A. Maceo Smith New Tech High School

A. Maceo Smith High School
Address
3030 Stag Road
Dallas, TX, 75241
United States
Coordinates 32°41′31″N 96°45′54″W / 32.691856°N 96.764896°W / 32.691856; -96.764896Coordinates: 32°41′31″N 96°45′54″W / 32.691856°N 96.764896°W / 32.691856; -96.764896
Information
Funding type Public
Opened 1978
Status Open
School district Dallas Independent School District
Superintendent Mr. Floyd Michael Miles
Area trustee Dr.Lew Blackburn
Principal Lisa Deveoux
Vice principal Cynthia Sorey
Teaching staff 81
Enrollment approximately 400
Hours in school day 9:15 a.m.–4:45 p.m.
School color(s) Royal Blue and Silver
Mascot Falcon
Key products 9–12
Communities served District 5
Feeder schools Sarah Zumwalt Middle School
Website dallasisd.org/schools/hs/amsmith/

A. Maceo Smith New Tech High School is a four-year public high school serving grades 9-12 in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas (USA). It is part of the Dallas Independent School District, where it was founded in 1978. As of 2011 it is now a technology magnet school.

The school is named for Antonio Maceo Smith (1903–1977), a pioneer civil rights leader in Dallas.

History

Originally located in the Nolan Estes Educational Plaza, the school was moved in 1989 due to complaints about the unsuitability of the physical plant at the plaza, a former shopping center.[1] After the school moved, the attendance boundaries between Smith and South Oak Cliff High School shifted, with students zoned to Stone Middle School and Zumwalt Middle School, except for students also zoned to Bushman Elementary, moving from SOC to Smith, and students zoned to Storey Middle School, except for those who began their educations at Marshall and Oliver elementaries, would be zoned to SOC.[2]

After the closing of the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District, Smith took in students from the former school district boundary and continued to serve former WHISD areas until its repurposing.[3][4]

For several years, while it served as a zoned school, A. Maceo Smith was a Texas Education Agency "unacceptable" ranked school.[5] In 2011 the district converted A. Maceo Smith into a technology magnet.[6] Many students in its attendance zone were re-assigned to Wilmer-Hutchins High School.[4][7] Some areas were re-assigned to South Oak Cliff.[8] Since Smith was reconstituted as a magnet school, it avoided the possibility of the TEA reconstituting or closing the school itself due to its poor performance as a zoned school.[5]

Students and programs

Smith's students are predominantly African-American and from low income families. Local companies such as Frito Lay work with students at Paul Quinn College to provide tutoring for Smith students and arrange motivational visits from the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.[9] Another program, Young Men of Distinction, provides mentoring and leadership development to male students.[10]

Smith in the news

The school made the news around the world in 2002 when alligators, poisonous snakes, bobcats, coyotes, and other dangerous animals took over the practice football field after beavers dammed a nearby waterway during the summer.[11][12]

On May 25, 2007, the Dallas school board voted 6-0 to uphold the firing of Smith principal Dwain Govan over spending on his DISD credit card, in an investigation that indicated 93 district employees had made questionable purchases or in other ways had abused the program. As of the board's vote — from which one board member abstained out of concerns the card's rules had been ill-defined — Govan had yet to account for purchases that included two sets of gold-plated flatware, four portable DVD players, four digital cameras, a flat-screen TV, a printer, $8,747 in Wal-Mart gift cards and approximately $4,650 in restaurant gift cards. A Texas Education Agency hearing examiner recommended upholding the proposal for Govan's termination, but noted that there had been no accusation or evidence that he took district property for his personal use.[13]

Around March 2008, while Dallas ISD prepared for a bond election, some parents felt concern that the district may move the students at Smith to a school in the area formerly controlled by Wilmer-Hutchins ISD.[14]

In early 2015, drama teacher Scot Pankey, with a cast of students, made national and international headlines by performing a choreographed dance to the song "Uptown Funk" performed by Bruno Mars.[15][16][17][18] As of February 2, 2015, the YouTube video had gone viral having amassed over 9 million views.[19]

School uniforms

When it was a zoned school, Smith required school uniforms.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Collection of news items relating to A. Maceo Smith HS at Nolan Estes Plaza (culled from The Dallas Morning News), Dallas Historical Society message board
  2. ↑ Garcia, Joseph. "DISD BOUNDARY CHANGES OUTLINED." The Dallas Morning News. March 9, 1989. 30A. Retrieved on October 11, 2011..
  3. ↑ "Fall 2006 A. Maceo Smith High School (9-12) Attendance Zone with Wilmer-Hutchins." Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved on July 15, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Fall 2010 A. Maceo Smith High School Attendance Zone with Wilmer-Hutchins - Grades 9-12." Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved on July 15, 2011.
  5. 1 2 Wilonsky, Robert. "Before Dallas ISD Sends TEA Its Plan to Save Unacceptable Schools, Your Input's Needed." Dallas Observer. Wednesday September 7, 2011. Retrieved on September 15, 2011.
  6. ↑ Hobbs, Tawnell D. "Dallas school district to open 3 Wilmer-Hutchins campuses, close 2 others." The Dallas Morning News. November 24, 2010. Retrieved on July 15, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Fall 2011 Wilmer-Hutchins High School Attendance Zone Grades 9-12." Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved on July 15, 2011.
  8. ↑ "South Oak Cliff High School Attendance Zone Grades 9-12." Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved on July 15, 2011.
  9. ↑ Lloyd Gite. Playing above the rim - Frito-Lay Inc.'s Lloyd Ward - The B.E. 100s: B.E. Executive of the Year," Black Enterprise, June 1995
  10. ↑ University of North Texas. "UNT to host 10th annual Equity and Diversity Conference Feb. 23," January 31, 2007
  11. ↑ "School needs gator aid". British Broadcasting Company. August 12, 2002.
  12. ↑ Bainbridge, Jim (August 11, 2002). "High & Inside: It's tougher than hitting through the windmill". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado).
  13. ↑ Hobbs, Tawnell (May 25, 2007). "Trustees uphold principal's firing: DISD: Attorney vows to fight termination over district credit card use". The Dallas Morning News.
  14. ↑ "Dallas school district gets word out on $1.35 billion bond vote". The Dallas Morning News. March 31, 2008.
  15. ↑ "School's incredible Uptown Funk dance goes viral as teacher turns pupils into flashmob" U.K. Mirror. January 29, 2015
  16. ↑ "UN PROF (SEXY) EMBARQUE SES ÉLÈVES POUR UNE FLASHMOB DÉJANTÉE" Be.com. January 29, 2015
  17. ↑ "High school's 'Uptown Funk' made Bruno Mars cry" CNN. January 29, 2015
  18. ↑ 'Just watch!' Teacher leads dozens of students in perfect 'Uptown Funk' routine" NBC. Today Show. January 29, 2015
  19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EUEg7kd6Cg
  20. ↑ "A. Maceo Smith High School. Dallas Independent School District.

External links

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