"NHCHS" redirects here. For the school in Harris County, Texas which had the working name "North Houston Catholic High School" prior to its opening, see Frassati Catholic High School.
HCHS opened in 1984 as one of the first magnet schools in south Texas under principal John Boyers, who remained principal until 2002. The land on which the school sits was donated to Northside Independent School District by the San Antonio Medical Foundation. HCHS is in the heart of San Antonio's Southwest Medical Center.
Admissions
HCHS is unique from other Bexar County magnet schools in that it operates as an independent campus rather than as part of a "parent" school (See Business Careers High School or Communications Arts High School). Admission to HCHS requires the submission of an application and essay, as well as a C average. Eligible applicants are entered into a lottery system with selected students notified by mail. Prior to admitting the class of 2001, the admissions process did not operate as a lottery, and admitted students were selected based on the merits of their application. Each year, over 800 students apply to fill only 250 spots.[2] As a public school, no tuition is charged to either in-district or out of district students.
HCHS educates about 900 students from the 9th grade through the 12th grade. The curriculum of HCHS complies with the requirements of the Texas Education Agency, but additional courses that relate to the health field are also offered.[3]
As a magnet high school specializing in preparation for careers in the medical field, the campus mission of Health Careers strives to engage all students in rich academics focused on meaningful applications of medical knowledge and skills.
Students attending HCHS must take mandatory medical CTE courses in addition to their core curriculum courses. Freshmen must take Medical Terminology and Principles of Health Science, while sophomores must take Anatomy & Physiology and Health Science Theory.
Upon successful completion of a student’s sophomore year, they may choose from six strands of career and technical education (CTE). Upperclassmen will take specialized CTE courses in their strand for the remainder of their high school years. The following CTE strands currently offered at HCHS include:
Students enrolled in specialized CTE courses have opportunities to participate in clinical rotations off-campus, typically at local hospitals in the South Texas Medical Center. In addition, students also have the opportunity to earn current industry based certifications. This allows students to develop advanced clinical skills necessary for employment in the healthcare industry, as well as continued education in health careers.[4]
In addition to medical CTE courses, HCHS offers over 20 Advanced Placement and Pre-AP courses for students to take. Students at HCHS also have access to many opportunities for internships, including those in medical, research, dental, pharmaceutical, or related career fields.
Athletics
HCHS does not have a football, basketball, baseball or volleyball team. HCHS does compete against other schools in golf, tennis, aquatics, bowling, track, and cross country, which HCHS considers "lifetime" sports. The school does compete in 6A classification competitions despite its 3A status, but being a 3A school they perform on a 6A level. The Health Careers athletic department has 1 state title that was won by the girls bowling team in 2019.
Accolades
HCHS is a nationally recognized school, having been named a National Blue Ribbon School for the 1990–1991 academic year.[5] HCHS is also a Texas Education Agency(TEA) Exemplary campus, and has received the Gold Performance Acknowledgment[6] (from the TEA). In addition, educators at HCHS have also been recognized at the state and national level for excellence in education.[7][8] In addition, since 1997, long time volunteer and resident statistician Dr. Joe Ward has run the Biostatistics Research Club. Dr. Ward's commitment to the Northside Independent School District and HCHS has recently been recognized with the naming of Dr. Joe Ward Elementary School in his honor.[9]
In 2004, Latin teacher Mr. Clyde Lehmann was named as a recipient of the $25,000 prize from the Milken Award Foundation. In 2008, Health Careers was recognized as a "2008 Just for Kids Higher Performing Schools in Texas"[10] In 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, HCHS was listed as the top High School in San Antonio by Children at Risk.[11]
HCHS was also listed as an Honor School by the Texas Business & Education Coalition[12] for 2006. As well as being listed as one of the top 500 schools[13] in the country by Newsweek.com for 3 consecutive years (2005–2007), HCHS was also listed as one of the top schools in Texas by Texas Monthly.[14]
In both 2023 and 2024, Health Careers High School was named an AP Honor Roll School by the College Board, placing in the Platinum with Access tier (the highest possible ranking). In 2025, HCHS was ranked 16th in the state of Texas and 137th in the United States by the US News & World Report.[15] Additionally, the graduating class of 2025 earned over $14 million in scholarship offers. [16]
The school mascot is the phoenix, which is sometimes affectionately referred to as the "flaming chicken" and the school colors are blue, white, and maroon. White is used as the graduation cap and gown color as a symbol of perfection and professionalism.
There are two versions of the school's alma mater, one written by the school's original choir teacher and an updated version written by the current head of the music department, Mark Marty.
Like the Phoenix, long forgotten, rising from the deep
We now walk these halls of learning destinies to keep
Raise the colors, carry forward, blue, white, maroon
Wave above us, now and ever, Health Careers our school
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