Pearland High School

Pearland High School (PHS) is a public high school located in Pearland, Texas, just south of Houston. It is one of three high schools in the Pearland Independent School District and serves parts of Pearland and most of the city of Brookside Village.

For the 2024-2025 school year, the school received an excellent rating of "A" from the Texas Education Agency, showing it provides a strong education for its students. It is also recognized nationally, ranking 242nd in the state of Texas and 2,689th in the whole country according to U.S. News & World Report.

Background and history

Before Pearland High School started in 1937, students from Pearland went to school in Webster. The first class to finish school there graduated in 1938.

The original school opened in 1937 with just 12 teachers and 58 students from grade 1 to 12. Over the years, the school moved a few times. In 1953, it moved to Galveston Avenue, and in 1991, it moved again to Main Street. Today, the high school has two buildings. The first one opened in 1991 and can hold up to 2,200 students. A second building joined in 1998, which can hold 1,750 students.

The school’s mascot is called the “Oiler Man” or “Oiler”. This name comes from the important oil industry in the area, not from the Houston Oilers football team. Many local jobs are connected to oil, including a service that helps people work at oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2007, a new school called Glenda Dawson High School opened to help with space at Pearland High School. The school’s marching band even performed in the 2020 Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA on New Year’s Day.

Athletics

The Pearland Oilers take part in many exciting sports, including Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Powerlifting, Soccer, Softball, Swimming and Diving, Water Polo, Tennis, Track and Field, and Volleyball.

Football

In 2010, the Pearland High School football team had a perfect season, finishing with a 16–0 record and winning the Texas 5A State Football Championship. Some well-known players from that team were QB Trey Anderson, RB Dustin Garrison, DE Samuel Ukwuachu, and LB Kendall Ehrlich. The team made it to the state championship again in 2013 but lost to the Allen Eagles led by Kyler Murray.

Over the years, Pearland and Dawson have had many exciting matches. In 2014, Pearland won their first game against Dawson. Pearland won again in 2015, but Dawson won in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Pearland won again at the University of Houston’s TDECU Stadium. Dawson won in 2019 and 2020, but Pearland came back strong in the 2021-2022 season to defeat Dawson once more.

Notable alumni

Pearland High School has helped many students become successful in different fields. Some well-known alumni include Ricky Churchman, who played football for the San Francisco 49ers, and Jarrod Cooper, who also played football professionally. Others, like Kirk Dressendorfer and Clay Hensley, became baseball pitchers in Major League Baseball.

The school has also produced athletes in basketball and football, as well as performers like Megan Thee Stallion, a famous rapper and artist. Many of these alumni have gone on to compete in big leagues or represent their schools and countries in sports and entertainment.