John Foster Dulles High School is a high school in Sugar Land, Texas. It was the first site purchase and new build, in the 1950s, of the newly formed Fort Bend Independent School District, which held its first graduation in 1960. The first class to graduate from Dulles itself was 1962. Its mascot is the Viking, and its team colors are red, white and blue. Its slogan was "Set Sail" up until the end of the 2018–2019 school year, but was changed to "Viking True" the next school year. At its highest, the school roll was over 4,000 students during the 1976–1977 school year. During the 2006–2007 school year, the roll comprised 2,291. The school serves children from parts of Sugar Land, Missouri City and the city ofMeadows Place as well as portions of the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Stafford. Dulles serves a portion of the First Colony community. In previous eras, Dulles served the Four Corners community, and it served most of the City of Stafford until the city broke away from FBISD in 1977. the principal is Mrs. Melissa King-Knowles, who served previously at Sartartia Middle School. Dulles was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1984–85.
History
Circa the 1950s, the Kempner brothers rejected the idea of a new Sugar Land high school being named after them because they believed that students would prefer to have their school named after figures from previous wars who won honors and/or athletes; this was despite the fact that officials from the Texas educational agency had approved the naming, initially proposed by Sugar Land citizens. Dulles formed in 1959 from a merger of Missouri City High School and Sugar Land High School. Dulles was classified by the University Interscholastic League school as a "Class B" school until 1972 when it became classified as a 4A school, then the largest classification in the state. From its opening, Dulles was the only zoned high school in the district for whites, and after desegregation, the only zoned high school for all students until Willowridge High School opened in 1979. FBISD racially desegregated in 1965; before that year, black high school students attended M.R. Wood School in Sugar Land which was converted into a school for disobedient children.
Principals
James Patterson was principal of Dulles from 1984 through 1991.
Mark Foust was principal of Dulles until 2013.
In 2013, Ronnie Edwards became the school's principal.
In 2016, Dr. Jennifer Nichols, a Dulles High School graduate and prior teacher, became School Principal.
In 2019, Mrs. Melissa King-Knowles became the school's principal.
Academics
Dulles is home to the Math and Science Academy, which provides students with even more options to extend their studies in these areas. Dulles is one of the only schools in the state to offer Chem III or Organic Chemistry. Starting with the 2013–2014 school year, Biotechnology is offered as an honors course. Modern Physics has been added to the math and science curriculum as well. Calculus III, or multivariable calculus, is offered to students who have finished Calculus BC before their senior year. Other classes include Chem II, Bio II, and Physics II C. Dulles offers a total of 24 AP courses. Scientific Research and Design is an honors class offered in which students work with mentors to write papers and develop projects, and some of these projects will be submitted to prestigious competitions such as Siemens or ISEF. Students take the class to fulfill the research requirement of the Academy.
Campus
Louis P. Rodgers Memorial Auditorium in Dulles High School was built in 1969. Its namesake was FBISD's first superintendent.
Other notable clubs
Academics
2017 6A Texas Academic Decathlon State Champion UIL State Championship Titles
The JROTC unit at Dulles is an Air Force JROTC program. Its designation is TX-862, signifying that it was the second Air Force JROTC program created in Texas in 1986. It won its last major award in 2006. It is color guard has won 1st at its last 3 region-wide competitions. Its drill team has won at its last 2 region-wide competitions. As a unit, TX-862 achieved its first Meritorious Unit award in 1988, and continued to earn this distinction from 1988 - 1992. In 1993, it achieved its first Honor Unit award, and earned this distinction through at least 1997. The TX-862 Unit had eventually received their first Distinguished Unit Award with Merit in their unit lifetime on April 23, 2011.
Other information
Notable alumni
Paul Begala, Democratic political consultant for Bill Clinton's successful 1992 United States presidential campaign and a current political pundit for CNN
