Dade Middle School in South Dallas has endured low academic performance, discipline problems, high principal turnover and parent dissatisfaction.
But on the first day of school Monday there was hope.
“I can see it being an awesome year,” said parent Shawanda Mike. “I have no complaints. I have faith.”
Mike made the declaration after her son, Joseph Gatlin V, gave a rundown of his school day.
“It was good and fun,” he said. “Nobody got in any trouble or anything.”
Dade was revamped as an “Accelerating Campus Excellence” school. The initiative, being implemented in seven DISD schools, seeks to draw the best principals and teachers to habitually low-performing schools by paying them more. Students will have longer school days and will receive more after-school tutoring, complete with supper.
But first, parents, guardians and students must sign the “ACE” pledge. It includes agreeing to arrive on time and in uniform, to complete homework and to stay for tutoring if needed. Those who don’t sign the pledge are transferred to the closest campus not on the low-performing list.
Other ACE schools are Mills, Pease, Blanton and Umphrey Lee elementary schools, and Edison and Zumwalt middle schools.
Interim Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has said the ACE program has a lot of potential. “We have to be successful with those schools to get them off the required-improvement list, and just to make sure that they function appropriately,” he said.
Asked about Dade specifically, Hinojosa said Dade has the right leadership and he hopes the principal, Tracie Washington, will remain in place to go deep on implementing initiatives.
Hinojosa said he plans to visit the Dade community and meet with parents. He said he will also see if an area church can lend support to the school.
Dade has been a challenge from the time it opened in 2013 with about 900 students from the old Dade and Pearl C. Anderson middle schools. The $36 million campus is on its fourth principal since it opened.
The school held promise in a low-income area of dilapidated housing and scattered vacant lots. But some parents, students, volunteers and teachers last school year said the school suffered from high principal turnover, discipline problems and too many inexperienced teachers.
But on Monday, many parents had good things to say about Dade.
“It seems pretty organized this year,” said Jamiqua Jackson, who has a daughter at the school. “It’s a lot better now.”
Sade Cox left the school pleased after getting her son settled in Monday morning.
“They had everything organized,” she said. “Everything was smooth, orderly.”
But for Xavier Gibbs, 12, the revamped Dade will take some getting used to.
“There are a lot of changes,” the seventh grader said disappointingly after school. “There are new uniforms, and the teachers, they’re more strict. I gotta adapt to it.”
