Furr's History

Ebbert L. Furr was a long time rancher who once owned the land where Furr High School is located. The area was originally identified as Oates Prairie. Furr’s land holdings also included the property now known as the Songwood Homes subdivision, which is adjacent to Furr High. Ground for Furr High School was broken in 1960.  The school itself opened in the Fall of 1961. Forty-two years later Furr is re-thinking the way students learn and teachers teach.  Our high school is one of 10 Houston ISD comprehensive high schools currently re-organizing and re-thinking traditional high school organization and curriculum. 

In the 2001-2002 school year, Furr High School competed for inclusion in a 20 million dollar grant from the Carnegie Foundation.   After being chosen as a Carnegie Grant recipient, teachers and administration began a process of evaluating our high school.  Using "Breaking Ranks" a publication of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), committees addressed several areas of reform. 

In the 2002-2003 academic year, implementation of our accepted grant has led to both structural and substantive changes at Furr High School.   Today Furr High School is organized into a magnet school, four academies, and a traditional high school.

To address student dropouts, Furr High Schools, principal submitted a proposal to create “REACH Charter” Realizing Educational Achievement in the City of Houston. The school was designed to help dropouts return to school and graduate. The school board accepted the proposal and the school opened in the Fall of 2006.  The school is housed on the Furr High School Campus.  The school served students between the ages of 17 and 21.   During the 2008 school year to address a deeper need the lost of students who never started/ started and left 9th grade it began serving students between the ages of 16 and 21.

Our reform efforts are part of a district-wide effort called Schools for A New Society.  Providing training and guidance, the Houston-Annenberg Challenge helps individual high schools identify needs and helps implement campus reform plans.  Click here to learn more about Houston ISD's Schools for A New Society reform initiative.

Furr High School is utilizing the experience of two national experts on school reform, Bena Kallick and Marianne Leibowitz, experts on creating small learning communities and project-based learning.  Click here to learn more about their philosophy on school reform.

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