Bel Air High School (El Paso, Texas)

Infobox High School



name = Bel Air High School
motto =
established = 1957
type = Public
principal = Marvyn Luckett
faculty =
enrollment = 2,174 [http://www.tea.state.tx.us/cgi/sas/broker?_service=marykay&_program=adhoc.addispatch.sas&endyear=08&major=st&minor=e&format=w&selsumm=nc&linespg=60&charsln=120&grouping=g&key=071905001]
grades = 9-12
location = 731 N. Yarbrough
El Paso, Texas
country = USA flagicon|USA
campus = Urban
colors = Red, White color box|#FF0000color box|#FFFFFF
mascot = Highlander
yearbook =
newspaper =
website = http://www2.yisd.net/education/school/school.php?sectionid=131|

Bel Air High School is a high school in the city of El Paso, Texas, USA. The school was established in 1957.

History

Bel Air had its first graduating senior class in 1961 with only 61 graduates; today Bel Air High School has 400+ graduates annually. The school is part of the Ysleta Independent School District. Bel Air is a school for health professions.

Bel Air High School made "Newsweek" 's list of the nation's top high schools based on rankings influenced heavily by the number of students who took Advanced Placement tests the previous year. According to a MSNBC.com report, Bel Air ranks 984th on "Newsweek" 's list of the nation's top high schools. The schools were ranked based on the number of students taking the Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests in 2004 divided by the number of graduating seniors. Earlier this year, Bel Air was removed from a Texas Education Agency (TEA) list of schools that did not meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (August 2005) required by the federal government as part of the No Child Left Behind Act. The school is in good standing as of October 2005, making significant academic progress (double digit increases) under the guidance of then principal Daniel Girard.

A decade ago, Bel Air was on the verge of being taken over by the state for poor academic performance. Instead of state oversight, the school in 1996 became the only public high school in the county to be reconstituted, meaning all employees, from custodians to teachers, had to reapply for their jobs at the school. Only former principal Vern Butler was allowed to remain without having to reapply for his job. Seventy-three of the 132 teachers and staff members who were at Bel Air were rehired.

The current facilities consists of a main building, a four story science wing and library, Army JROTC Building, Health Professions (HP) Building, Fine Arts Building, a Theatre Building, and a modern high school stadium.

In October 2006, 12 teachers at Bel Air High School filed a grievance against the Ysleta Independent School District claiming they were required to work during off-duty hours without compensation. The grievance claimed labor-law violations and harassment from then-principal Daniel Girard and other administrators. In June 2007, two members of Ysleta Independent School District Board of Trustees apologized to the teachers who complained, but the Board voted not to compensate the teachers. After the filing of the grievance, five of the twelve teachers had either requested a transfer to another school, or quit. Daniel Girard, who had been Principal of Bel Air High School since September 25, 2005, accepted a job as a principal of Akins High School in the Austin Independent School District. After Daniel Girard left the district an independent investigator, appointed by the YISD, found no wrong doing on the part of Mr. Girard. Upon Mr. Girard's acceptance of principalship in Austin in May 2007, Marvyn Luckett, who had previously been with the YISD for over 22 years, was appointed Principal of Bel Air High School for the 2007-2008 school year.

Faculty

Bel Air High School has 100+ faculty members.

Extracurricular activities

Clubs

*Key Club
* [http://belairband.org Marching Band]
*City-recognized jazz bands
*Western United States Grade IV Pipe Band
*http://www.batechclub.co.nr Award-Winning Tech Club]
*Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corp (JROTC)
*Student Council
*The Argus Newspaper
*Destination Imagination
*Speech and Debate
*KBA News
*Bel Air Center for Health Professions
*Health Occupations Students of America
*Anime Club
*Dance Club

Teams

*Speech and Debate - Ranked Second in the State, and had its first state champion in 2007
*JROTC
**Armed Drill Team
**Unarmed Drill Team
**Cadet Challenge - male & female
**Color Guard - male, female & mixed
**Saber Guard
**Bataan Team
* [http://belairband.org Bel Air Marching Band]
*Math Team

ports

Boys

*Baseball
*Basketball
**District Champs: 1999, 2002, Bi-District Champs: 1998, 2004, Area Playoffs: 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004 Regional Quarterfinalists: 1998, 1999
*Cross Country
*Football
*Golf
*Gymnastics
*Soccer
**Bi-District Champs:1996, District Champs: 2007
*Swimming
*Track and Field
*Wrestling
**District Champ: 2008 Eddie Gamboa (171)

Girls

*Basketball
*Cheerleading
*Cross Country
*Golf
*Gymnastics
*Soccer
*Softball
*Swimming
*Tennis
*Track and Field
*Volleyball
*Wrestling

References