Mockingbird Elementary School (Dallas)

Mockingbird Elementary School, formerly known as Stonewall Jackson Elementary School, is a public elementary school located in the Lower Greenville neighborhood,[1] in East Dallas, Dallas, Texas. It is operated by the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).

The school, in addition to Lower Greenville, also serves Greenland Hills (the "M Streets"),[2] and is in proximity to it,[3] as well as serving Caruth Terrace,[4] Wilshire Heights.[5] and portions of Lakewood Heights,[6] Its campus has a capacity of about 400 students.[7]

Mockingbird is one campus housing Dallas ISD's deaf program for elementary school.[8] In 1998-1999 the school was designated as a National Blue Ribbon School, and it won other academic achievement awards.[9] In 2011 The Dallas Morning News wrote that Stonewall Jackson had "long been a selling point for families interested in moving to Dallas."[10] In 2015 Tawnell D. Hobbs and Holly K. Hacker, of the same publication, described the school as "one of the desired campuses."[7]

History

Stonewall Jackson Elementary School opened on September 13, 1939.[11] According to then DISD superintendent Norman R. Crozier, it was named after Jackson so the school's name would match that of Robert E. Lee Elementary School (now Geneva Heights Elementary School), and because the people establishing the school supported Lee's values.[12] The DISD school board purchased the site from W. W. Caruth for $11,250. On the 9-acre (3.6 ha) site, a building designed by C. H. Griesenbeck was built.[13] It included a 400-seat auditorium, eleven classrooms, and a dining facility. The building, made as a one story structure, was set up so the district could add another at a later point, and the contracts to built it were valued at a sum of $104,150.[14] A Public Works Administration (PWA) grant of $62,100 partially funded the school.[13] The district planned to start construction prior to January 1, 1939, with construction to finish before the fall of that year.[14]

It was originally reserved for white students. DISD desegregated by 1970.

Olivia Henderson began serving as principal circa 1991. In 2005 DISD designated Henderson as its "principal of the year". Matthew Haag of The Dallas Morning News wrote "Under Henderson's leadership, Jackson received numerous honors."[9]

In previous periods it had about 100 districtwide deaf students and 100 zoned families, but by 2007 the school's popularity among neighborhood parents increased.[8] In 2011 enrollment was approximately 520,[10] and that figure increased to 602 in 2014.[15] The school in 2015 had fifteen portable classrooms,[16] as its utilization was 155%.[7] Due to the situation, in 2012 some parents opposed a rezoning proposal to expand an area apartment complex as they feared it would make overcrowding even worse and make the district change attendance boundaries.[17] 2015 DISD approved a bridge plan that earmarked $5.3 million for expansion of Stonewall Jackson.[16]

Henderson retired in 2013.[9]

The school was renamed effective July 1, 2018,[11] as the former namesake was a general in the Confederate States of America during the U.S. Civil War.[18][19] The impetus for the renaming was the Charlottesville car attack that occurred the previous year in the backdrop of the Unite the Right rally.[19] All nine DISD board members agreed to the renaming.[20] The school community was to choose a new name, and it was required to be substantially different from the previous one. There were fifty proposals submitted, including one with Henderson's name; in December 2017 the community selected the current name, based on the school's Mockingbird Street location.[21] By June 2018 the new signage was installed.[22]

Deaf education

It became one of the schools with a component of the Dallas Regional School for the Deaf in 1968.[23] The institution, also known as the Dallas County-Wide Day School for the Deaf, had three other campuses in 1976. The school's deaf curriculum shifted to the total communication approach from the oral communication approach around 1972, and as a result the institution modified its approach to hearing aids. In 1976 the school served elementary and middle school levels and had a total of about 140 deaf students.[24] In 1999 the majority of deaf DISD students attended Stonewall Jackson. By 1999, 17% of the students were classified as special education, and they were placed in classrooms with regular students as an effort to mainstream their education.[23] In previous periods the number of deaf students, about 100, made up half of the school's enrollment.[8] The numbers of deaf students declined as other DISD schools opened their own programs for the deaf.[25] In 2011 the school had about 40 deaf students, the largest number enrolled at the time in a single DISD elementary school.[10] In 2018 the school had 30 deaf students.[25]

The school, as of 2005, gave American Sign Language (ASL) instruction to all students. In addition most employees, including the principal and all teachers, also had knowledge of ASL.[26] To foster inclusiveness the school intentionally exposed all of its students to deaf culture.[23] In 2018 former teachers reported that due to the increasing importance of meeting Texas state accountability goals, the school no longer gave all of its students ASL instruction.[25]

Academic performance

The Dallas Morning News in 2011 wrote that "Families have long been attracted to Stonewall Jackson Elementary School for its high state ratings and a reputation on par with private schools in the area."[10] Haag stated in 2013 that "Parents have lauded Stonewall, [...] as a campus on par with a private school."[9]

Redbook ranked Jackson as an entry in "America's Best Schools" in 1993.[9] Principles and Methods of Adapted Physical Education and Recreation (2005 edition) states that the "unique and exceptional efforts in educating all children" enrolled resulted in the school receiving the Blue Ribbon Award,[26] for the 1998-1999 school year.[27]

Henderson stated that parental involvement was a significant factor in its academic performance.[9] Due to the school's reputation, area parents are perennially opposed to changing the attendance boundary of the school; circa 2004 there was a proposal to rezone parts of the Stonewall Jackson zone to Robert E. Lee, an underutilized school which did not have the same reputation that Stonewall Jackson had; area parents campaigned to instead build portable buildings on the campus of Stonewall Jackson to accommodate more students.[28] In 2014 Keri Mitchell of Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas stated that various parents in the R. E. Lee zone had their children sent to Stonewall Jackson, but by that year the latter school had reached capacity.[29]

From 2008 until 2010 the Texas Education Agency (TEA) ranked the school as "exemplary" in its school accountability ratings. In 2011 the TEA began counting the performances of the at-the-time 40 deaf students, who were not previously counted, causing that year's ranking to be "acceptable"; this prompted fears of prospective parents choosing not to enroll their children and a decline in property values.[10]

Demographics

While 87% of the students in DISD in 2010 were considered to be of low socioeconomic status, that year 30% of Stonewall Jackson students were of low socioeconomic status. In 2011 The Dallas Morning News stated that the campus "has become a destination for more affluent families who have a choice about where they send their children."[10] In 2014 the school had 602 students with 23% being classified as low income; 58% of them were non-Hispanic white.[15]

Culture

When the school had its former name, it was referred to in shorthand as "Stonewall".[30]

In 1996,[31] the second grade class of Evelyn Painter began a garden,[32] and her husband Mark Painter volunteered to help have it planted.[31] Other teachers began to involve their classes in it. By 2002 the garden had 23,000 square feet (2,100 m2) of area and included a beehive, a wildflower area, and an area for growing vegetables. Mark Painter became employed by Stonewall Jackson after initially volunteering at the site.[32] In 2007-2008, after Mark Painter was laid off due to DISD budget cuts, parents started a campaign called Stonewall Gardens to generate funding so the school could employ him again, and it did.[33] Mark Painter retired in 2014.[31]

Feeder patterns

Residents of the Mockingbird zone are also zoned to:[34] J. L. Long Middle School (6-8),[35] and Woodrow Wilson High School (9-12).[36]

References
  • Kos, Susanne; Melissa R. Scott (1976). "Maximizing Hearing Aid Usage in a Public Day School for the Deaf". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office (13141): 312-315. - Kos worked for the Callier Center for Communication Disorders while Scott was an employee of the school

Notes
  1. "Boundaries". Lower Greenville Neighborhood Association. Retrieved 2019-10-21. - The schools are indicated under their former names: "Jackson" (Mockingbird) and "Lee" (Geneva Heights)
  2. "About Us". Greenland Hills Neighborhood Association. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  3. "Dallas ISD could open pre-K centers, create a Montessori school". The Dallas Morning News. 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2019-11-09. - The source states "[...]while Stonewall Jackson Elementary in the M Streets is at 156 percent." even though it is in Lower Greenville
  4. Oates, Diana (2014-09-05). "5 best Dallas neighborhoods to buy a house right now". Culturemap Dallas. Retrieved 2020-05-06. Caruth Terrace is bounded by Skillman Street on the west, Abrams Road on the east and Mockingbird Lane on the south. - Compare with the DISD maps.
  5. "Wilshire Heights". D Magazine. Retrieved 2020-05-06. - Take the map and compare it to the DISD boundary maps.
  6. "Lakewood Heights". D Magazine. Retrieved 2020-05-06. - Check the boundary map attached and compare it to the DISD boundary maps.
  7. Hobbs, Tawnell D.; Holly Hacker (2015-10-27). "Dallas ISD bond opponents say adjusting attendance zones could ease overcrowding". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  8. "School profile: Robert E. Lee Elementary". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. 2007-05-01. Retrieved 2019-10-21. - This article refers to the school by its former name.
  9. Haag, Matthew (2013-04-17). "Principal at Stonewall Jackson Elementary School in Dallas retires". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  10. "Drastic drop for Dallas' Stonewall Jackson Elementary shows power of state school ratings". The Dallas Morning News. 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  11. "Campus Info". Mockingbird Elementary School PTA. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  12. "New Northeast Dallas School Named Jackson; Board Pays Tribute to Famous General". The Dallas Morning News. 1939-02-01.
  13. "$11,250 Offer Made for New School Site". The Dallas Morning News. 1938-10-26. - The streets named, Mockingbird and Anita, make clear which school this is referring to.
  14. "Contracts for $104,150 Let on Northeast Dallas School". The Dallas Morning News. 1938-12-22.
  15. Nicholson, Eric (2014-11-12). "How Dallas ISD Is Working to Attract Middle-Class Families to Another East Dallas School". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  16. Mitchell, Keri (2015-03-27). "Dallas ISD board vote pours millions into East Dallas schools". The Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  17. "Parents at Stonewall Jackson Elementary fear new apartments will overwhelm Dallas school's enrollment". The Dallas Morning News. 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  18. Zoga, Diana (2017-12-14). "Dallas School Board Approves New Names for Three Schools Currently Named After Confederate Generals". KXAS-TV (NBC DFW). Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  19. Smith, Corbett (June 13, 2018). "See ya, Stonewall: Dallas ISD begins to remove Confederate leaders' names from 4 schools". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved March 11, 2019 – via DallasNews.com. Prompted by the white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, Va., in September,[...] - The quotation refers to the rally and the associated deadly car attack.
  20. Whitely, Jason (2017-09-29). "Dallas ISD votes 9-0 to rename Confederate school names". WFAA. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  21. Zeeble, Bill (2017-12-26). "Three Of Four Dallas Schools Named For Confederate Generals Have Picked New Names". KERA. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  22. "New sign goes up at former Stonewall Jackson Elementary in Dallas". WFAA. 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  23. Plese, Angela (1999-11-01). "Stonewall Jackson Elementary selected as Blue Ribbon School". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  24. Kos and Scott, p. 312.
  25. Maddox, Will (2018-06-21). "Three recent Stonewall retirees account for 117 years worth of deaf education". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  26. Auxter, David; Jean Pyfer; Carol Huettig (2005). Principles and Methods of Adapted Physical Education and Recreation. McGraw-Hill. p. 542. ISBN 9780072843729. - This book refers to the school by its former name.
  27. "BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS PROGRAM Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002" (PDF). U.S. Department of Education. p. 82/90. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  28. Mitchell, Keri (2015-10-28). "'Attendance boundaries': Words that strike fear into Lakewood, Stonewall parents". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  29. Mitchell, Keri (2014-11-14). "Has Robert E. Lee Elementary reached a tipping point?". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  30. Mitchell, Keri (2016-05-31). "Last week of school for five longtime Stonewall educators". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  31. Nunn, Brittany (2014-07-28). "Stonewall Gardens bids 'a fond farewell' to founder Mark Painter". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  32. "Growing gardeners at Stonewall". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. 2002-10-01. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  33. "Weeding, writing and arithmetic". Advocate Lakewood/East Dallas. 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  34. "2019-20 Mockingbird Elementary Attendance Zone Grades PK-5" (PDF). Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  35. "2019-20 J.L. Long Middle Attendance Zone Grades 6-8" (PDF). Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  36. "2019-20 Woodrow Wilson High Attendance Zone Grades 9-12" (PDF). Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved 2019-10-21.

Further reading
  • "Maximizing Hearing Aid Usage in a Public Day School for the Deaf". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office (13141): 312–315. 1976. (circa) - From Google Books search and Snippet

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