A. Maceo Smith High School

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A. Maceo Smith High School
Address
3030 Stag Road
Dallas, TX, 75241
USA
Information
School district Dallas Independent School District
Principal Nakia Douglas
Vice principal Ton'Nea K. Williams
Brian De Veaux
Enrollment

1,157
Teaching staff 81
Funding type Public
Key products 9–12
Hours in school day 8:30 a.m.–3:45 p.m.
Mascot Falcon
Opened 1978
Status Open
Communities served District 5
Feeder schools Sarah Zumwalt Middle School
Homepage http://www.dallasisd.org/schools/realtor_new.cfm?id_con=51

A. Maceo Smith is a four-year public high school serving grades 9-12 in Dallas, Texas, United States. It is part of the Dallas Independent School District, where it was founded in 1978.

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]

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

Contents

[edit] Students and programs

Smith's students are predominately 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.[2] Another program, Young Men of Distinction, provides mentoring and leadership development to male students.[3]

[edit] 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.[4][5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

[edit] School uniforms

Smith requires school uniforms. [8]

The Texas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform [9]; parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.

[edit] 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. ^ 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
  3. ^ University of North Texas. "UNT to host 10th annual Equity and Diversity Conference Feb. 23," January 31, 2007
  4. ^ "School needs gator aid", British Broadcasting Company (BBC) Sports News, August 12, 2002
  5. ^ Jim Bainbridge. "High & Inside: It's tougher than hitting through the windmill", The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado), August 11, 2002
  6. ^ Tawnell Hobbs. "Trustees uphold principal's firing: DISD: Attorney vows to fight termination over district credit card use," The Dallas Morning News, May 25, 2007
  7. ^ "Dallas school district gets word out on $1.35 billion bond vote." The Dallas Morning News.
  8. ^ "A. Maceo Smith High School. Dallas Independent School District.
  9. ^ "School Uniforms." Texas Education Agency.

[edit] External links

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Dallas Independent School District
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Middle/High: Rangel Young Women's | PreK-8: Dealey Montessori | Stone Montessori | 4-8: Travis Academy/Vanguard