Francis Scott Key Middle School is a public middle school in the

Kashmere Gardens Kashmere Gardens is a historically African-American neighborhood in the northern 610 Loop area in Houston, Texas, United States. A group of single-family houses, many of which have large lots, Kashmere Gardens is between an industrial area and a ...

area of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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. It is within the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest Public school (government funded), public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the ci ...

History

Kashmere High School opened in 1957 at 4000 North Kelley Street. In 1968 Kashmere moved to a new campus at 6900 Wileyvale Road and the North Kelley campus became Key Junior High School, which was named for

Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became t ...

.School Histories: the Stories Behind the Names
." ''

''. Accessed September 24, 2008. In 1991 Key was the first school in HISD to introduce

school uniforms A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries and are generally widespread in Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Brit ...

. At the time, they were not required, but encouraged. In 2007 employees, students, and visitors complained of watery eyes, headaches, and other symptoms.Staff.
It's back to school at Key Middle
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. Wednesday March 26, 2008. B4. Retrieved on January 23, 2010. The district closed the school in late September 2007 to test the school for mold;All clear
" ''

''. students attended Fleming Middle School. In September 2007

Sheila Jackson Lee Sheila Jackson Lee ( Jackson; January 12, 1950 – July 19, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician who was the U.S. representative for , from 1995 until her death in 2024. The district includes most of central Houston. She was a member of ...

, a U.S. congressperson, had asked the

Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

(CDC) and the

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

(EPA) to visit Key. Afterwards HISD called inspectors from the CDC to inspect Key. On Wednesday, March 26, 2008 the district re-opened Key. Air quality tests performed in weeks around March 2008 revealed limited mold spores. Sheila Jackson Lee said that she felt that the district should not re-open the campus by March 2008. The district spent about

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

3 Million to clean Key. In May 2008

Abelardo Saavedra Abelardo Saavedra is a former school district superintendent. He previously served as the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States. In addition he formerly served as superint ...

, superintendent of the district, said that he considered closing Key; sixth graders would be sent to elementary school campuses while seventh and eighth graders would attend Kashmere High School. Parents and teachers want HISD to instead tear down the campus and rebuild it. In 2010, after reviewing allegations of teacher-led cheating on the

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) was the fourth Texas state standardized test previously used in grade 3-8 and grade 9-11 to assess students' attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies skills required ...

(TAKS) test and allegations of property theft, the district reassigned employees and denied Key employees bonus pay. Some of the employees involved were working at Kashmere High School but had previously worked at Key. On Thursday April 8, 2010 the district voted to fire Mable Caleb, who was a principal of Kashmere but had been the principal of Key during the period which had been scrutinized. Five other HISD employees were fired. However an administrative law judge ruled in 2014 that Caleb was not guilty of the charges. Caleb sued HISD, and in 2016 the two parties agreed to a settlement in which she received $550,000. In 2013 the

North Forest Independent School District North Forest Independent School District (NFISD) was a school district in northeast Houston, Texas. Established in the early 1920s in a low-income white area, it later became majority-black and black-run. The district had a history of financia ...

was annexed into HISD. Portions of land, including Settegast, were rezoned from Forest Brook Middle School (the only remaining comprehensive middle school in NFISD) to Key.

Neighborhoods zoned to Key

Residents of the Houston Gardens,

, and Settegast areas are zoned to Key.Key Middle School Attendance Zone
"

. Retrieved on December 27, 2016.

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools feeding into Key include: * Cook *

* McGowen (formerly Houston Gardens) * Paige (formerly Bowie) (partial) * Elmore * Hilliard * Isaacs * RossRoss Elementary School Attendance Zone
"

. Retrieved on December 27, 2016. Most areas in Key feed into Kashmere High School.Kashmere High School Attendance Zone
"

. Retrieved on December 27, 2016. Some areas feed into Northside High School (formerly Davis High School).Northside High School Attendance Zone
"

. Retrieved on December 27, 2016.

References

External links

Key Middle SchoolLet Sleeping Dogs Lie: the Key Middle School Saga Continues...
- ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...

'' - October 10, 2007 *Mellon, Ericka.
TEA confirms cheating allegations in HISD
" ''

''. December 17, 2010.
PDF of TEA docThe Center for School Mold Help
{{coord, 29.811577, -95.330178, type:edu, display=title Houston Independent School District middle schools Public middle schools in Houston 1957 establishments in Texas Educational institutions established in 1957

History

Neighborhoods zoned to Key

Feeder patterns

See also

References

External links