The School of Science and Engineering was created in 1982 as part of a Federal Court Desegregation solution to the under-represented minorities in the career fields of professional science and engineering.  Nationally, employers and colleges were also clamoring to find qualified minority students and degreed professionals in these areas.

The Science and Engineering Magnet has responded by creating one of the most comprehensive college preparation public high schools in the nation.  We are NUMBER ONE in the nation with the number of minority students passing the AP Calculus test and obtaining college credit for it.  We currently have students of all ethnicities in prestigious universities like MIT, Stanford, Rice, the University of Texas at Dallas, Austin, Arlington and University of Texas A&M.  We have been a Texas Exemplary School for nine straight years. We are recognized as a College Board Advanced Placement World Leader School.

In 1995 we moved to the newly constructed Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center. This is a wonderful new facility with six magnet high schools in one building. They include Science and Engineering, Talented and Gifted, Health Professions, Business and Management,  Government and Law Magnet, and the Education and Social Services Magnet  The executive principal is Mrs. Alice Black.

The teaching staff at SEM share a common goal of preparing our students for the rigorous demands that today’s colleges of science and engineering place on students. Our faculty includes two PhD's and over 75 percent have advanced degrees in the areas they teach.

We are a National Blue Ribbon Award School  for 2005 and picked by Newsweek Magazine as the #6 rated public high school in the whole United States