Celebrating 100 years of Jack Yates High School

Houston ISD’s Jack Yates Excessive Faculty is celebrating its centennial in February 2026, and there’s barely a peep about it.

Yates shouldn’t be solely a historic sports activities powerhouse. Yates shouldn’t be merely an iconic establishment within the Third Ward. Yates shouldn’t be merely a part of HISD historical past, although it was based simply three years after the district itself got here into existence in 1923.

Yates is Houston historical past.

Fast significance

HISD was formally established in 1923 when the Texas Legislature separated metropolis faculties from municipal authorities. At the moment, instructional alternatives for Black college students had been severely restricted. Houston’s first Black highschool, the Coloured Excessive Faculty (later renamed Booker T. Washington Excessive Faculty), opened in 1893 within the Fourth Ward and served as the town’s solely secondary faculty for Black college students for many years.

That modified within the Twenties when Yates and Phillis Wheatley excessive faculties opened their doorways. Yates, Houston’s second segregated highschool for Black college students, formally opened on Feb. 8, 1926, with 17 academics and 600 college students.

Highly effective identify

The unique campus sat at 2610 Elgin St., a constructing that at present homes the Baylor Faculty of Medication Academy at Ryan—named after Yates’s first principal, James D. Ryan. He led the varsity from 1926 to 1941.

Rev. Jack Yates. Courtesy yates.houstonisd.org.

The varsity’s identify alone signaled its future. Yates was named after the previously enslaved Rev. Jack Yates, one of the influential Black leaders in Nineteenth-century Houston. A pillar of the Fourth Ward, Rev. Yates based Bethel and Antioch Baptist church buildings and performed a number one function within the effort to buy land that grew to become Emancipation Park.

As enrollment grew, Yates relocated to 3703 Sampson St. in 1958. In 1978, the nationally acknowledged Faculty of Communication was added, strengthening the varsity’s legacy in journalism, broadcasting, and media.

In 2018, Yates moved to its present campus at 3650 Alabama Avenue, a state-of-the-art facility that includes superior tutorial, athletic, and humanities areas. Regardless of the upgrades, the varsity’s century-old motto stays unchanged: “Character and Achievement.”

Generational delight runs deep

That motto lives on by generations of Lions, lots of whom stay deeply linked to the varsity.

Tuere Omodele Chew, Yates Class of 1977, has seen her youngsters and grandchildren graduate from Yates. Credit score: Aswad Walker.

Tuere Omodele Chew, Yates Class of 1977, represents a multigenerational Yates household.

“My son, Anthony Coe, was on the back-to-back state group (basketball)… My grandson’s youngsters come right here too,” Chew mentioned. “I’m actually happy with all of my children that I raised and got here by right here.”

Chew credit Yates coaches, employees, and principals, particularly present principal Stephanie Sq., for sustaining that legacy.

A principal formed by the Lion’s den

Stephanie Sq. was a scholar and trainer at Yates earlier than changing into principal in 2023. Credit score: Aswad Walker.

Sq.’s relationship with Yates extends far past her personal time as a scholar. A 2002 graduate, she was voted “Most Athletic” her senior yr and competed in a number of sports activities.

After attending and graduating from TSU, Sq. returned to Yates as a trainer in 2007. As soon as a standout student-athlete at Yates, Sq. continued to excel as a school member, incomes Trainer of the 12 months honors. She went on to earn an MBA from Rice College in 2013, the yr after leaving Yates. Nevertheless, although not on campus, Sq. remained linked to her highschool alma mater by alumni teams.

“I joined just about any alumni group that was on the market,” she mentioned. “I remained engaged till I returned in 2023 as principal.”

Sq. remembers studying early simply how particular Yates was.

“As a ninth grader, all I’d hear is, ‘You’re so fortunate that you just go to Yates Excessive Faculty.’”

Stephanie Sq., Yates Class of 2002 and present Yates principal

“As a ninth grader, all I’d hear is, ‘You’re so fortunate that you just go to Yates Excessive Faculty,’” she mentioned.

Driving buses throughout Houston, she noticed the delight firsthand.

“The variety of automobiles that beeped and mentioned, ‘JY’ and ‘Go Lions,’ that sense of delight grew to become instilled in me very, very early.”

Residing historical past

Madeline McElroy Johnson, Yates Class of 1961, remembers the controversy behind bringing the principal of Wheatley HS, John Cowell, to steer Yates in 1958. Credit score: Aswad Walker.

Alumna Madeline McElroy Johnson, Class of 1961, carries Yates’ institutional reminiscence.

“I used to be editor of the yearbook, The Lion, 1961,” she mentioned.

Johnson recalled pivotal management modifications, together with the arrival of Principal John Codwell.

“Again within the day, Fifth Ward and Third Ward didn’t match up,” recalled Johnson. “They usually introduced John Codwell (1958 – 1964) from the Fifth Ward, Wheatley Excessive Faculty, to steer the Third Ward faculty, Yates. And there was quite a bit about that.

“However Codwell was one of the best factor that ever occurred,” she mentioned, noting that he recruited her father, educator George McElroy, to hitch him on Yates’ employees.

Georgette Johnson, Yates Class of 1993, says Yates is like an HBCU, despite the fact that it’s a highschool. Credit score: Aswad Walker.

Johnson’s daughter, Georgette Johnson, Class of 1993, believes Yates’ alumni tradition is unmatched.

“We proceed to maintain Yates alive and effectively,” she mentioned. “It’s virtually contagious… It’s like an HBCU, nevertheless it’s a highschool.”

Sports activities dominance

Yates’ athletic legacy is famous. The 1985 soccer group (coached by Luther Booker, and that includes RB Johnny Bailey, QB Charlie Worth, and members of the Lions’ ‘Crush Groove’ protection, Melvin Foster and Santana Dotson) went undefeated and captured the Texas 5A state championship, delivering HISD its first title within the largest classification since 1953.

“There was an indication in entrance of the coaches’ workplace that learn, ‘Your #1 mistake is enjoying Yates,’” recalled Glen Kelso, Class of 1984, who performed linebacker. “The expectation of excellent issues occurring was planted in our unconscious at Yates.”

On the hardwood, the Yates boys’ basketball dominated from 2009 to 2014, together with an undefeated 2010 season that earned a state and nationwide championship.

Producing leaders past sports activities

Alumni are fast to level out that Yates produced way over elite athletes. Graduates embody Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, Roland Martin, Garnet Coleman, Conrad “Prof” Johnson, and numerous educators, artists, and professionals.

Michon Benson, a 1986 graduate of Yates and a professor and assistant dean at TSU, credit her experiences as a Yates trainer for setting her on her profession path and resulting in her Ph.D. in English. Credit score: Aswad Walker.

“Once I went to highschool at Yates, the scholars understood they had been a part of the continuum,” mentioned Michon Benson, Class of 1986. “We had a way of duty and obligation.”

Benson, now a professor and assistant dean at Texas Southern College, has her personal generational Lions lineage, which incorporates her mom (Michelle Barnes) and an aunt who attended Yates when it was in its unique constructing.

Benson returned to show at her highschool alma mater from 1991-99 after graduating from faculty (UT), after which once more in 2007. The truth is, Benson taught English at Yates whereas Sq. taught math. Benson continues to be actively concerned with all issues JY-related whereas working throughout the road at TSU.