Bellaire High School is a comprehensive, foreign language magnet, public secondary school in Bellaire, Texas. Part of the Houston Independent School District, it serves the incorporated city of Bellaire, the Houston community of Meyerland, other adjacent Houston neighborhoods, as well as magnet students from all over the city It has a racially and socioeconomically diverse student body.

History

The school opened in 1955."Bellaire High School official account." Twitter. Retrieved on March 28, 2013. It was originally an all-White high school. Because of the large number of Jewish students, the school had the nickname "Hebrew High".Swartz, Mimi. "The Gangstas of Godwin Park" (Archive). Texas Monthly. June 1, 2006. Jun2006, Vol. 34 Issue 6, p132. Retrieved on November 2, 2011. See profile at EBSCOHost

Bellaire introduced International Baccalaureate programs in 1980.Peterson, Alexander Duncan Campbell. Schools Across Frontiers: The Story of the International Baccalaureate and the United World Colleges. Open Court Publishing, 2003. (First edition: 1987) , 9780812695052. p. 159.

In the mid-to-late 1980s, families began moving into Bellaire and Meyerland. These families tore down many older houses and built new ones. This gave Bellaire High School a population of wealthier students. At the same time apartments formerly housing White singles began to house low-income immigrants. Bellaire added Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs to encourage White parents to send their children to Bellaire. Parents strove to get their children into the classes. Mimi Swartz of the Texas Monthly said "But these outstanding academic programs created, over time, a school within a school, in which the smartest kids with the most advantages took the IB and AP tracks, while everyone else was relegated to classes that, for various reasons—discipline problems, less talented teachers, lower standards—just weren't as good."

In January 1987, Bellaire was offering the Arabic language for the second year."LANGUAGES DRAWING STUDENTS Houston schools increase offerings to meet demands ." Associated Press at The Dallas Morning News. Wednesday January 7, 1987. News 11B. Retrieved on November 28, 2011. In 1987 the school also offered Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Latin, Russian, and Spanish.

In September 1991, Bellaire was one of 32 HISD schools that had capped enrollments; in other words the school was filled to capacity and excess students had to attend other schools.Markley, Melanie. "32 schools hit enrollment cap" (Archive). Houston Chronicle. Thursday September 26, 1991. A17. Retrieved on April 24, 2009.

Bellaire High School was remodeled in the 1992–1993 period.

By the 2000s Bellaire placed on the lists of the top performing high schools in the United States. Athletic and academic programs won national and international awards. At the same time, disciplinary infractions increased. From the 1999–2000 school year to the 2003–2004 school year, the total number of disciplinary actions increased from 441 to 1,082 and the number of in-school suspensions increased from 336 to 855. In February 2006, a stabbing involving two male freshmen occurred in a school stairwell. The victim survived the stabbing while the perpetrator was arrested and prosecuted.Bellaire High School stabbing suspect gets plea deal, KHOU-TV.com - March 16, 2006

During the same year Todd Spivak of the Houston Press reported about the school in the magazine's feature "These Kids Go to the Best Public High School in Houston". Spivak said that Bellaire High School had "strong, consistent leadership and a diverse student population" but that it received a lower rating due to a "surprisingly high dropout rate." Spivak said that the survey indicated that Bellaire graduated two thirds of its students. Dr. Robert Sanborn, president and CEO of the Children at Risk organization, said that at Bellaire an achievement gap existed between the top-performing students and the lowest-performing students.Spivak, Todd. "The Also-Rans." Houston Press. March 2, 2006. Retrieved on April 20, 2009.

In 2007, 13 percent of high school-aged children zoned to Bellaire chose to attend a different Houston ISD school.Radcliffe, Jennifer. "Critics: In HISD, too many don't go where zoned / Black leaders argue bond has no fix to get kids back to schools in their neighborhoods." Houston Chronicle. Sunday October 14, 2007. B1 MetFront.

In 2010, Magnet Schools of America, a nonprofit, released a report recommending that Bellaire's magnet program be abolished, due to overcrowding of the school.Mellon, Ericka. "Report: HISD should drop 55 magnet programs." Houston Chronicle. January 7, 2011. Retrieved on January 7, 2011.

In 2011, the Brays Oaks district expanded."Parks & Recreation." Brays Oaks. Retrieved on October 23, 2011. A small portion of Bellaire High School attendance zone became a part of the district."Enroll_Expansion.pdf ." Brays Oaks Management District. Retrieved on October 23, 2011.

In 2014, HISD superintendent Terry Grier stated that Bellaire should reduce its enrollment to around 3,000 students.Mellon, Ericka. "Grier: 3 popular HISD high schools must reduce enrollment ." Houston Chronicle. October 16, 2014. Retrieved on October 17, 2014.

After Chevron Corporation announced it was selling its office complex in Bellaire in 2016, HISD officials considered the idea of buying the property so a new Bellaire High School could be built there. Instead HISD decided to rebuild Bellaire High on its current site. In 2017 HISD announced plans to demolish the Gordon Elementary School/former Mandarin Immersion Magnet School campus in Bellaire so Bellaire High School's baseball practice field could be relocated there, allowing HISD to easily rebuild the high school main campus.

On January 14, 2020, there was a fatal shooting where a senior died. The suspect received a manslaughter charge. The district attorney of Harris County stated that the evidence so far supports that the suspect had no intention of committing murder. HISD interim superintendent Grenita Latham stated that the district was exploring plans for metal detectors.

Around April 2021, the school announced there would be 9 students tied in the place for valedictorian for the spring graduating class of 2021.

Plans to demolish the main building began in summer of 2021. On May 15, 2021, visitors went through a final walk-through event before demolition.

Academic programs Mimi Swartz of Texas Monthly said in 2006 that Bellaire was "arguably the city's best public school" and "prestigious." Lynwood Abram of the Houston Chronicle said in 2006 that Bellaire is "academically acclaimed".Abram, Lynwood. "Former Bellaire High principal David McLure dies of cancer." Houston Chronicle. Sunday August 6, 2008. Retrieved on November 23, 2011. Jason Spencer of the Houston Chronicle said that the current principal and formal principal said that Bellaire has a "reputation for academic excellence" because, in the words of former principal Hilbert Bludau, "Parents felt ownership of that school."Spencer, Jason. "50 years of caring for Bellaire High." Houston Chronicle. Sunday October 8, 2005. Retrieved on December 3, 2011. Cathy Mincberg, an HISD trustee, said in 1993 that "There isn't a private school in Houston that can beat Bellaire High School."Asin, Stephanie. "GOING BY DIFFERENT BOOKS/More private institutions get the call". Houston Chronicle. August 8, 1993. Section C, Page 1. Retrieved July 21, 2011.

As of 2008, each year the school has about thirty National Merit Scholars. In 2005 it had 40 National Merit Scholars. Of 3,400 students, 323 were AP Scholars in 2005. Colleges and universities which have accepted Bellaire High School graduates include all 2016–2017 U.S. News & World Report Top 10 Ranked National Universities, ranked: Princeton University, Harvard University, University of Chicago, Yale University, Columbia University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University"Bellaire High School 2015–2016 School Profile"." Houston Independent School District. as well as many more. As of 2008 Bellaire's yearbook, the Carillion, frequently wins high school yearbook awards.Viren, Sarah. "Yearbooks vanish from Houston schools in Facebook era." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday May 13, 2008. Retrieved on October 25, 2011. The school typically has the highest SAT scores in the district. Bludau said that some parents tried to use political connections to ensure that their children entered Bellaire.

Out of over 20,000 high schools in the United States, the school ranked number 80th,"The Top High Schools" Newsweek via Cold Spring Harbor High School. 2002 86th,"2003 List: The Top High Schools" Newsweek. May 24, 2003 112th,"The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools" Newsweek. August 5, 2005 109th,"The Complete List of the 1,200 Top U.S. Schools" Newsweek. May 23, 2006 and 100th"The Top of the Class: The Complete list of the 1300 top U.S. high schools" Newsweek. May 19, 2008 in Newsweeks 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 lists of the top high schools in the United States, respectively. The Challenge Index ranks schools by the number of AP and IB tests taken by students at a school in 2002 divided by the number of graduating seniors. 323 students at Bellaire High School in the 2004–2005 academic year earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program Exams.

Bellaire led the Houston Independent School District in number of National Merit Program Finalists.

Bellaire High School has Advanced Placement and IB Diploma Programme (International Baccalaureate) programs. Bellaire High School has been an IB World School since September 1979. In the last examination session, students completed the following exams (in both standard and higher levels): Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, English A1, French B, Geography, German B, Hindi B, Italian B, Latin, Mandarin B, Mathematics, Music, Physics, Psychology, Russian B, Spanish Ab., Spanish B, Theory of Knowledge, and Visual Arts. In the 2005–2006 school year, there were 24 students who successfully received their IB Diplomas."Bellaire High School" International Baccalaureate Organization. 2005

Athletics

Bellaire's main athletic rival is Lamar High School.Jenkins, Jeff. "Bellaire, Lamar in fight for an edge" (Archive). Houston Chronicle. Thursday October 20, 2005. Retrieved on September 26, 2015.Jenkins, Jeff. "Surging Bellaire to pose daunting task for Lamar in battle for 21-5A title" (Archive). Houston Chronicle. Thursday October 21, 2004. Retrieved on September 26, 2015.

School culture According to an October 2004 Whatkidscando.org report called "Students as Allies in Improving Their High Schools", in many of Houston ISD's top high schools, including Bellaire, over one half of students are enrolled in high-level courses. According to the surveys given by the organization, many of the students at the schools cited academic pressure issues. 82 percent stated that they do not miss school during illnesses, stating that the makeup work would be too difficult."Students as Allies in Improving Their High Schools" Whatkidscando.org October 2004

Many parents volunteer at Bellaire. The parent-teacher organization has multiple committees. In 2005 the parents opened a "college information center".

In 2006 Mimi Swartz said in Texas Monthly that the school was socially stratified. She said because drugs were "plentiful" in Meyerland, one community zoned to Bellaire, the drug culture among students "would surprise no one. Drugs were everywhere, as socially segmented and niche marketed—bars (Xanax) for the rich kids, weed for the gang bangers, meth for the goths—as the designer sneakers and expensive handbags the students coveted."