The Woodlands High School

Campuses

TWHS takes pupils in grades 9 to 12, divided between the two campuses:

From 1976 until the opening of The Woodlands High School in 1996, McCullough High School served The Woodlands' community. McCullough High School, named after J.L. McCullough, also housed seventh and eighth graders until Knox Junior High opened its doors in 1978. When The Woodlands High School opened on August 12, 1996, McCullough served The Woodlands community as a junior high school. From 2000 to 2005, McCullough was known as The Woodlands High School: McCullough Campus, housing freshmen and sophomores. Since 2005, with the opening of The Woodlands College Park High School, McCullough has once again served the community as a junior high school.

Demographics

In 2010, The Woodlands High School had 3,787 students (including students at the 9th Grade Campus).

Academics

The Woodlands High School has received numerous exemplary ratings from the Texas Education Agency and in 1998 was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The Woodlands High School was ranked 295 in Newsweek’s 2011 list of the Best High Schools in the United States. The school was ranked based on graduation rate, college matriculation rate, AP tests taken per graduate, average SAT/ACT scores, average AP scores, and AP courses offered. Newsweek has ranked the school among America's top 1,000 high schools on several occasions. Additionally, in its 2013 ranking of America's Best High Schools, U.S. News & World Report awarded a Gold Medal to The Woodlands High School. This means The Woodlands High School ranked among the top 500 schools nationally (out of 21,035 schools) using a College Readiness Index heavily weighted on success on Advanced Placement examinations. The Woodlands High School has also been awarded the University Interscholastic League Class 5A Lone Star Cup on five occasions (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011). This award is intended to honor the best overall academic and athletic program in the state of Texas, as determined by success at UIL-sanctioned activities.

The Woodlands High School has a relatively extensive College Board Advanced Placement program that includes the following courses: Art History, Biology, Calculus AB and BC, Chemistry, Chinese Language and Culture, Computer Science A, English Language and Literature, Environmental Science, European History, French Language, German Language, Human Geography, Japanese Language and Culture, Macroeconomics, Music Theory, Physics C, Psychology, Spanish Language, Statistics, Studio Art, U.S. History, U.S. Government & Politics, and World History.

Athletics

The Woodlands Highlanders compete in Swimming, Cross Country, Volleyball, Football, Basketball, Wrestling, Powerlifting, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, Track, Softball, Lacrosse, and Baseball.

In 2006 The Woodlands baseball team finished the season with a 38-1 record and won the Texas UIL 5A State Championship. They were also named National Champions by Baseball America. The 2006 team included future Major League Players Kyle Drabek (Toronto Blue Jays) and Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona Diamondbacks)

In 2011 The Woodlands Fastpitch team finished the season with a 44-1 record and won the Texas UIL 5A State Championship. They were also named National Champions by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association/USA Today and ESPN/Rise. The coaching staff was named NFCA National Coaching Staff of the year.

Athletic teams at The Woodlands High School have earned the following state and national athletic titles:

State titles

National titles

Band

The Woodlands High School Band was honored by the John Philip Sousa Foundation with the Sudler Flag of Honor in 2003 to recognize its high standards of excellence in its concert activities over several years. The band was honored again by the John Philip Sousa Foundation in 2009 with the Sudler Shield to recognize its excellence in marching band activities. This makes The Woodlands High School one of only a handful of high schools internationally to have received both the Sudler Flag and the Sudler Shield. In 2003, and again in 2012, The Woodlands High School's Wind Ensemble was invited to perform at the prestigious Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois (aka The Midwest Clinic). In 2012, the Wind Ensemble was named a National Winner in The Foundation for Music Education's National Wind Band Honors Project. Members of The Woodlands High School Band have placed in the TMEA All-State Bands and Orchestras every year since the school has opened, routinely placing well.

Since the opening of The Woodlands High School in 1996, the band has never missed a Bands of America regional finals. The band has won Regional, Super-Regional and Grand National BOA competitions In 2006, the band won the Bands of America class AAA National title. In 2013, the band was named the Bands of America Grand National Champion, scoring a 96.8 and winning caption awards for Outstanding Music Performance and Outstanding General Effect. The band has placed in the Bands of America Grand National Championship Finals the past seven times it has attended. The band has been a UIL state finalist on multiple occasions.

Extracurricular activities

The school offers more than 80 different clubs and organizations. Students have the opportunity to participate in band, choir, speech, debate, drama, drill team, orchestra, cheerleading, and UIL academic activities.

In 2004, the school's newspaper, The Caledonian, was awarded the Silver Star for Excellence in Journalism by the University Interscholastic League. Various journalism awards have been given to the paper's staff. The Caledonian experienced a period of peak success under the leadership of Barbara Frazier, under whose administration the staff received numerous awards and accolades from the Interscholastic League Press Conference, a division of the University Interscholastic League.

The Woodlands High School Winter Guard program has achieved success in both the Texas Color Guard Circuit and the Winter Guard International circuit. Winter guards from The Woodlands High School have won numerous regional and state championships, and in 2004 The Woodlands High School Winter Guard took home the WGI Scholastic Open Class World Championship title. This was the first time a Texas group took home a title.

The Woodlands High School Theatre Department has succeeded in advancing to the state finals of the UIL One-Act Play contest six times, most recently in 2011, and won the state title in 2000. The theatre department has also been invited to perform on the main stage of the International Thespian Festival four times. The department performed at Texas Thespian State Festival and International State Festival for the first time in December 2015 and June 2016 respectively with the musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. In 2003, the theatre department performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Two students, Vic Shuttee and Megan Kane, have won the coveted National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungArts Grant. One student, Ashley Noel Long, performed at the National YoungArts Week as a Finalist in Spoken Theatre.

The Woodlands High School choirs perform at UIL and private competitions and festivals, garnering "Sweepstakes" awards as well as "Best of Class" and "Grand Champion" awards from as far away as New York City, and as close to home as San Antonio and Houston. Large numbers of TWHS choir students have sung in all-region choirs, and many have gone on to sing in the Texas All-State choir.

The school hosted Texas French Symposium in 2007.

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into The Woodlands High School include:

Combined elementary and intermediate schools include Deretchin and Coulson Tough.

Intermediate schools include Mitchell, and Wilkerson (Glen Loch ES zoning only).

McCullough Junior High School is the sole feeder junior high school into The Woodlands High School.

Notable alumni