Westbury High School At 11911 Chimney Rock Rd.

[Alpha]

Removed post

Edited October 19, 2006 by Alpha

[Firebird65]

Nice pics. Almost the same perspective, which makes it easy to compare.

I never went to Westbury... don't know a thing about it. But it sure looks like there were A LOT of changes over the years.

For starters, it appears the school has more than doubled in size. I can see the original building and it appears as if they've added quite a bit in back of it. But it also looks like they took something off the front. If you look at the bottom center part of the school in the sat photo and in your 1966 pic, the front contour appears to be more recessed, as if they removed that 3 story part with what seems like a covered walkway.

What's that over by the baseball diamond in the satellite photo? Are those classrooms? They look almost like temporary buildings. If they are, I sure they give the students plenty of time between classes 'cause that's a hike going from one of those to the front of the school.

I notice that water tower is gone, although there is a circle on the ground where it once stood. But like you, what I don't notice is parking, save for that one tiny lot on the right hand side. Those temporary looking buildings have filled in the 1966 lot. Apparently if you want to drive, you have to park on the street along the left side and top of the picture.

[Alpha]

For starters, it appears the school has more than doubled in size. I can see the original building and it appears as if they've added quite a bit in back of it. But it also looks like they took something off the front. If you look at the bottom center part of the school in the sat photo and in your 1966 pic, the front contour appears to be more recessed, as if they removed that 3 story part with what seems like a covered walkway.

The original three-story classroom building was condemned a few years ago and torn down. They were going to renovate it, but when they went in to inspect it, it was so bad that they immediately shut it down. I believe it had something to do with the foundation. I don't think they even let students come in and empty their lockers. The last part may be wrong, but it's what I heard.

Maybe someone else can verify it.

[sevfiv]

from the Chronicle, July 12, 2001:

As the structurally unsound building is headed toward destruction in the next two months, about 25 portable classrooms are being moved onto campus and situated in the student parking area, Lindsay said. The structures will house about 50 classrooms and provide restroom facilities.

so those temp buildings should be gone now...

[Alpha]

Yep, the portables are gone. The old building has been replaced with a new one.

I know about the new one. It looks great. I wish that the google satellite pics were more up-to-date. I'd love to see an overhead view of the campus now.

[VicMan]

I started to put this in the Westbury Square forum, but I decided to start this one for any Westbury alumni.

I graduated from Westbury in 1966. The left side of this picture is the google image from Westbury now (probably 4 or 5 years ago, considering the age of the google satellite pics.) The one on the right is the end sheet from my 1966 yearbook.

I don't see any large parking lots in the satellite pic. Where are they? I haven't seen Westbury in over 20 years. I should probably drive by and take a look at it.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westbury_High_School_(Houston)

[FreakyDude]

Went there in 1983 for a while. It was a cool school! I heard it went down hill eventually. Don't know for sure.

[Alpha]

Middle-class families haven't abandoned Westbury itself, but they have abandoned Westbury High in droves. For several years now, it has drawn its population primarily from low-rent apartment complexes in the area. Sixty-four percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and the SAT average last year was a dismal 853. WHS also acquired some unwanted notoriety during the 2005-06 school year when fights broke out between Houston students and evacuees from New Orleans, and when a girl was raped in the restroom by a man who walked in off the street.

Nice new building, though.

That really makes me sad. Westbury was only two years old when I started in 1963. I think I got a fantastic education. In the faculty section of the yearbook, it shows that a great many of the teachers had master's degrees.

When I took the advanced placement English test at U of H, I was able to place out of the first semester freshman English. Later I found out that almost everyone from Westbury who took the test placed out of it. We joked that they probably made the test harder the next year.

[pineda]

I attended Westbury in the late '70's. I thought it was a great school at the time also. But, even though the new building is beautiful and expensive-looking, I believe that the recent TEA rating for Westbury was Academically Unacceptable. What a sad legacy...

Edited August 25, 2006 by pineda

[nm5k]

Looks weird with no shopping center on the other side

of gasmer/chimney rock.. I went there 73-75. Back

then, there was a coffee shop across the street.

"Jims Coffee Shop" if I remember right...

Mobil station on the corner.

And then the various stores, and the grocery store

on the end next to the bayou. That was all there when

I moved here in late 69, so they must have built all that

pretty quick if that pix is 66. As far as the layout, buildings,

etc, the 66 pix is very close to what they had in the 70's.

The building by the water tower was the oceanography

building. By the time I went there, Burdine was there on the

east side of the school next to the volleyball/handball

courts, and also the apartments next door on gasmer

were fairly new at that time. Kind of weird seeing no

east side street in that pix... I do seem to see what I

think are the driveway/parking lots for the apartments

across the street on Chimney rock. Probably were fairly new..

When I went to westbury, those that drove cars either

parked on one of the side streets, or in the school

parking lot.. In that recent sat pix, I kinda wonder

where in the heck they are parking... The lots are

full of temp buildings.. The new westbury is a different

school from the one I went to. I didn't realize they

totally bulldozed the old place. I thought they just gutted

and rebuilt the old building to newer standards.. But I

never really looked that close. Remember when HISD

first got A/C in the classrooms... I do.. That was when I

was at Johnston...Bout 70-71.. They used those ceiling

hung units tied into a big chiller.. Worked ok I guess, but

if the chiller went down, naturally they all went down..

The kids today probably wouldn't know how to act with

no a/c.. But it was the norm when I first started school.

It was a big deal when they finally broke down and installed

air conditioning.

MK

[stu]

Looks weird with no shopping center on the other side of gasmer/chimney rock.. I went there 73-75. Back

then, there was a coffee shop across the street. "Jims Coffee Shop" if I remember right... Mobil station on the corner. And then the various stores, and the grocery store on the end next to the bayou. That was all there when I moved here in late 69, so they must have built all that pretty quick if that pix is 66.

This is a great old picture; Yes, stores went up in that corner 67 or 68, because Jim's coffee shop was up by the time I went to 10th grade there in 69. We'd have coffee there before school sometimes. I still remember that clump of trees across Gasmer; earlier it had more surrounding brush too, if i remember correctly, and we'd pick dewberries, and sit up high in a tree fort we had made in that clump of trees.

Up from WB High on the same side of Gasmer, none of those apartments had yet been built.

This image is like a window on a whole 'nother world.. you guys remember assistant principal Fred Pepper?

stu

[nm5k]

Yep, Pepper was there when I was. He might have been

principle at that time though. I remember Rivers Lodge,

and also a new Asst. Washington if I remember right..

I forgot who was the head principle out of that bunch..

It was either Lodge, or Pepper. I don't have a yearbook to

double check..

MK

[Alpha]

Yep, Pepper was there when I was. He might have been

principle at that time though. I remember Rivers Lodge,

and also a new Asst. Washington if I remember right..

I forgot who was the head principle out of that bunch..

It was either Lodge, or Pepper. I don't have a yearbook to

double check..

MK

In the years I was there (63-66) Fred Pepper was a phys ed. teacher. Rivers Lodge was dean of women, Kenneth Gupton was asst. principal, and William Burns was principal. Mr. Burns died the summer after I graduated and Mr. Gupton became principal.

[SpaceAge]

It looks like a lot of the original school remains when comparing the two photos. I attended Robert E. Lee High School and have heard that Westbury and Lee had the same layout. In the newer photo, I see the following areas of the existing school remain:

office

auditorium and possibly drama, chorus and band rooms

court yard space across from auditorium that extended to the library

library

cafeteria

snack bar area

girls locker room

gym

boys locker room

The removal of the long, monotonous three story classroom building is the major change. I cannot remember one interesting architectural feature or pleasant space at Lee. It was a terribly unpleasant, institutional facility. There must have been a lack of funds and/or imagination in HISD in the early 1960s. The elementary schools were still being thoughtfully designed but the junior and senior high schools were bare bones. I have seen Lamar High School, which is only about 15-20 years older, and the differences in quality are astounding.

I wonder if the air conditioners work any better today. When ours went out, which was often, it stayed down for several weeks. They always said they had to wait on a part. Trucks must have only operated once a month back in the late 1970s. The year before I got to Lee, the radical Lee students staged a protest strike and marched the streets around the school due to the lack of air conditioning. It was on all the local news stations and the school reputation was damaged for years.

Johnny Rebel- The Westbury Mascot

It is very much like the Lee mascot. The football games between Westbury and Lee must have been confusing with both sides waving the same flag.

Edited August 29, 2006 by SpaceAge

[Alpha]

I have seen Lamar High School, which is only about 15-20 years older, and the differences in quality are astounding.

I wonder if the air conditioners work any better today. When ours went out, which was often, it stayed down for several weeks. They always said they had to wait on a part. Trucks must have only operated once a month back in the late 1970s. The year before I got to Lee, the radical Lee students staged a protest strike and marched the streets around the school due to the lack of air conditioning. It was on all the local news stations and the school reputation was damaged for years.

I'm not sure when Lamar was built, but my dad went there in the early 40s.

ETA - It was built in 1937.

We had no air conditioning when I was in school. I had to go to college for that. The school where I taught my first two years also had no air conditioning. That was really miserable. They finally got it the third year.

Edited August 29, 2006 by Alpha

[VicMan]

I'm not sure when Lamar was built, but my dad went there in the early 40s.

ETA - It was built in 1937.

We had no air conditioning when I was in school. I had to go to college for that. The school where I taught my first two years also had no air conditioning. That was really miserable. They finally got it the third year.

And my sister went there from fall 2001 to spring 2005.

My sister never had major complaints about LHS. In fact my mom's a big fan of LHS' architecture.

Edited August 29, 2006 by VicMan

[57Tbird]

Yep, Pepper was there when I was. He might have been

principle at that time though. I remember Rivers Lodge,

and also a new Asst. Washington if I remember right..

I forgot who was the head principle out of that bunch..

It was either Lodge, or Pepper. I don't have a yearbook to

double check..

MK

Fred Pepper was my baseball coach at Lamar High School in the early 50's. He was very good. He went to Rice in the mid 40's and was, briefly, a pitcher in the Yankee's farm system before he came to Lamar. I had heard that he eventually became the principal at Westbury.

[nm5k]

Now that I think about it, I think Gupton was the principal

when I was there. Pepper and Lodge were both assistants.

I think Washington came along when I was a junior and was

a third assistant/coach, or something along those lines.

Hard to believe thats already been 30 years ago..

I just was recording and editing some old 8mm stuff from

the late 60's, early 70s. Some is at surfside, and some

was in Westbury. IE: I've got video of the 1973 snow, and

it was shot on W. Bellfort near Mullins. I still remember that

snow.. I was in 10th grade. It's never even come close to

that snow here since then. I made a appx 4mb clip of that

snow video for online use. I'll try to post it sometime later.

Gotta see if I have that much room left. I may need to

delete some old junk.

MK

[50_year_native]

I think I remember that the reason they condemned it (on the spot) a few years ago was that they discovered that the second floor slab was only 3-4 inches thick.

[Alpha]

It looks like a lot of the original school remains when comparing the two photos. I attended Robert E. Lee High School and have heard that Westbury and Lee had the same layout.

I remember that Westbury and Lee look exactly the same. I'm curious, does Lee still have the original three-story classroom building? I would think that it had the same construction as the one at Westbury and probably the same structural problems.

[katy_moonbeam]

I attended Westbury (1975-1978) and currently work near Lee High School. Also briefly attended Lee HS for some HCC classes about 16 years ago. They were almost identical floor plans and looked to be similar construction. Lee HS appears to have only minor if any modifications.

Thanks for the great pictures!

[Ron4tx]

Looks weird with no shopping center on the other side

of gasmer/chimney rock.. I went there 73-75. Back

then, there was a coffee shop across the street.

"Jims Coffee Shop" if I remember right...

Mobil station on the corner.

And then the various stores, and the grocery store

on the end next to the bayou.

The grocery store was "Lewis and Coker"

At the other end of the shopping strip was a BBQ place named "The Pit Stop"

It had a race car theme.

Unfortunately, the addition of apartments on Gasmer was the beginning of the end.

[VicMan]

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=...&id=4802368

A Westbury HS student walking to school was shot twice in the chest/torso area.

The 16-year old ninth grader died at Ben Taub Hospital.

[mrfootball]

Has anyone read this month's Texas Monthly article that goes inside the life of a SW Houston Gang banger? Eerily similar.

[VicMan]

The TV stations released the boy's name. The victim was Julian Ruiz.

[northbeaumont]

Went there in 1983 for a while. It was a cool school! I heard it went down hill eventually. Don't know for sure.

Is Westbury High School in Class 4A or 5A? It sounds like one that's near Lamar High School.

[plumber2]

Lee, Westbury and Worthing were identical schools, approved during the same bond election. Madison and Sterling were identical, same bond election. Scarborough and Lincoln were the same, and for that matter Bellaire and Waltrip were pretty close to being the same too. My dad told me that Reagan and Milby were identical, approved during the same bond election along with Lamar, but Lamar of course was built to look different because of it's superior location at the base of River Oals Blvd.

[VicMan]

Is Westbury High School in Class 4A or 5A? It sounds like one that's near Lamar High School.

Westbury is in 5A now.

Scarborough and Lincoln were the same

What happened to Lincoln High School?

[plumber2]

Westbury is in 5A now.What happened to Lincoln High School?

I don't know, Isn't it still over there off of Tate near West Dallas? Haven't been in those parts for awhile, so maybe it's gone.

[IHB2]

Johnny Rebel- The Westbury Mascot

It is very much like the Lee mascot. The football games between Westbury and Lee must have been confusing with both sides waving the same flag.

that mascot looked good in the back of a Birdkeeper's pickup. Go Cards.

BHS class of 66. I probably knew you Alpha.