Chávez High School (Houston)

infobox school
|name=Chávez High School
|image=ChavezHighSchoolHouston. JPG
|image size=225px
|streetaddress=8501 Howard Drive
|city=Houston
|state=Texas
|zipcode=77017
|country=United States
|coordinates=
|pushpin map=Texas#USA
|district=Houston Independent School District
|grades=9 12
|type=Public High School
|enrollment= 3,067 (2017 18)
|staff=170.60 (FTE) is a secondary school located at 8501 Howard Drive in the Allendale neighborhood in Houston, Texas, United States. The school is part of the Houston Independent School District, and serves grades nine through twelve. Chavez serves several areas outside the 610 Loop in southeast Houston, including the neighborhoods of Glenbrook Valley, Gulf Freeway Oaks, and Park Place. Chavez High School serves a mainly Hispanic population located near Hobby Airport. The school is named for civil rights activist Cesar E. Chavez. HISD's Environmental Science magnet program is offered at Chavez. The school's principal (as of June 2019) is Dr. Luis Landa. The "Lobo" (Spanish for "wolf") is the school's official mascot. The school became an International Baccalaureate school which started offering Diploma Programme classes in 2017 2018.

By 1991 the East End area schools Austin High School and Milby High School had among the largest enrollments in Texas. In December of that year school district trustees voted to construct a new high school in September 1995 instead of 1997 due to the severity of overcrowding. By 1997 the new high school had not yet been constructed; area community leaders and parents anticipated the construction of Chávez as Austin and Milby were still overcrowded. In the fall of 2000, Chávez opened and took most of Milby's traditional neighborhoods. In turn Milby absorbed some students from Austin. A group called the Unidos Contra Environmental Racism (UCER) protested the school's proximity to many chemical plants before it was opened; the school is less than .25 mile (0 km) from plants owned by Texas Petroleum, Denka Chemical, USS Chemical, and Goodyear Chemical. Juan Parras, the leader of the UCER group, stated that the school would take the brunt of a chemical leak. Heather Browne, a spokesperson for Houston ISD, stated that the Chavez site was tested for environmental hazards in the air and soil in 1992 and 1996; no problems were found in the tests. Browne also stated that one park, three public swimming pools, the City Hall of South Houston, and one golf course are within 2 mile (3 km) of Chavez. In 2007, an Associated Press/Johns Hopkins University study referred to Chávez as a "dropout factory" where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year. During that year 21% of high school age children zoned to Chávez chose to attend a different Houston ISD school. In 2014 HISD superintendent Terry Grier stated that Chávez should reduce its enrollment to around 3,000 students.

Students at Chávez use the former Kay Elementary School in Harrisburg as a "land lab".

In the 2011 novel What Can't Wait, the sports team of the Houston high school attended by the main character is the "Loyal Lobos". Chávez High's real life mascot is the "Lobos", and the novel's author, Ashley Hope Pérez, once worked as a teacher at Chávez. In the acknowledgements section Pérez thanked the students of Chávez High.