Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center (SHMSTC) is a high school located in the Hawthorne Place and Timber Garden subdivisions, in Houston, Texas, United States. Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center handles grades nine through twelve and is part of the Houston Independent School District. Before 1955, it was located in Downtown Houston. Established in 1889, Sam Houston operates the oldest high school newspaper in Texas, the Aegis. Additionally, the school boasts the world's first female-only military drill squad initially known as the Black Battalion but now called the Tigerettes. The school is often referred to simply as "Sam" by students, alumni, and faculty. Sam Houston High School Baseball Field is located at . History It was founded in Downtown Houston in 1878 as Houston Academy. Since then, it had several name changes. Houston Academy: 1878 to 1881 Clopper Institute: 1881 to 1886 Houston Normal School: 1886 to 1895 Houston High School: 1895 to 1926 Central High School: 1926 to 1955 Sam Houston High School: 1955 to 2008 (also referred to as Sam Houston Senior High School) Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center: 2008 to now Until the 1950s the block bordered by Austin, Capitol, Caroline, and Rusk in Downtown Houston housed the institutions that make up what is now Sam Houston High School. Houston Academy was there in the 1850s. In 1894 Central High School was built. J.R. Gonzales of the Houston Chronicle said that the school was "[d]escribed as one of the finest high schools in this part of the country" and "also attracted negative attention for its incredible cost." The school had a price tag of $80,000, $1.9 million in 2010 dollars. In March 1919 the school burned down. A new Sam Houston opened two years later. According to a 1936 Houston Chronicle article, Sam Houston was to be renamed after Dick Dowling, while the Sam Houston name would be taken by a new high school in southwestern Houston. This did not occur, and the school remained named after Sam Houston. In 1955, Houston High School moved from its Capitol Street location in Downtown to its current location. The previous Sam Houston High School became the Houston Independent School District administrative headquarters. In July 1970 the first Hattie Mae White Administration Building became the new HISD administrative offices. The Downtown Sam Houston building was demolished. As of 2011 a parking lot owned by HISD