[4] The school is named after Evan Edward Worthing, a Houston real-estate developer who set up a scholarship trust for African-American HISD students.

A native of Michigan, he earned a mechanical engineering degree from Texas A&M University, where he was captain of the American football team.

Worthing was originally located at 4330 Bellfort Boulevard; as the first building became overcrowded a new high school campus opened.

Worthing moved to 9215 Scott Street at Reed Road, and Attucks Middle School opened at the former location.

Jacob Carpenter of the Houston Chronicle stated that the "dedicated" staff and "tight-knit community" "ensured students received a quality education" despite the low socioeconomic status of Sunnyside.

Carpenter stated that during the decade the "strong campus leadership" meant that the school had an academic performance in line with Texas standards.

[9] On December 4, 2008 Abelardo Saavedra, the HISD superintendent, said that he would for now shelve plans since they had insufficient support from the board of trustees.

[10] Margaret Downing of the Houston Press added that Worthing parents did not like how the controversy "denigrated" the school.

[12] She later switched jobs, taking one in the Northeast United States,[5] and Todd Nix replaced her in fall 2011.

[13] At one point Nix had been accused of promoting academic dishonesty in testing,[5] at a school district he previously worked for, and he resigned from being principal at Worthing.

[15] Laura Insensee of Houston Public Media stated that the incident damaged the reputation of the school.

Stafford, Texas-based Fort Bend Mechanical was supposed to build the Worthing wing but it got into a legal dispute with HISD.

In addition, the City of Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering approved one set of building plans, but the architectural firm, Molina Walker, then used a different set of plans never approved by the city government to the contractors building the school.

[20] Carpenter stated that the delay in the renovation and the infighting reduced trust in HISD within the local community.

The board spent increased student support services, added instructional coaches, and gave incentives to teachers, all totalling $1 million.

[5] Carpenter wrote "Nearly all Worthing students deal with the effects of deep, intractable poverty that create longer odds for success in school.

"[5] Carpenter stated that in the 1990s the "strong campus leadership" meant that the school had an academic performance in line with Texas standards but that this declined in the 2000s.

[5] In 2007, a Johns Hopkins University/Associated Press study referred to Worthing as a "dropout factory" where at least 40% of the entering freshman class does not make it to their senior year.

According to Jacob Carpenter, this test score matched a typical performance of a Texas high school with a similar socioeconomic makeup.