you can't park there, Freddie

Art Cars honoring two legendary musicians roll into Houston airports

Houston is famous for its art cars, and now travelers will have the opportunity to see some of them on display at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU).

“Art has the power to transform spaces and create memorable experiences,” said Alton DuLaney, curator of public arts for Houston Airports, in a statement. “We are thrilled to collaborate with the Orange Show to showcase an Art Car at our airports, providing passengers with a delightful visual journey that captures the spirit of Houston's eclectic artistic community.”

Art cars have been a Houston institution since 1986 when the first art car parade was held with just 11 vehicles. Now, it has grown to be the largest art car parade in the world, featuring hundreds of entries.

Thanks to a partnership with the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, a few art cars are always on display at the Art Car Museum. However, the small space can only accommodate a few pieces at a time on a rotating basis. A chance to catch more examples of this unique art form at another venue is more than welcome.

At Bush, visitors can find the art car in the Terminal A Ticketing Lobby. The car is a tribute to Freddie Mercury, the legendary lead singer of the rock band Queen. Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia in 1991.

The car features a statue of Mercury on the roof wearing his famous yellow jacket and branding a British flag. It was created by Rebecca Bass and the students of the Art Car Club at Reagan High School (now known as Heights High School). Mercury is a Houston icon thanks to a stop at The Summit in 1980 when he sang “We Will Rock You” sitting on the shoulders of a man dressed as Darth Vader from Star Wars.

Hobby will sport another car dedicated to a music legend. This one features a statue of Texas guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Another Bass creation, it debuted at the 2019 parade to great acclaim. Vaughan is a slightly odd choice to showcase in an airport considering he died in a helicopter crash in 1990, but he is undoubtedly a piece of Texas history ready to welcome travelers from all over the world. His car can be found in the Ticking Lobby near TSA Security.

The Houston Airport System is renowned for its art, winning the inaugural World's Best Art in the Airport from Airport by Skytrax in 2023. Both Bush and Hobby were highlighted in the award for having exceptional art displays that celebrated Texas culture.

Courtesy of Houston Airports

SRV is near Hobby's TSA checkpoint.

The 37th annual Art Car Parade will take to the streets of downtown Houston on April 13.

schools with high achievers

These 15 Houston K-8 schools rank among Texas' best for 2025

T.H. Rogers PTO/Facebook

Congratulations are in order for the Rams.

Several Houston elementary and middle schools are at the top of the class when it comes to educating and preparing the next generation for a successful life and career, according to U.S. News & World Report's just-released list of 2025 Elementary and Middle Schools Rankings.

One such school – T.H. Rogers School in Houston ISD – is the No. 8 best middle school in Texas for 2025.

U.S. News ranked over 79,000 public schools on the state and district level using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Schools were analyzed based on their students' proficiencies in mathematics and reading/language arts on state assessments, and tie-breakers were decided based on student-teacher ratios.

Texas' best middle schools for 2025
Three Houston middle schools achieved spots among the top 10 best Texas middle schools for 2025, according to U.S. News.

T.H. Rogers School has a total enrollment of 1,063 students, with 87 percent of the student population scoring "at or above the proficient level" in mathematics, and 90 percent proficiency in reading. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 17:1, with 62 full-time teachers.

T.H. Rogers School also topped the district-wide list as the No. 1 best middle school in HISD.

Houston Gateway Academy - Coral Campus also ranked among the statewide top 10, coming in at No. 9 with a total enrollment of 914 students. U.S. News says 82 percent of HGA students are proficient in math, and 80 percent are proficient in reading.

"Houston Gateway Academy - Coral Campus did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state," U.S. News said in the school's profile. "In Texas, 51 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 41 percent tested at or above that level for math."

Right behind HGA to round out the top 10 best Texas middle schools is Houston ISD's Briarmeadow Charter School. This middle school has 600 students, 69 percent of which are proficient in math and 74 percent are proficient reading.

Briarmeadow's student-teacher ratio is 16:1, which is better than the district-wide student-teacher ratio, and it employs 38 full-time teachers.

U.S. News also ranked Briarmeadow as the second best middle school in Houston ISD.

Six additional Houston-area schools ranked among the top 25 best middle schools in Texas, including:

No. 18 – Cornerstone Academy, Spring Branch ISD
No. 19 – Mandarin Immersion Magnet School, Houston ISD
No. 21 – Smith Middle School, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
No. 22 – Seven Lakes Junior High, Katy ISD
No. 23 – Houston Gateway Academy
No. 25 – Beckendorff Junior High, Katy ISD

The best elementary schools in Texas
Jesus A. Kawas Elementary school in Laredo was crowned the No. 1 elementary school in Texas for 2025, while two Houston-area schools made it into the top 10.

Tomball ISD's Creekside Forest Elementary in The Woodlands is the No. 7 best elementary school statewide, boasting 656 students, 42 full-time teachers, and one full-time counselor. Students at this school, which U.S. News designates is situated in a "fringe rural setting," scored 90 percent efficiency in math and 94 percent efficiency in reading.

Following one spot behind Creekside Forest in the statewide ranking is Sugar Land's Commonwealth Elementary School in Fort Bend ISD, coming in at No. 8. Commonwealth has a student population of 954 with 55 full-time teachers, and two full-time counselors. The school's student-teacher ratio is 17:1, and 90 percent of students are proficient in math, and 94 percent in reading.

U.S. News says student success at Commonwealth is significantly higher than the rest of Fort Bend ISD.

"In Fort Bend Independent School District, 59 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 47 percent tested at or above that level for math," U.S. News said in Commonwealth's profile. "Commonwealth Elementary [also] did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state."

Other Houston-area schools that were ranked among the 25 best in Texas are:

No. 13 – Bess Campbell Elementary, Sugar Land, Lamar CISD
No. 20 – West University Elementary, Houston ISD
No. 23 – T.H. Rogers School, Houston ISD
No. 25 – Griffin Elementary, Katy ISD

"The 2025 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings offer parents a way to evaluate how schools are providing a high-quality education and preparing students for future success," said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., the managing editor for Education at U.S. News. "The data empowers families and communities to advocate for their children’s education. Research continues to indicate that how students perform academically at these early grade levels is a big factor in their success in high school and beyond."

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