Into the 21st Century

In the summer of 1969, the world watched as the U.S. landed the first man on the Moon. Before Neil Armstrong uttered the famous phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," the first sentence he spoke back to Earth was, "Houston, Tranquility Base here; the Eagle has landed," signifying the importance of Houston's mission control in the Moon landing. While Houston's role in the Apollo mission earned the city the title "Space City U.S.A.," by the 1970s the excitement of the Moon landing was over, the Apollo budget dropped sharply, and the program come to an end in 1972. The next decade would no longer be defined by space, but by returning to a resource deep within the ground that helped Houston's economy boom a half century earlier--oil.[1] 

In the early 1970s, following an oil crisis in the Middle East, the U.S. increasingly began to rely on domestic oil production. Over the course of the decade, Houston’s reputation as a petrochemical center brought the city a new title as the world's "energy capital," with Houston being dubbed the world's "International City." At a time when much of the country was crippled by 1970s "stagflation," Houston's economy was booming due to rising oil prices, and as a result, between 1970 and 1982 its population doubled.[2] 

A brief oil bust in the 1980s threatened the city's reliance on fossil fuel as its main source of economic progress. However, by the end of the 1980s the crisis had subsided and the city had diversified its economic portfolio to include industries like health care, a development that would lead to the creation of the largest medical network in the world and earn the city yet another name--"hospital city." Despite the city's economic recovery and diversification, at the end of the 20th and into the 21st century, the city of Houston continues to face major challenges brought by the very industries that facilitated its rise. Although its vast medical complex is world renowned, Houston residents remain one the highest uninsured populations in the country and Houston's oil refining and petrochemical industries are major culprits fueling the global climate change crisis. For the students of Davis and across HISD, the decades that straddled the new millennium would be filled with both grand opportunities and unprecedented challenges.[3]

 In the 1980s and 1990s, ongoing educational inequality resulting from the limits of the previous decade's reforms combined with large-scale deregulation and deindustrialization of the American economy created new challenges for public schools in Houston and around the country. Over these decades, schools began to rely more heavily on businesses and non-profit organizations to fill in the gaps caused by lack of federal and state funding, dropping enrollment and an increasingly diverse student population that required more resources to achieve success.

Following a 1983 government report, A Nation at Risk, which misleadingly argued that the failure of public schools in the U.S. was driving American deindustrialization and the decline in the competitiveness of American businesses, business leaders and government officials began to view public education and the economic success of the U.S. and intimately intertwined. It was in this context that business interests began to play an increasingly direct role in public school reform efforts throughout the country and began to push a movement toward high-stakes, standardized testing to measure academic progress in terms of global economic competition.[4]

Faced with a lack of resources to meet the needs of its diverse student population and hoping to address its rising dropout rate, Davis High School was one of the first HISD schools to implement a school-business partnership. The partnership between Davis High and the Tenneco oil company started in 1981, earlier than many other partnerships, but it was not until the late-1980s under the leadership of Principal Emily Cole that the partnership began to bear fruit. With funding received through its business partnership, Davis High began working with a local community group called The Metropolitan Organization (TMO) that provided the on-the-ground organizing skills needed to mobilize the Davis community. Tapping into local, historic institutions like Holy Name Catholic Church, the school community began organizing campaigns like the Walk for Success, block-walking through the Northside neighborhood, building relationships with students and parents, and informing the community of all the programs Davis High had to offer. The Walk for Success organizing culminated into a mass parent assembly in the Davis auditorium, an event that filled the space to capacity. The assembly was followed by workshops that further educated parents about their child's education and informed them about opportunities and resources. Efforts like the Walk for Success demonstrated that a well-organized coalition of community activists, neighborhood institutions, dedicated administration and staff could mobilize the community toward student success.[5]

Despite the modest success seen at campuses like Davis, as the limits of the previous era of reform set in, HISD schools continued to struggle. In the fall of 1989, over 1,000 students from the predominately Hispanic Stephen F. Austin High School staged a walkout to protest overcrowding, lack of resources and high-stakes testing. This walkout was followed by a wave of walkouts in several other schools across the city. It was in the wake of these protests that national talk show host Geraldo Rivera taped a show in Houston titled "High School Horror and High School Heroes." Prior to taping, he toured HISD schools, including Davis High, whose yearbook noted that "Davis was in the hero class."[6] 

Echoing the previous administration’s emphasis on the role of American education in the global economy, in 1989, newly elected President George H.W. Bush championed national educational goals that he argued would make the U.S. number one in math and science over the next decade. It was in this context that the programs at Davis High caught the attention of the nation's political leaders. In 1991, first lady Barbara Bush visited the Davis campus to show support for a Communities in Schools (CIS) dropout prevention initiative. Commenting on the first lady's visit, senior Michael Porter remarked that despite the image of the Bush family as "superior and perfect" Barbara appeared to be "real down-to-earth." At the time Davis still faced a dropout rate that was higher than the district average and programs like CIS helped connect students to a network of caring adults and resources to help them overcome the challenges that led to dropping out.[7] 

In 1993, a proposed city tax increase generated significant debate among businesses and property owners alike and ultimately helped spur a more intensive culture of school-business partnerships in HISD. The following year, HISD hired Superintendent Rod Page, HISD's first African American superintendent, who further embraced the school-business partnerships like the one Davis helped pioneer. Over the course of his first year, the district developed over 2,000 of these school-business partnerships.[8] 

These partnerships, however, came with drawbacks. The programs offered by business partners like Tenneco were often narrow in scope, focusing on small scholarships and mentorship programs, and did not address root causes of ongoing systemic racism and economic inequality that undergirded the problems faced by the district's urban schools. Democratic processes that involved community leadership often came secondary to the interests and goals of business partners. To this day, despite these deficits, low income schools within HISD and in districts around the state continue to rely on a patchwork of business and non-profit partnerships to make up for the gaping holes that continue to pervade school finance.[9]

Despite the challenges of school finance, Davis sports in the 1980s and 90s provided the perfect metaphor for a struggling school that was eventually able to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Years of budget cuts and demographic changes had taken their toll on Davis sports. By 1985, dilapidated sports facilities and a dwindling pool of athletes contributed to a Davis football losing streak that lasted from 1985-1993--the longest in U.S. high school football history. In the early 1990s, the Houston Post covered the story, reporting that "Tired of being called 'losers' by friends and rival schools because of their football team's inability to win a game since 1985, the students want to set the record straight." One student remarked, "We might not have the best football team...But we are fully equipped with the power to strive for success and achieve all the way through graduation." Although Davis football struggled for a gridiron win, years of community effort to improve Davis academics had born fruit, with the number of Davis students choosing higher education doubling between 1989 and 1992.[10] 

To everyone's great surprise, after eight years of losses, in 1993 Davis High made national headlines when it broke the losing streak. In the fall of that year, the Post reported that "Davis broke its national record 80-game losing streak Saturday night with a 19-18 victory over Wheatley at Delmar Stadium, more than eight years since its last victory..." Following the historic win, Principal Emily Cole remarked that "All we hear about is how bad teen-agers are...It would be great if we could show, just once, how neat teen-agers are and how they don't give up when they have a goal." The win was so significant that HISD was in talks with producers to create a made-for-TV movie about the saga.[11] 

As the 20th century came to a close, Davis High continued to be a source of pride for the Northside community, producing professional athletes in both boxing and baseball. In 1999, recent Davis alumni Rocky Juarez won the World Champion Boxer title and the following year won silver in the 2000 Olympics. In 2002, Davis High celebrated its 75th anniversary. Juarez, who still runs a boxing gym in the community, celebrated alongside members of the 1942 Davis championship basketball team, alumni and Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Slater Martin, musician Kenny Rogers and many other noteworthy alumni. Assistant principal Oscar Garza noted that "though the demographics of the school have changed over the years, the schools record of achievement still remains high."[13]

As Davis crossed into the 21st century, Class of 1999 baseball star Carl Crawford went on to play major league baseball for the Tampa Bay Rays. Over the years Crawford has continued to support Northside athletics and in June of 2021, a ribbon cutting ceremony honored Crawford who funded the renovation of the Northside baseball field which was named "Carl Crawford Field." Both Juarez and Crawford continue to be inspirational fixtures in the Northside community.[14]

In the early 2000s and 2010s, many of the alumni that made Davis High exceptional were being both remembered and memorialized. In 2015, 91-year-old Davis alumni John Kressley, who missed his 1942 graduation because of World War II, was finally awarded his diploma after 73 years. The Kressley family thanked Davis registrar Vanessa Rios and Vice Principal Victor Okoli for their efforts in the process. In 2016 and 2017, other notable alumni were being memorialized: WWII hero Cecil "Red" Easley passed away in 2016, one week after his 94th birthday and WWII Army veteran Collie Mustachia passed away the following year at the age of 95. As those of Davis High's "Greatest Generation" began to pass away, the generations of alumni who integrated Davis in the civil rights era began celebrating their 50th reunions. At the same time, the torch of greatness was being passed to the new generation of students who would call Davis, soon to be changed to Northside High, their home.[15]

The 21st century has presented both challenges and opportunities for the Northside community. In 2016, as the HISD school board debated renaming the district's Confederate-named schools, the Chronicle ran community letters debating the merits and drawbacks of the name change. Some argued that the financial cost of changing the names was not worth it given the district's financial challenges. Others, however, argued that the district should have acted much earlier, and that the cost of changing the names was "unfortunate but worthwhile." While many celebrated the name changes as HISD correcting the district's Jim Crow past, others remained skeptical that the changes were purely cosmetic, a substitute for the structural changes needed to guarantee HISD students an equitable education and future.[16]

That same year, as the name change went into effect, the Northside community mourned the loss of eleven-year-old Josue Flores who was tragically killed walking home from school. In the wake of this tragedy, a group of Northside mothers organized the "Safe Walk Home" initiative to ensure student safety to and from school, an effort that continues to this day. The "Safe Walk Home" program echoes previous efforts such as the "Walk for Success" program a decade earlier, demonstrating the community's commitment to its children's safety and success across generations. At the 2022 Northside High School graduation, the Northside community honored both Josue and former Northside student Leticia Serrano, who also passed away tragically, both of whom would have been Class of 2022 graduates. The Class of 2022 dedicated the ceremony to their honor.[17]

The recent past has posed continued challenges, challenges that the Northside community has rallied together to overcome. As the reality of climate change continues to worsen, the catastrophic destruction brought by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 paralyzed the city of Houston and delayed the start of the 2017-18 school year. Many HISD families continued to recover years later. Despite this major setback, like the generations of the Great Depression and WWII, the families of the Northside and the staff of Northside High pulled together to meet this challenge.[18]

In the spring of that same school year, as the country learned of another mass school shooting, students around the country and in HISD organized against school gun violence. Like their predecessors in the 1960s, with the support of district officials, thousands of students throughout the district staged walkouts to make their opposition to gun violence heard. At Northside High, hundreds of students rallied at the football field and student protesters gave speeches about the impact of gun violence and the power of student activism. One sign read, "Asian, Latin, Black and white, to Stop Gun Violence, We Must Unite!" Dozens of protesting students then marched through the main hallway chanting, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, gun violence has got to go!" and "Donald Trump escucha, estamos en la lucha!" And once again in 2023, Northside students joined thousands across the district in a walkout to oppose the hostile takeover of HISD by the Texas Education Agency.[19] 

Northside High School Renovation, 2012-2019

In 2020, the COVID pandemic posed yet another challenge. Following the incompetence of federal and state officials, many of  whom downplayed the seriousness of the crisis, HISD officials took matters into their own hands, closing schools for the remainder of the spring semester and converting to a hybrid learning model the following school year. As of 2022, even as the worst of the COVID crisis has subsided, new challenges for Northside loom on the horizon. As Houston's population continues to grow, gentrification has become a major source of class and racial transformation for schools throughout HISD and their surrounding residential neighborhoods. The Hardy Yards, once the center of industrial and economic life of the Northside is being converted into high priced apartments by profit-driven real estate developers. As property values in the Northside continue to rise, families with historical roots in the community are being forced to leave in search of more affordable housing. Over the coming years, residential gentrification promises to once again transform the ethnic makeup of the area.[20]

As the Northside High School approaches its centennial milestone, the future of the Northside community remains open ended and full of possibilities. For over a century, the Northside community has experienced massive changes but has also retained its working-class roots. The Northside helped build the wealth that allowed Houston to boom in the early part of the 20th century, sacrificed in WWII to ensure the defeat of fascism and in the 1960 and 1970s demanded equal educational opportunities, fighting to improve the education system for future generations. Those who live on the Northside today and the dedicated staff and students who work at and attend Northside High are the torchbearers of a 100-year legacy and standing on the shoulders of the giants who came before, work tirelessly and strive to continue to make Northside High School the "Pride of the Northside."