Dulles High School (Sugar Land, Texas)-Cedar Herald Index

John Foster Dulles High School, more commonly known as Dulles High School, is a high school in Sugar Land, Texas. It was the first site purchase and new build, in the 1950s, of the newly formed Fort Bend Independent School District, which held its first graduation in 1960. The first class to graduate from Dulles itself was 1962. Its mascot is the Viking, and its team colors are red, white and blue. Its slogan was "Set Sail" up until the end of the 2018–2019 school year, but was changed to "Viking True" the next school year.

At its highest, the school roll was over 4,000 students during the 1976–1977 school year. During the 2006–2007 school year, the roll comprised 2,291. The school serves children from parts of Sugar Land, Missouri City and the city of Meadows Place as well as portions of the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of Stafford. Dulles serves a portion of the First Colony community. In previous eras, Dulles served the Four Corners community, and it served most of (the Fort Bend County portion of) the City of Stafford until the city broke away from FBISD in 1977.

Dulles High School (Sugar Land, Texas)

the principal is Corey Stewart, a former United States Marine

Dulles was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1984–85.

Dulles High School (Sugar Land, Texas)

History

Circa the 1950s, the Kempner brothers rejected the idea of a new Sugar Land high school being named after them because they believed that students would prefer to have their school named after figures from previous wars who won honors and/or athletes; this was despite the fact that officials from the Texas educational agency had approved the naming, initially proposed by Sugar Land citizens. It is named after the eponymous John Foster Dulles, the American Secretary of State and diplomat who died the year the high school opened.

Dulles High School (Sugar Land, Texas)

Dulles formed in 1959 from a merger of Missouri City High School and Sugar Land High School. Dulles was classified by the University Interscholastic League school as a "Class B" school until 1972 when it became classified as a 4A school, then the largest classification in the state. From its opening, Dulles was the only zoned high school in the district for whites, and after desegregation, the only zoned high school for all students until Willowridge High School opened in 1979. FBISD racially desegregated in 1965; before that year, black high school students attended M.R. Wood School in Sugar Land which was converted into a school for disobedient children.

Principals

James Patterson was principal of Dulles from 1984 through 1991. Mark Foust was principal of Dulles until 2013. In 2013, Ronnie Edwards became the school's principal. In 2016, Dr. Jennifer Nichols, a Dulles High School graduate and prior teacher, became School Principal. In 2019, Mrs. Melissa King-Knowles became the school's principal. In 2021, Mr. Corey Stewart became the school's principal.

Academics

Dulles is home to the Math and Science Academy, which provides students with even more options to extend their studies in these areas. Dulles is one of the only schools in the state to offer Chem III or Organic Chemistry. Starting with the 2013–2014 school year, Biotechnology (Biology III) is offered as an honors course. Modern Physics (Physics III) has been added to the math and science curriculum as well. Calculus III, or multivariable calculus, is offered to students who have finished Calculus BC before their senior year. Other classes include Chem II, Bio II, and Physics II C. Dulles offers a total of 24 AP courses. Scientific Research and Design is an honors class offered in which students work with mentors to write papers and develop projects, and some of these projects will be submitted to prestigious competitions such as Siemens or ISEF. Students take the class to fulfill the research requirement of the academy.

Campus

Louis P. Rodgers Memorial Auditorium in Dulles High School was built in 1969. Its namesake was FBISD's first superintendent.

Other notable clubs

Academic Decathlon

Dulles was the 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 6A Texas Academic Decathlon State Champion. In 1987, 2019, and 2022, it was also the Texas Academic Decathlon Overall State Champion. It achieved the record for highest team score in Texas history in 2019.