Evan Edward Worthing Early College High School is a secondary school located in the Sunnyside area of Houston, Texas, United States.
Worthing serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Houston Independent School District.
Worthing has Houston ISD's magnet program for Mathematics, Science and Technology.
History
Worthing Junior-Senior High School was built in 1958, and it opened on January 27, 1958. The students zoned to Worthing previously attended Miller Junior High School and Yates High School. The school is named after Evan Edward Worthing, a Houston real-estate developer who set up a scholarship trust for African-American HISD students. A native of Michigan, he earned a mechanical engineering degree from Texas A&M University, where he was captain of the American football team. His will stated that African-Americans should inherit his wealth; this led to the opening of Worthing. The school originally covered grades 7 through 12. Worthing was originally located at 4330 Bellfort Boulevard; as the first building became overcrowded a new high school campus opened. Worthing moved to 9215 Scott Street at Reed Road, and Attucks Middle School opened at the former location.
The first principal was Allen E. Norton, and he stayed in his position until circa 1978. Jacob Carpenter of the Houston Chronicle stated that the "dedicated" staff and "tight-knit community" "ensured students received a quality education" despite the low socioeconomic status of Sunnyside.
An increase in violence and recreational drugs and a socioeconomic decline began damaging Sunnyside in the 1980s. Despite this, enrollment remained stable in the 1990s. Carpenter stated that during the decade the "strong campus leadership" meant that the school had an academic performance in line with Texas standards. However, in the 2000s fewer students enrolled in Worthing and its test scores declined.
2008 Consolidation proposal
In November 2008 Houston ISD proposed to rebuild Carnegie Vanguard High School on a site adjacent to Worthing, rebuild Worthing, and have the two schools share the same cafeteria and other facilities. School board member Larry Marshall, whose jurisdiction at the time included Carnegie and Worthing, expressed support for this proposal or otherwise to house Carnegie and Worthing on the same plot of land.
Parents at Worthing accepted the proposal while parents at Carnegie rejected it and asked for it to be discontinued. The Carnegie parents said that the higher violence levels at Worthing and the parents' fears of backlash against Carnegie students at Worthing cause them to be opposed to HISD's proposal. Peter Brown, the Houston City Council At-Large Position 1, opposed the idea. Brown said that the renovation of Worthing would be less costly than the consolidation. Brown also cited a Gates Foundation study to support his point.
On December 4, 2008 Abelardo Saavedra, the HISD superintendent, said that he would for now shelve plans since they had insufficient support from the board of trustees. School board trustee Paula M. Harris expressed support for the consolidation plan, arguing that magnet schools and small neighborhood schools, many of which were closed by the district, should be treated in the same manner. Margaret Downing of the Houston Press added that Worthing parents did not like how the controversy "denigrated" the school.
2008-2010s
Tamara Sterling became the principal in July 2009; she was the school's first female principal. She later switched jobs, taking one in the Northeast United States, and Todd Nix replaced her in fall 2011. At one point Nix had been accused of promoting academic dishonesty in testing, at a school district he previously worked for, and he resigned from being principal at Worthing. He was later found to have not been responsible for academic dishonesty. HISD superintendent Terry Grier chose John Modest as the new principal. Modest also resigned, but this time due to a severe illness. Duane Clark replaced Modest. Clark lost his job due to low test scores. The school's main football coach, also a special education teacher, stated in a 2018 Houston Chronicle article that morale among the teachers declined due to the constant principal turnover; there had been a total of six from 2008 to 2018. In the period 2011-2018 Worthing had the highest such administrative turnover rate of any Houston high school.
In 2011, two persons opened fire during a powder-puff American football game at Worthing. One man, an 18-year old former student named Tremaine De Ante’ Paul, died. Five other people received injuries. Laura Insensee of Houston Public Media stated that the incident damaged the reputation of the school.