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Arlington Heights High School

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Arlington Heights High School
Location
Map
4501 West Freeway

Fort Worth
,
Texas
76107

United States

32°43′55″N 97°23′9″W / 32.73194°N 97.38583°W / 32.73194; -97.38583
Information
School typePublic secondary
Established1920[1]
School district
Fort Worth Independent School District
Principal
Chris Bibb
Teaching staff
118.59 (FTE)[2]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,898 (2025-2026)[2]
Student to teacher ratio
16.00[2]
CampusUrban
ColorsBlue and gold    
Athletics conference
University Interscholastic League 5A
NicknameHeights
RivalPaschal High School
NewspaperJacket Journal
WebsiteSchool website

Arlington Heights High School (AHHS, Heights) is a secondary school located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and is a part of the Fort Worth Independent School District. Its mascot is the Yellow Jacket and its colors are blue and gold.

Arlington Heights High School serves western portions of Fort Worth including the Como, Arlington Heights, Ridglea, Meadows West[3] and Rivercrest neighborhoods, as well as the city of Westover Hills.[4]

History

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Postcard of Arlington Heights High School (bottom) and North Side High School, undated

Arlington Heights High School was established in 1922 and hosted 715 students in its inaugural year. The current building was built in 1937 based on a design by Preston Geren Sr. Students from the area had previously attended Stripling High School, which is now a feeder middle school.

Arlington Heights was generally affluent and White until the late 1960s. Black students at the time attended Como High School, which no longer exists and was merged with Arlington Heights at its closing.

In 1968, Western Hills High School was hosted in temporary buildings at Arlington Heights[5] until its campus opened in 1969 on a 25-acre tract in West Fort Worth at 3600 Boston Avenue.[6]

As of 1996, students could be bused to AHHS from the Butler subsidized housing in downtown Fort Worth and from various communities in southeast Fort Worth with racial and ethnic minorities.[3]

Students at Arlington Heights refer to their school as "The Hill", as the main building offers a view of the Trinity River valley to the south, from which AHHS is visible.

In 1996, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram called the school a "scholastically touted institution that draws students from private schools."[3]

Description

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The school occupies a red brick building visible from Interstate 30 (West Freeway).[3]

The main building houses 74 classrooms, a library, band hall, auditorium, gymnasium, workrooms and administrative offices. Outside buildings include a cafeteria, second gymnasium, field houses with concessions stands and a weight room. A new wing opened in the fall of 2004 and houses six classrooms and a state of-the-art dance studio. A detached cafeteria with outside seating was built and opened in 2019.[7] The surrounding grounds are covered with tennis courts, baseball, softball, a unique multi-purpose athletic facility, soccer and football fields and an all-weather track that is open for public use.[8]

Student body

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In the 2025-2026 school year there were 1,898 students and 118.59 teachers with a student-teacher ratio of 16.00. 962 students were Hispanic, 470 students were African American, 382 students were White, 66 students were two races or more, 15 students were Asian, and 3 students were American Indian/Alaskan Native. 963 students were Male while 935 were Female. A total of 1,287 students were eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program, with 1,267 qualifying for free lunches and 20 for price-reduced lunches.[9]

Arlington Heights Highschool competes in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Class 5A classification. The school fields teams in 11 varsity sports, alongside an academic competition program.

UIL sponsored programs include:[10]

  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Cross Country
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Soccer
  • Softball
  • Swimming and Diving
  • Team Tennis
  • Volleyball
  • Wrestling
  • UIL Academics

Notable incidents

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In 1963, a number of Paschal High School students attacked a crowd of Arlington Heights students using blunt weapons, Molotov cocktails and a plane that dropped toilet paper with Paschal's school colors.[11] This incident led to 46 arrests, and a Heights High School bonfire being the center of a near riot.[12] In the incident, carloads of Paschal boys and exes descended on a crowd of 500 Heights students at Benbrook Lake with an armory of weapons including baseball bats, lead pipes, whips and Molotov cocktails. A private-plane flyover by a 20-year-old pilot, a 1962 Paschal graduate, dropped rolls of school-color purple-and-white toilet paper that fluttered down onto the Heights crowd, and a 1948 sedan covered in gasoline-soaked mattresses and labeled "The Panther Ram Car" was set afire by a burly graduate and rolled toward the bonfire woodpile. There was also a ground assault by boys with bows and arrows, storming over the spillway and sailing arrows in a scene a county deputy compared to a frontier Native American attack. When all was said and done there was only one injury, when wrecker driver Junior Slayton, 33, was grazed by buckshot while towing away a student's car.[13] One week later, a visiting President John F. Kennedy smiled and asked at the mention of Paschal High School, "Isn't that the school with its own air force?"[13]

In 1979, a Paschal High School student stole a bulldozer from a county construction site and rammed it into the Arlington Heights field house the day before the annual Heights-Eastern Hills football game, destroying the field house.[14] The incident resulted in criminal convictions and a nationwide reassessment of safety and security measures, starting a national discussion about youth violence and vandalism on many television and radio programs.[15]

On February 28th, 2020, at around 12 PM, Arlington Heights was placed under lockdown following the discovery of an unused box of ammunition and a BB gun on school grounds. School administrators and law enforcement investigated and responded by implementing metal detector screenings for students. A thorough search of the premises confirmed that there were no actual firearms present on the campus. No arrests were made, and the lockdown was lifted at the end of the school day.[16]

On August 21st, 2026, at around 8:15 AM, Arlington Heights was placed under lockdown following emergency calls to Fort Worth Police Department regarding potential gunshots inside the building. Campus resource officers, Neighborhood Patrol Officers, and Officers from other parts of the city responded to the campus. A subsequent investigation by law enforcement revealed that the sounds of gunfire were caused by one or more students detonating fireworks in a school bathroom. After confirming there was no active threat, the lockdown was lifted. No injuries were reported, and the identities of the students involved were not immediately released.[17]

Notable alumni

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Feeder patterns

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Students attending the following feeder schools are zoned to attend Arlington Heights High School:[22]

Middle schools

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  • W.C. Stripling
  • William Monnig

Elementary schools

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  • Burton Hill
  • Como
  • North Hi Mount
  • Mary Louise Phillips
  • Ridglea Hills
  • South Hi Mount

Rivalries

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References

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  1. ↑ "Arlington Heights High School". Archived from the original (English) on December 10, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for ARLINGTON HEIGHTS H S". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Weiner, Hollace. "Low scores at Arlington Heights called no surprise." Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Monday August 5, 1996. 9 Metro. Retrieved on December 12, 2011.
  4. ↑ Kennedy, Bud. "Teens' talk turns to tales of hate and killing." Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Thursday March 26, 1992. 2 News. Retrieved on December 12, 2011. "News central: Millionaires and wealthy families live in Westover Hills and the Rivercrest neighborhood, and their children go to Arlington Heights High."
  5. ↑ "For Western Hills HS". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 7, 1968. p. 4. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ "For Western Hills High". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. January 28, 1969. p. 2. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Arlington Heights High School - Dennett Construction". Dennett Construction. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Arlington Heights High School - Home". schools.fortworthisd.net. Retrieved January 26, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. ↑ "Directory Information for Arlington Heights High School". National Center for Education Statistics.
  10. ↑ "UIL Alignments". University Interscholastic League. Archived from the original on August 22, 2026. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  11. ↑ 50 years ago, Paschal flew into history, with a high school prank gone wild Fort Worth Star Telegram
  12. ↑ KENNEDY, BUD (September 5, 2013). "50 years ago, Paschal flew into history, with a high school prank gone wild Fort Worth Star Telegram". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
  13. 1 2 Kennedy, Bud (September 13, 2022). "In 1963, Paschal flew into history, with a high school prank gone wild". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  14. ↑ Jarvis, Jan (October 17, 2022). "Doomsday". D Magazine. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  15. ↑ JARVIS, JAN (July 1, 1985). "DOOMSDAY". D Magazine. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  16. ↑ Clarridge, Emerson (February 28, 2020). "Bullets, BB gun found at Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, authorities say". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Archived from the original on August 22, 2026. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  17. ↑ Guzman, Ram (August 21, 2026). "Fireworks prompt lockdown at Arlington Heights High School after report of possible gunfire, Fort Worth police say". WFAA. Retrieved August 22, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. 1 2 3 Arlington Heights Yearbook
  19. ↑ "Getting his due Coast Guard hero receives honor posthumously". Fort Worth Star Telegram. September 17, 2000. Retrieved December 2, 2011. (subscription required.
  20. ↑ Turner Gill Official High School Football Statistics, Arlington Heights Yearbook
  21. ↑ Patricia Busa McConnico (June 2018). "The Good Fight". Texas Bar Journal. p. 448.
  22. ↑ "Fort Worth Independent School District, Feeder Pyramids". FWISD. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  23. ↑ Texas High School Monthly, Fall 2008
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