools as top schools in nation". Chron. May 27, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  6. ^ "Elkins High School Profile" (PDF). FBISD. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2014.
  7. ^ Fort Bend ISD History Archived September 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Solomon, Jerome (August 28, 1997). "FOOTBALL 1997/HIGH SCHOOLS/FORT BEND BONANZA/Phillips, Dulles in hunt to add to town's memories". Houston Chronicle. p. Special 33. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2011. It remained the lone high school in the area until Willowridge opened in 1979[...]Elkins (1992)[...]{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ Viahos, Nicholas (May 17, 2024). "Travis Scott Gifts Elkins High School with his Unreleased Air Jordan 1 Low". Sole Retriever. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  10. ^ "Schools." Quail Valley Fund. Retrieved on July 20, 2017.
  11. ^ "High school". Riverstone. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  12. ^ "Elkins High School." Fort Bend Independent School District. January 16, 1997. Retrieved on October 31, 2017.
  13. ^ "FBISD Zoning[permanent dead link‍]." Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on December 11, 2010.
  14. ^ "Texas UIL Region 13 Band." Texas Music Educators Association. Retrieved on December 11, 2010.
  15. ^ "Cornelius Anthony". DatabaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  16. ^ "Texans select TCU DT, Elkins alumnus Ross Blacklock in second round of the 2020 NFL Draft". khou.com. April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  17. ^ "KARON COLEMAN". profootballarchives.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  18. ^ a b c Langosch, Jenifer (June 15, 2012). "Carpenters build Matt's baseball future together". MLB.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  19. ^ Sewing, Joy (February 13, 2023). "Miss Universe R'Bonney Gabriel says sustainable fashion, and skills to make it, can save the world". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  20. ^ Goff, Keli (June 5, 2013). "Teachers often help us see potential before it develops". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  21. ^ "Raiders Take CB D.J. Hayden in 1st". Raiders.com. April 25, 2013. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  22. ^ Khan, Sam (October 23, 2009). "Matthews becoming Houston's first family of football". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  23. ^ Burston, Rusty (September 1, 2013). 100 Things Texas A&M Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Triumph Books. ISBN 9781623682873.
  24. ^ Marshall, Jamal (May 9, 2016). "JMNFL". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  25. ^ Alexander, Ari (April 26, 2024). "KPRC 2 Athlete of the Week: Braylon Payne, Elkins Baseball". KPRC-TV.
  26. ^ KTRK (September 10, 2019). "Local rapper Travis Scott receives key to Missouri City". ABC13 Houston. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  27. ^ Tezeno, Diane (November 22, 2010). "Crystle Stewart returns home". YourHoustonNews.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  28. ^ "Cyber-bullies terrorize dozens of Fort Bend County girls Archived 2010-06-15 at the Wayback Machine." KHOU, Houston, Texas. Retrieved on June 7, 2011.
  29. ^ "Students at Elkins HS forced to sit on floor during class after desks moved for AP testing". ABC13 Houston. May 2, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.