Walnut Hill Elementary School

Walnut Hill Elementary School
Location
Walnut Hill Elementary School
Walnut Hill Elementary School
10115 Midway Road
Dallas, Texas 75229
Coordinates 32°52′58″N 96°50′23″W / 32.882879°N 96.83958799999999°W / 32.882879; -96.83958799999999
Information
Type Public, Primary
School district Dallas Independent School District
Grades PK-5
Number of students 425[1]
Information +1 (972) 502-7800[2]
Fax: +1 (972) 502-7801[3]
Trustee dist.  1, Edwin Flores, Ph.D.[4]
Area   4, Dr. Robin S. Ryan[5]
Website Home page

Walnut Hill Elementary School is a public elementary school in Dallas Independent School District (DISD), serving grades PK–5. The school is located at 10115 Midway Road in Dallas, near Walnut Hill Lane,[6] and has been in operation since 1912, though the present building was constructed in 1946.[7]

Eileen Gale Kugler, author of Debunking the Middle-Class Myth: Why Diverse Schools Are Good for All Kids, described Walnut Hill as a "successful school" in 2003 due to its dual immersion English-Spanish program and other academic programs;[8] parents from other parts of the school district enroll their children in Walnut Bend due to the immersion program. As of 2003 the school has traditional and mixed-age classes available.[8]

History

The school's predecessor was established in 1912 as Smith Hall School, near the same site; at the time, Walnut Hill Lane was known as Six Mile Road. About 1916, the school districts of Smith Hall and nearby Elms Springs merged, after which local landowner Albert Latham — whose property included a farm and walnut grove on the northwest corner of Midway and Six Mile Road — offered the new district 10 acres of land in exchange for naming the new school Walnut Hill School.[7] Thomas E. Henry, previously Dallas County Superintendent of Public Schools, served as an early principal for the new grade school.[9]

As of 1935, a Walnut Hill School District had been established and voters were considering a $20,000 bond issue to repair the building, construct an annex, and purchase the land on which the annex was to be constructed.[10] By 1937, the new building had been constructed at a cost of $30,000, with some assistance from the Texas division of the Public Works Administration (PWA).[11] The school was a county school by 1946 when the town of Preston Hollow was annexed to the city of Dallas and Walnut Hill became part of the DISD. An addition to the building was constructed in 1950.[7] A second and third additions were added simultaneously in 1956. They included a primary art room and an upper elementary art room and a full gymnasium.

In 1999 the school was named a National Blue Ribbon school.[8]

Demographics

As of 2003 its students included Hispanics, African-Americans, and non-Hispanic whites. As of 2003 50% of the students qualified for free or reduced lunches, an indicator of poverty.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Texas Education Agency - School Directory, page 89. Retrieved on 15 February 2009.
  2. ↑ Dallas ISD - School telephone numbers. (PDF). Retrieved on 15 February 2009.
  3. ↑ Dallas ISD - School fax numbers. (PDF). Retrieved on 15 February 2009.
  4. ↑ Dallas ISD - Schools by Trustee Archived 2007-10-04 at the Wayback Machine.. (PDF). Retrieved on 15 February 2009.
  5. ↑ Dallas ISD - Schools by Area Archived 2007-03-15 at the Wayback Machine.. (PDF). Retrieved on 22 February 2007.
  6. ↑ Walnut Hill Elementary Archived 2001-10-13 at Archive.is official district web site
  7. 1 2 3 Eva Potter Morgan. Preston Hollow: a documentary history, 1850–1950, Dallas: Great Impressions Printing & Graphics, 2001, pages 164–165.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Kugler, Eileen Gale. Debunking the Middle-Class Myth: Why Diverse Schools Are Good for All Kids. R&L Education, October 2, 2002. p. 23. "[...]a teacher at Walnut Hill Elementary School in Dallas. A school with a population of Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian students, 50 percent qualifying for free or reduced lunch, Walnut Hill has built a successful school on its[...]molds at our school,” Kitner says."
  9. ↑ (No author.) "$4,250 raised for Liberty loan bonds at county rally," The Dallas Morning News, page 1.
  10. ↑ (No author.) "Walnut Hill to vote on school bond issue," The Dallas Morning News, Sept. 7, 1935, page 8.
  11. ↑ (No author.) "New Walnut Hill School dedicated, formally opened," The Dallas Morning News, March 23, 1937, page 12.
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