Austin was first built in 1936. Austin was previously
reserved for white children (Hispanics being categorized as white prior to 1970) but it
desegregated by 1970. The three-story building was designed for every room to have windows for ventilation in Houston's humid climate. Air conditioning was installed circa 1970. Among other notable architectural features, Austin had a swimming pool in the basement below the gymnasium. In 1984 Mimi Swartz of the
Texas Monthly wrote that Austin High School was "not considered particularly dangerous" in comparison to other HISD schools.
21 Jump Street Incident By 1989 the school had experienced issues related to student absenteeism and dropouts. On Monday, October 16, 1989 two students, 16-year-old Alma Rincon and 18-year-old-Cedric Smith watched an episode of
21 Jump Street about students who protest and walk out of school. The following day the two discussed the show during an American history class; Austin High School had a lack of textbooks and scheduling conflicts. The students decided that a protest could help change this. Before the walkout, the administration learned that there would be a walkout on Monday, October 23 and principal Otila Urbina warned students to not participate. The organizers tricked the administration by rescheduling the walkout to Friday. On Friday, October 20, 1989 up to 1,000 students walked out of class and talked to reporters. One week later, on Friday October 27, HISD superintendent
Joan Raymond announced that Urbina would be reassigned to administrative duties. After the incident, students received additional books. Macario Garcia, a spokesperson for the students, said that he believed that school officials may "review everything but are not going to take immediate action." In December 1991, Austin was one of the largest high schools in Texas, with 2,669 students. Due to the overcrowding, by that month Houston ISD trustees approved a plan to open a new high school in 1995 instead of in 1997. In 1992 superintendent
Frank Petruzielo asked Jose Treviño to become the principal of Austin High. Carol E. Vaughn of the
Houston Chronicle stated that for Treviño, who had served as principal of others schools, "it was the "principalship" at Austin High School where he emblazoned his name." In 1996 the school used eighteen temporary buildings, and the enrollment had increased to 3,000. By 1997, the new high school had not been constructed; area community leaders and parents anticipated the construction of
César Chávez High School, as Austin and
Milby were still overcrowded. Prior to 1997 residents zoned to
Furr High School also had the option to attend Austin and Milby high schools; in 1997 the school district canceled the option.
2000s In the fall of 2000, Chávez opened and took most of Milby's traditional neighborhoods. In turn Milby absorbed some students from Austin. Areas that were zoned to Austin in 1998 were rezoned to Milby, In turn, Austin absorbed areas previously zoned to
Furr and
Yates high schools. In 2002 Treviño was promoted to the southeast district regional superintendent. In 2005, the administration decided to open a new music program. A new Band Director was hired to build a new band which was given the nickname "Sonic Boom". In 2010, the Sonic Boom was selected out of more than 80 applicants nationwide to compete in the Home Depot Center Battle of the Bands, sponsored by Vh1 Save the Music Foundation. At the end of the day, the Grand Champion of the Battle of the Bands in Los Angeles was Stephen F. Austin's Sonic Boom who also headlined the HEB Holiday (Thanksgiving Day) Parade in Downtown. In 2007, a
Johns Hopkins University study commissioned by the
Associated Press included Austin in a "dropout factory" list of 42 Houston-area high schools; a "dropout factory" school is where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year. In the 2000s,
property values around the school increased. This created the large student population decrease as
gentrification made the surrounding area more expensive. This led to the demotion of the school from 5A to 4A as per the
University Interscholastic League ranking. By 2018 a reconstruction project began where much of the building, except for historically significant sections, was rebuilt. The Temporary Learning Center (TLC) accommodated students during the process. As of 2020 Orlando Reyna was the principal. ==Academic performance==