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Burbank Middle School
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Burbank Middle School was established originally in 1927 as a Senior High School with an educational emphasis on agriculture. The school was named for the famous horticulturalist, Luther Burbank (1849–1926), who developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants during his lifetime. (Click on his name to be directed to his Wikipedia page.) Among his most well-known creations are the Burbank-Russett potato, which helped alleviate the food shortage during the Irish Potato Famine, and varieties such as the spineless cactus, white blackberries, and the Shasta daisy.
Burbank Sr. High under construction.
Burbank Middle School was rebuilt in 1949 and changed its focus to a Junior High School, serving grades 7, 8, and 9. The area where the school is located was occupied mostly by farms at the time, so the school retained its agricultural and horticultural focus. The school offered courses such as wood and metal shop, home economics, animal husbandry, and horticulture.
Burbank Jr. High in the 1950s
As years passed, the city of Houston expanded and Burbank's rural neighborhood transformed into an urban area as it was absorbed by the huge metropolis. Gone were the farms and instead there were subdivisions, factories, and apartment complexes. By 1974, twenty five years after it opened, Burbank Junior High School was an inner city school with more than 1600 students.
Students taking class in an improvised classroom located in a hall.In 1975, Houston Independent School District began an initiative to achieve voluntary integration of schools by offering special programs to appeal to the individual interests of students and carry students from one area of the city to another by choice instead of by force. These programs were to be called "Magnet Programs" and had different designs and areas of interest. Among these areas was the Gifted and Talented Program, also called the Vanguard Program. In 1979 the Vanguard Program which was originally at Terrell Junior High School was officially moved to Burbank Junior High School. This continues to be the Magnet Program at Burbank, which is currently serving students from all over Houston.
Burbank had one more change in focus. In the mid 1980s it changed from a Junior High School to a Middle School, serving grades 6, 7, and 8, which it still continues to do today.Burbank's inner city minority population belies its academic excellence. Burbank Middle School students have earned recognition status for the past fifteen years and earned All Seven Distinctions in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022 in the state STAAR test.TEA has not yet released the official School Report Card for 2022-2023, but HISD has released the district school accountability ratings for that year. Burbank Middle School is one of the few middle school campuses which has achieved a "B" rating under the new guidelines. It is the highest rated campus in the North District.
For comprehensive information of Burbank's school grade accountability, please click Burbank MS.
 David Knittle Principal dknittle@houstonisd.org |
 Rhonda Honore Executive Director rhonore@houstonisd.org |
 Dr. Shana M. Perry Sr. Executive Director Shana.Perry@houstonisd.org |
 Orlando Riddick Division Superintendent Orlando.Riddick@houstonisd.org |
 F. Mike Miles Superintendent of Schools Mike.Miles@houstonisd.org |
