Skyline High School (Dallas)

Skyline High School
Address
7777 Forney Road
Dallas, Texas, Dallas County, 75227-2505
United States
Coordinates 32°46′47″N 96°41′16″W / 32.77986°N 96.68773°W / 32.77986; -96.68773Coordinates: 32°46′47″N 96°41′16″W / 32.77986°N 96.68773°W / 32.77986; -96.68773
Information
School type Public high school
Motto "Unity in Effort...Pride in Result" "Believe and Achieve , Simply The BEST!"[3]
Opened 1970[1]
School district Dallas ISD
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, Ed.D.[2]
Principal Harold Wright[3]
Staff 328[4]
Faculty 285[4]
Grades 912[3]
Enrollment 5,130[4]  (2007)
Number of students 5,130[3]
Grade 9 1,700
Grade 10 1,185
Grade 11 1,074
Grade 12 1,109
Language English
Mascot Raiders[3]
Average SAT scores 871 (2006)[4]  (2006)
Average ACT scores (2006) 17.6[4]
(2006) Graduates 819[4]

Skyline High School is a secondary school in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was the first high school in the United States to offer a magnet school curriculum.[5]

Skyline serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District.

History

In the mid-1960s, B. J. Stamps and other Dallas educators conceived the idea of a very large high school for the Dallas Independent School District that would offer career education in addition to a traditional high-school curriculum. Stamps emphasized continually that the facility he envisioned was "absolutely not going to be a vocational school for unsuccessful students" but rather a place where superior students could undertake studies in preparation for a variety of professions. In December 1966, architectural plans for the school, whose working name was "Science-Technical Center," were approved by the Dallas School Board. By 1969, Stamps, who had been slated as the school's first principal, suggested the name "Skyline High School," inspired by the view of the Downtown Dallas skyline afforded from the school's upper floors, and in February 1970 the Skyline name was approved by the School Board.[6][7][8]

Classes at Skyline began in the fall semester of 1970. Until the main facility at 7777 Forney Road opened early in 1971, instruction was held at other southeast Dallas sites. From its inception, Skyline has fulfilled Stamps's original conception of offering both a regular high-school curriculum and a multitude of magnet school programs. The magnet offerings are organized as clusters, which are collectively called the Career Development Center. A student attending Skyline may generally choose between two options: pursuing a normal, traditional curriculum (Skyline's original attendance zone was drawn to relieve overcrowding at Samuell and Bryan Adams high schools); or attending both a cluster and regular classes at Skyline. In the early years of Skyline's existence, administrators and faculty of existing, traditional high schools in the Dallas Independent School District frequently expressed resentment of Skyline's desire to recruit their talented and gifted students and in some instances actively resisted recruitment efforts. District officials appointed a task force to address these concerns.[9] Nevertheless, with the continued existence of Skyline's magnet programs and the subsequent "spinning off" of several independent magnet schools, the issue has persisted to the present day, and district officials continue efforts to allay feelings of resentment.[10]

Over time, numerous clusters have left Skyline and moved into facilities of their own, becoming full-fledged DISD magnet high schools. For example, the Performing Arts Cluster and the Health Careers Cluster both discontinued their affiliations with Skyline in 1976 and became, respectively, the (presently-named) Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the High School for the Health Professions (now the School of Health Professions at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center). In 2007, district officials announced a plan to relieve overcrowding at Skyline by moving several Skyline magnet programs to Emmett J. Conrad High School, meanwhile hoping to increase the latter's achievement levels. These actions have in some instances occasioned resentment by Skyline's own faculty and educational community, who have worried that Skyline's Career Development Center was created only to ultimately self-destruct, and, in the most recent events, that successful students educated at Skyline are being used to artificially boost another school's academic standing. District officials continue in their efforts to respond to these controversies.[11][12][13]

Skyline served grades 10 and 11 in 1970–1971, and grades 10–12 from 1971 to 1976. The school has included grades 9–12 since the fall of 1976. Since its opening Skyline has consistently been DISD's largest high school in terms of enrollment.

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School data

  • Mission: "Believe & Achieve...Simply the Best!"
  • Motto: "Unity in Effort...Pride in Result"
  • Enrollment: 5,131 during the 2008-2009 school year
  • Number of teachers: 296 during the 2007-2008 school year

Trustee district: District 9

Area: Area East - Ivonne Durant

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Alma Mater

Skyline, our alma mater
Proudly we proclaim
Our respect to all your standards
Honor to your name
Guidance, knowledge, inspiration
We receive from you
Hail to thee our alma mater
Hail to thee Skyline High

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Fight Song

Hit the team across the field
Show them we are here
Set the Earth reverberating
With a mighty cheer
RAH! RAH! RAH!
Hit them hard and see how they fall
Never let that team get the ball
Hail! Hail! The gang's all here
So stand up for Skyline High!

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School performance

Skyline High School, although being a magnet school, has had a longstanding reputation for having an overall below-state TAKS testing average. Currently, Skyline is undergoing a process to make it into an Exemplary School.[14]

A team of Skyline students won the United States National Academic Championship in 1985.[15]

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Feeder patterns

Elementary schools that feed into Skyline include Frank Guzick, Edna Rowe, Ascher Silberstein, George W. Truett, and Urban Park. [1]

Harold W. Lang, Sr. Middle School and John B. Hood Middle School (partial [2] [3]) feed into Skyline [4].

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Notable alumni

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School Schedule

Door Opens-8:15 a.m.

First/Fifth periods: 9:15 a.m.-10:50 a.m.

Second/Sixth periods: 10:56 a.m.-1:05 p.m.

-A Lunch-10:56 a.m.-11:25 a.m.

-B Lunch-11:30 a.m.-11:55 a.m.

-C Lunch-12:00 p.m.-12:30 p.m.

-D Lunch-12:35 p.m.-1:05 p.m.

Third/Seventh periods: 1:11 p.m.-2:40 p.m.

Fourth/Eighth periods: 2:46 p.m.-4:15 p.m.

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References

  1. ^ "Architecturally trained at Skyline High School". The Dallas Morning News. 
  2. ^ About Dallas ISD-Superintendent. Retrieved on 7 November 2008
  3. ^ a b c d e Schools-Skyline High School. Retrieved on 7 November 2008
  4. ^ a b c d e f 2007 Campus AEIS Report. Retrieved on 7 November 2008
  5. ^ "Super Highs Sought: Estes Unveils Plan for Specialty Schools." The Dallas Morning News, 29 August 1971.
  6. ^ "Plans OK'd For Big New Dallas School" by Carolyn Barta. The Dallas Morning News, 15 December 1966.
  7. ^ "Science Technical Center: School Getting New Image" by Judy Wiessler. The Dallas Morning News, 15 December 1969.
  8. ^ "Students to Have Say In Naming of School." The Dallas Morning News, 26 February 1970.
  9. ^ "Resentment Reported: Magnet Recruiting Rift Probed." Dallas Times Herald, 15 March 1977.
  10. ^ "Magnet map attracts blog views." The Dallas Morning News, 16 January 2008.
  11. ^ "Magnets Attract Skyline Success" by Eric Miller. Dallas Times Herald, 30 August 1976.
  12. ^ "Skyline High School parents speak out against plan to move magnet programs to Conrad High" by Tawnell D. Hobbs. The Dallas Morning News, 17 January 2008.
  13. ^ "Supporters try to prevent loss of Skyline magnet programs" by Kent Fischer. The Dallas Morning News, 12 January 2008.
  14. ^ Skyline High School Test Scores - Dallas, Texas - TX
  15. ^ National Academic Championship highlights. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
  16. ^ Biography. "Texas House Has More Than Three-Dozen New Members" by Emily Ramshaw and Matt Stiles. The Texas Tribune, 4 November 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  17. ^ Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings sworn in as FBI searches homes of key supporter by Steve Thompson and Rudolph Bush. The Dallas Morning News, 27 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
  18. ^ Mac II
  19. ^ Brian H. Berkeley bio at The Society for Information Display webpage
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External links

Preceded by
Wheelersburg High School
National Academic Championship champion
1985
Succeeded by
Irmo High School
Dallas Independent School District
High schools full list Bryan Adams | Adamson | Carter | Conrad | Hillcrest | Jefferson | Kimball | Lincoln | Madison | Molina | North Dallas | Pinkston | Roosevelt | Samuell | Seagoville | Skyline | South Oak Cliff | Spruce | Sunset | Wilmer-Hutchins | W. T. White | Wilson
Middle schools full list Anderson | Hill | Marsh | Quintanilla
Elementary schools full list Hooe | Lakewood | Milam | 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 | Gilliam Collegiate Academy | Lincoln Humanities/Communications Magnet | Skyline | Smith New Tech
Middle/High: Obama Male | Rangel Young Women's | PreK-8: Dealey Montessori | Stone Montessori | 4-8: Travis Academy/Vanguard
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Last modified on 16 May 2013, at 01:00