Madison High School (Houston)

James Madison Junior-Senior High School was opened on September 8, 1965. In February 1968, Dick Dowling Junior High School (now Audrey Lawson Middle School) was opened and James Madison became a high school that temporarily taught 9th graders for that first year. By the next year, it was for grades 10 through 12.^[5]

In 1974 Carrie Rochon McAfee became the principal of Madison and worked there for 15 years. She was the first woman to become the principal of a traditional public high school in Texas. The Madison community knows her as "Marlin Mama."^[6]

In the northern hemisphere fall of 1981, Madison again covered the ninth grade.^[7]

In the 1980s the school was called the "James Madison Academy of International Education."^[8]

The magnet program opened in 1995 with a partnership with KPRC-TV (Channel 2).^[5]

In 2007, a study by the Associated Press and Johns Hopkins University referred to Madison as a "dropout factory" where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year.^[9]

In the period 2014-2019 Madison had five principals. In early 2019, Carlotta Outley Brown, previously principal of Peck Elementary School, became the principal; this occurred at the mid-point of the second semester of the 2018–2019 school year.^[10]

Madison is in Houston's neighborhood "Hiram Clarke" nearby Hiram Clarke Road and West Orem Street, a major thoroughfare.^[5]

Houston neighborhoods served by Madison^[11] include portions of Almeda, Link Valley and the Hiram Clarke area, including Dumbarton Village, Almeda Plaza, Almeda Manor, Brentwood, Keswick Place, Westbrook, Krogerville, Briarwick, Townwood, Cambridge Village, Corinthian Pointe,^[12] Glen Iris (including Angel Lane), Meredith Manor, Pamela Heights, Post Oak Village,^[13] Summerlyn , San Pablo ^{[permanent dead link]}, Willow Glen, and Windsor Village. In addition portions of unincorporated Harris County are served by Madison. One Houston Housing Authority public housing complex, Peninsula Park, is zoned to Madison High.^[14]

In 1970 Westwood, along with some other White communities, was rezoned from Westbury High School to Madison because of a court ruling. By 1990, Madison was 1% White while Westbury was about 50% Black, 25% White, 15% Hispanic, and 10% Asian. In 1992 an attendance boundary shift occurred but Westwood was still in the Madison zone. The Westwood community advocated for a rezoning to Westbury,^[15] and after the community gave a presentation to the HISD board, the board unanimously rezoned the community to Westbury.^[16]

As of 2019^[update] the students are required to wear school uniforms. In 2019 principal Outley Brown instituted a dress code for parents visiting the school.^[10] The principal instituted this after objecting to the dress of a parent trying to register her child for school.^[17] This dress code bars parents from wearing pajamas, hair rollers, satin caps, shower caps, and other casual items.^[18]

As of the 2016–2017 school year, 1,661 students attended Madison.^[19]

By race/ethnicity:

• 58% were Hispanic
• 40% were African American
• 1% were white
• 1% were Asian-Pacific Islanders
• Less than 1% were Native American
• Less than 1% were of 2 or more races/ethnicities

The following elementary schools feed into Madison High School:^[11]

• Fondren ^[20]
• Grissom ^[21]
• Hines-Caldwell ^[22]
• Hobby^[23]
• Montgomery^[24]
• Petersen^[25]
• Windsor Village^[26]

(partial)

• Shearn^[27]

All elementary and middle school students of Reagan K-8 are zoned to Madison.^[28][29] Portions of the Dowling Middle School,^[30] Pershing Middle School^[31] and Welch Middle School boundaries feed into Madison.^[32] Any students zoned to Pershing may apply to Pin Oak Middle School's regular program, so Pin Oak also feeds into Madison.^[33]

• Michael Arceneaux - Author of I Can't Date Jesus^[34]
• Kirk Baptiste - 1984 Olympics silver medalist.^{[35][better source needed]}
• Lance Blanks - Former basketball player for the Detroit Pistons. (Did not graduate from Madison)^{[35][better source needed]}
• Brett Cullen - Actor^{[35] [better source needed]}
• Donald Jordan - former NFL running back
• Garry Kimble - former NFL cornerback
• Greg Kite - Former basketball player for the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Sacramento Kings, the Orlando Magic, the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers.^{[35] [better source needed]}
• Chuck LaMar First General Manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Baseball Club ^{[citation needed]}
• Tommy Mason-Griffin - Professional basketball player. ^{[citation needed]}
• Chad Jackson - Former American basketball player and Ozone award-winning Music writer ^{[citation needed]}
• Jerel Myers - Former American football player of the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins.
• Moran Norris - Fullback for the Houston Texans.^[36]
• Richard Seals - former NFL defensive tackle
• Broderick Thomas - Former American football player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Dallas Cowboys
• Vince Young - Former American football player ^{[citation needed]}

• McAdams, Donald R. Fighting to Save Our Urban Schools-- and Winning!: Lessons from Houston. Teachers College Press, 2000. ISBN 0807770353, 9780807770351.