School of Science and Engineering

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School of Science and Engineering
"Where The Possibilities are Endless"
Location
1201 E. Eighth St.
Dallas, TX 75203
Information
School district Dallas Independent School District
Principal Jovan Carisa Wells
Students 383
Type public, secondary, magnet
Grades 9-12
Mascot Eagle
Color(s) Maroon and White

The School of Science and Engineering at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center (known as the Science and Engineering Magnet or SEM) is located at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center, home of six magnet high schools in the Dallas Independent School District. SEM's mascot is the eagle, and its school colors are maroon and white.

Jovan Carisa Wells is acting as principal following the sudden retirement of the former principal: Richard White for health reasons.

Contents

[edit] Academic Activities

SEM offers math courses from the basics of Algebra to higher level courses such as Calculus AB & BC and Statistics which are taken as Advanced Placement courses allowing the student chances to earn college credit. Tech courses that instruct students in Computer Science concepts and the Java programming language are also available. SEM stresses a philosophy of hands-on science education. It is the only high school in the nation to offer concurrent lab classes where students are exposed to college level laboratory experience along with their AP science curriculum. SEM is one of the few high schools in the nation to own a functioning transmission electron microscope reserved solely for student use.

[edit] Prestige

SEM was ranked as second best high school in the United States in 2007 according to Newsweek's survey "The 1200 Best Public High Schools in the USA" [1], it was eighth in 2006 and sixth in 2005. In 2007, SEM was ranked as the 18th best public high school in America by US News and World Report[2].

The College Board announced that SEM is number one in the world for passing minorities in Calculus BC and number one in the United States for passing Hispanics in Computer Science.

In 2005, SEM received the Blue Ribbon School award by the U.S. Department of Education.

In 2006, SEM was visited by President George W. Bush for excellence in education and the school's philosophy of emphasising math and science, something he stressed in his 2006 State of the Union address. The school consistently ranks number two in D Magazine's Best Public High Schools in Dallas and has been named the Academic UIL District Champion for District 9-5A and 11-5A in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

SEM does not offer sports but it does provide a wide variety of extracurricular activities, including:

Aerospace Club Academic Decathlon "Big D" Marching Band
Calculator Team Number Sense Team
Choir Chess Club Computer Science Team
Current Issues & Events Team French Club German Folk Dancing
Improv Club (SEMprov) Italian Club Journalism Team
Latin Club Literary Criticism Math Team
National Honor Society National French Honor Society National Latin Honor Society
National Spanish Honor Society One Act Play Orchestra
Pan-am Poetry Team Robotics Club
Rocket Club Science Team Social Studies Team
SPCA Animal Service Club Spelling Team

[edit] Criticisms

Recently, SEM has come under fire for questionable decisions regarding where things are headed. Many people speculate that the Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) has been trying to get rid of the Magnet program. Considering the Magnet program is responsible for high test scores resulting in state funding, this would be a questionable decision.

The best considered "evidence" of the plan is the hiring of Jovan Carisa Wells as principal in the 2007-2008 school year. The original intention of hiring her was as a dean, a decision made earlier in the school year by the Dallas ISD school board. Since a dean has basically the same responsibilities as a pricipal, but with a lower pay, most applicants considered this a downgrade of a job, and rejected it. Jovan Wells was then hired, even though some people regarded her as inexperienced. Then her job title was changed back to principle. This left many staff and students feeling disgruntled[citation needed].

Another criticism lies with the actual classes taught in SEM. Some people have noticed that even though the name is Science and Engineering, there is a surprisingly small number of engineering classes (Introduction to Engineering, a new class required for sophomores). Most of the focus has been shifted to AP (Advanced Placement) oriented classes, a direction headed mainly by Richard White, the former pricipal[citation needed].

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Dallas Independent School District
High schools … full list Adams | Adamson | Carter | Conrad | Hillcrest | Jefferson | Kimball | Lincoln | Madison | Molina | North Dallas | Pinkston | Roosevelt | Samuell | Seagoville | Skyline | Smith | South Oak Cliff | Spruce | Sunset | W. T. White | Wilson
Middle schools … full list Anderson | Hill | Marsh | Quintanilla
Elementary schools … full list Hooe | Preston Hollow
Magnet schools Townview magnets: Government, Law, & Law Enforcement | Science and Engineering Magnet | Talented & Gifted | Business and Management | Education and Social Services | Health Professions
Other High Schools: Washington HS for Performing and Visual Arts | Lincoln Humanities/Communications Magnet | Skyline
Middle/High: Rangel Young Women's | PreK-8: Dealey Montessori | Stone Montessori | 4-8: Travis Academy/Vanguard