• ROSS MCALPINE, PRINCIPAL

    Mr McAlpine

    As Houston ISD’s only Career Center, our goal is to ensure all students build on the traditional high school requirements with real world applications in their chosen career strand.  Our students can begin their post-secondary education and/or career fields with rigorous core content and opportunities to earn college credits and/or certifications.  Please download our flyer or watch our videos to learn more about our pathways.

     

    Our pioneer, Ms. Barbara Jordan, raised the bar for all that follow to define their destiny.  It is her founded passion for knowledge, strength to challenge self, and integrity to stand for justice that characterizes the culture of the Barbara Jordan Career Center.

     

    Mr. Ross McAlpine was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan.  After graduating from high school, Mr. McAlpine attended Michigan State University where he earned his B.S. in Chemistry.  He began working in the quality-control lab at a local manufacturing plant for a then-Fortune 500 company.  In 1991, Mr. McAlpine got the teaching bug and enrolled at Michigan State a second time to complete the requirements for a teaching certificate.  He was hired by Spring Branch ISD in 1993 and taught high school chemistry for nine years.  While there, he engaged in campus leadership opportunities, such as volunteering for the site-based-decision-making team and the campus professional development team.  It was a natural decision to again return to school and, in 2002, Mr. McAlpine earned his M. Ed. in Administration from the University of Houston.  He immediately began working in Houston ISD as a Dean of Students at Westside High School.  After four years, Mr. McAlpine’s career took a turn to the west when he moved to El Paso to work at the central administration office and eventually as a middle school principal in El Paso ISD.  In 2013, Mr. McAlpine returned to Houston when he was named as Principal at Barbara Jordan High School for Careers.  Mr. McAlpine presided over 5 graduations until the Barbar Jordan High School for Careers was converted to the district’s only career center.  Since 2018, the career center has provided opportunities for hundreds of students from nine partner high schools in the northeast area of Houston ISD.  The career center currently has 11 career pathways where students can earn industry-based certifications and/or college credit through Houston Community College through the dual-credit program.

     

    We strive for Excellence, as it is an Honor to be Team Jordan.