Houston Schools Place Well in State and National Quiz Bowl Rankings

As the academic year draws to a close, so too does the season for academic competitions. The Private Schools Interscholastic Association State Meet was held in late April; its public school counterpart, the UIL Academic Competition, will have its state meet next week. And the week after that, the National Academic Quiz Tournament (NACT) – the official national tournament for quiz bowl – will name its high school champion.

Quiz bowl is an academic competition in which teams of four students race to answer questions about literature, the arts, science, mathematics, and history, and occasionally other subjects as well. A number of Houston schools, both public and private, field quiz bowl teams. And this year, Houston is well represented in the state and national quiz bowl rankings.

The T.H. Rogers team shows off their state championship placard. Image courtesy of HISD News Blog.

The Texas Quiz Bowl Association Middle Grades Championship Meet was held on April 25th. An HISD magnet, the T.H. Rogers School, took home the state title, and St. John’s School took third place. St. John’s and another Houston private school, Saint Thomas Episcopal, also competed in the elementary division of the same meet, which does not technically confer a state title. They finished first and fifth, respectively.

In the NAQT middle school division national championship, T.H. Rogers gave another formidable performance and took home the second place trophy. St. John’s also did well, with a respectable 19th place.

Houston schools have also made a good showing at the high school level. In the state rankings, 7 Houston schools are in the top 20: The Village School (7th), St. Thomas High School (8th), St. John’s (11th), Taylor (12th), Carnegie Vanguard (15th), Cinco Ranch (c0-15th), and Seven Lakes (18th).

Leading in to the high school national tournament, several Houston schools are also ranked in the top 100 nationwide, according to HSQBRank.com. These are St. John’s (36th), St. Thomas High School (53rd), and The Village School (94th).