Margaret Long Wisdom High School (formerly Robert E. Lee High School) is a publicly funded secondary school located in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States. It is part of the Houston Independent School District, the seventh largest school district in the United States.
Wisdom is a public admission school and enrolls grades 9 through 12 (ages 14–18). The school serves the neighborhoods of Uptown, Briargrove, Westchase, and Gulfton areas of the city of Houston.
The school is named after teacher Margaret Long "Tiny" Wisdom (October 2, 1922–November 16, 2006)."" Words of Wisdom, Wisdom High School Student News. Retrieved on August 28, 2016.
History Early history Wisdom High School was originally Robert E. Lee Senior High School, named after Robert E. Lee. It opened in 1962 to relieve high attendance at Lamar and Bellaire High Schools."Lee High School Where the World Comes To Learn," Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory Lee's first principal, Woodrow Watts, was previously the principal of Lamar. After its opening, Lee became Lamar's primary athletic rival. At that time, Lee High School had a white and mostly affluent and suburban student body.
For its first 25 years, Robert E. Lee High School built a comprehensive suburban high school, drawing students primarily from Afton Oaks, Tanglewood, Briargrove, Briarcroft/Briarmeadow, and Rivercrest/Briargrove Park/Walnut Bend neighborhoods, all south of Buffalo Bayou.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy's Robert E. Lee chapter 186 supported the school in its early years; it donated portraits of Lee, gave American Civil War-related books to the library, and gave the school a rebel flag. The school's symbol is the Lee family coat of arms, which has a squirrel on the top holding a nut.Grossman, Wendy. "Tee Time." Houston Press. November 13, 2003. 1. Retrieved on March 4, 2010.
Post-1980s
As times changed, the demographic of Lee's student body shifted. As of 2008, it was made up predominantly of first- and second-generation Hispanic immigrants.Viadero, Debra. "Personal Touches" (Archive). Education Week. June 16, 2004. Retrieved on March 4, 2010. Available on EBSCOHost. Lee's multi-ethnic population changes parallel Houston's immigration waves, beginning with the Vietnamese families in the early 1980s. With the change in apartment housing rules in the 1980s, both the community and the school population changed. The demographic of Lee's student body shifted significantly in the 1990s, as Hispanic students from the south zone (Gulfton area) became the overwhelming majority of the student body. Lee became one of the largest in the region by the late 1990s.
From 1990 to 1991, Yvonne Gonzalez, later a school superintendent, served as Lee's principal.Markley, Melanie. "Hispanic named interim HISD superintendent." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday February 1, 1994. A17. Retrieved on November 12, 2011.
Stacey Childress, author of Transforming Public Education: Cases in Education Entrepreneurship, wrote that in the mid-1990s Lee "was one of Houston's most feared schools" due to the surrounding area having one of the highest rates of juvenile crime in the state and the school having the lowest rate of English fluency in Houston.Childress, Stacey. Transforming Public Education: Cases in Education Entrepreneurship. Harvard Education Press, March 30, 2010. , 9781934742433. p. 16 (View #2 - See search page/Search page #2). "[...]summer of 1995 to prepare for their school openings.[...]Lee High was one of Houston's most feared schools. The school had the highest ratio of English-deficient students of any school in the city, and its zip code had one of the worst juvenile crime profiles in Texas."
Lee's student body was relieved of about 1,000 students when Westside High School, about west of Lee, opened in 2000, removing the last significant numbers of middle-class students and non-Hispanic White students.
Around 2000 the school dropped "Robert E." from its name, removed its portraits of Robert E. Lee, and changed its logo to a four-point, star-bodied person. Principal Steve Amstutz said around that year, "People think we stole it from Cingular." The star in the logo juggles 10 balls, representing the school's 10 learning communities established around that year. The learning communities were part of a $68 million Houston ISD initiative to personalize and improve high schools throughout the district, reflecting a national trend of personalizing education in high schools.
Newcomer Charter High School (as of 2007, known as Liberty High School) was opened in January 2005 and housed in Lee High School. In 2006 it was scheduled to move into a new campus at 6400 Southwest Freeway (U.S. Highway 59)."Students at HISD’s Newcomer Charter School Make History . Houston Independent School District. September 27, 2006. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
According to Houston ISD's October 2006 "For Your Information" newsletter, Lee was one of four high schools that took the most refugees from Hurricane Katrina.
In the 2005–2006 school year, Houston ISD was required to provide free tutoring to low-income students at Lee because for three consecutive years, Lee did not meet the academic targets set by the federal No Child Left Behind act. 2,912 students at Lee High School, Marshall Middle School, and Kay On-Going Education Center qualified for the tutoring. The tutoring, which covered the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), began on February 4, 2006. On the three campuses, 74 students (3% of the eligible students) enrolled in the tutoring program. Mercedes Alejandro of the group Parents for Public Schools accused Houston ISD of not effectively communicating that the tutoring was available to the communities at the schools.Radcliffe, Jennifer. "Few HISD students sign up for tutors." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday February 21, 2006. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
In 2007, a study by Johns Hopkins University and the Associated Press referred to Lee among American high schools designated as "dropout factories," where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year."Report points to 'dropout factories'," Houston Chronicle, October 31, 2007
In the summer of 2007, YES Prep Lee—a charter middle school—began leasing space on the third floor of Lee High School, paying $65,000 annually. YES Prep intended to grow its school to around 700 students in grades 6 through 12 with 30 classrooms.Radcliffe, Jennifer. "YES PREP PROGRAM / Unveiling a unique education alliance / Up to 130 charter school 6th-graders will attend classes at HISD's Lee High School campus this fall" (). Houston Chronicle. Thursday July 12, 2007. B1 MetFront. Retrieved on March 8, 2010. YES and charter officials wanted state officials to pass a bill allowing schools occupying the same campus to share test scores; the bill failed.Radcliffe, Jennifer. "Yes Prep, Lee High School part ways ." Houston Chronicle. January 16, 2010. Retrieved on October 19, 2010.
In 2008, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates visited Lee and YES Prep.Mellon, Ericka. "Bill Gates' secret trip to Houston ." Houston Chronicle. November 14, 2008. Retrieved on February 5, 2011.
In December 2009, YES Prep relocated all 400 students in the Lee program, and in January 2010 the board of YES Prep voted to terminate its partnership with Lee High School. YES Prep Lee is now called YES Prep Gulfton."YES Prep Lee ." YES Prep Public Schools. Retrieved on March 8, 2010.
In 2010, Amstutz stopped being the principal of Lee but continued to be an employee of Houston ISD.Connelly, Richard. "Latest Principal Shifts In HISD Bring Grumbling ." Houston Press. Wednesday January 27, 2010. Retrieved on September 8, 2011. Houston ISD did not state whether his departure was voluntary or involuntary.Mellon, Ericka. "New Lee High School principal leaving for KIPP ." Houston Chronicle. March 31, 2010. Retrieved on February 5, 2011. Paul Castro from Westside High School was transferred to become the new principal of Lee High School.Radcliffe, Jennifer. "The two faces of Lee High." (Archive) Houston Chronicle. February 8, 2010. Retrieved on March 3, 2010. Mimi Swartz of Texas Monthly described Castro as "popular and successful." However, he resigned after only three months,Falkenberg, Lisa. "Falkenberg: Why did Paul Castro decide to leave Lee?." Houston Chronicle. April 6, 2010. Retrieved on April 7, 2010. reportedly (again from Swartz) because Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier "was dismissive of [Castro] during a meeting." In April 2010 Grier announced that he had an improvement plan for Lee.Mellon, Ericka. "HISD sets improvement plan for troubled schools." Houston Chronicle. April 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 6, 2011. Xochitl Rodriguez-Davila was promoted from Houston ISD's Stonewall Jackson Middle School leader to Lee's 18th principal (its 14th since 1990) in July 2010. During that summer Newsweek ranked Lee among "America's Best High Schools."Spencer, Jason. "Newsweek ranks Houston ISD's Lee among nation's elite ." Houston Chronicle. June 14, 2010. Retrieved on June 16, 2010.
The Houston ISD board voted to give the school its current name in 2016.Clemons, Tracy. "HISD approves name changes for seven schools" (Archive). KTRK-TV. Thursday May 12, 2016. Retrieved on May 21, 2016.
The school was featured on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, and principal Jonathan Trinh gave an interview on that show."." Student News Site of Wisdom High School. October 27, 2016. Retrieved on November 3, 2016.
In 2019, Michelle Wagner became the principal.
In 2022, there were conflicts between students of Afghan origin and those with origins in Latin America.
Facility
In 2010 Lisa Falkenberg said "The Lee of today, with its crumbling façade and graffiti on nearby buildings, is far from the glistening school on the prairie that opened in 1962 to relieve overcrowding at prestigious Lamar High."Falkenberg, Lisa. "Lee alums not ready to give up." Houston Chronicle. April 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 6, 2011. As of 2010, one of the brick façades outside one of the entrances had bricks missing. Lisa Falkenberg of the Houston Chronicle said that it was "left to gape like a toothless mouth for the past eight years."Falkenberg, Lisa. "Lee alumni reach across the decades." Houston Chronicle. May 3, 2010. Retrieved on May 4, 2010. After Xochitl Rodriguez-Davila was hired as the Lee principal, she arranged a campus facelift.Baird, Annette. "Principal ready to change perception." Houston Chronicle. August 22, 2010. Retrieved on February 7, 2011.
During that year, Houston ISD reported that two distinct portions of the 49-year-old main school building's foundation are sinking into the ground at different rates.Connelly, Richard. "Lee High School Is Sinking!! " Houston Press. Thursday July 15, 2010. Retrieved on July 16, 2010.
However, with the passing of the 2012 Bond Proposition, Lee would become one of the first campuses to receive a new school building as soon as 2016. A new building would relieve many of the conflicts Lee was facing, similar to when Westside High School was established in 2000.
Student body
Wisdom High School had 2,260 students during the 2022–23 school year."Lee High School Profile ." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on August 31, 2011. They are drawn largely from its attendance zone, whose borders are Bellaire Boulevard, Gessner Road, Buffalo Bayou, and IH 610 West. A smaller percentage of magnet students come from multiple other zones within the Houston ISD boundaries. The ethnic diversity breakdown of the 2022–23 student body is: 6.5% White American 8.6% Asian American 71.8% Hispanic American 12.5% African American 0.2% Native American