Preston Hollow Elementary School
Encyclopedia
Preston Hollow Elementary School is a public primary school located in the Preston Hollow
area of north
Dallas, Texas, (USA). Preston Hollow Elementary School enrolls students in grades PK
-5
and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District
.
The school is located within the Preston Hollow North subdivision. The school serves homes within the homeowner associations of Glen Lakes, Lane Park, Preston Hollow North, Sorento, and Windsor Park. It also serves The Meadows Neighborhood Association and a portion of the Caruth Hills Home Place Neighborhood Association.
In 1989 the DISD board proposed the re-opening of Arthur Kramer Elementary School. Under the plan, portions of the attendance boundaries of Pershing, Preston Hollow, and Rogers would have been modified. In 1991 the Kramer, Pershing, and Preston Hollow schools had a combined total of 32 portable buildings to house excess students. Parents from those schools supported plans to re-open Hotchkiss Elementary School as a neighborhood school, so it could house excess students. In 1992 federal judge Barefoot Sanders blocked the plan. The president of the Preston Hollow parent-teacher association (PTA), Terri Piacenti, criticized Sanders' decision. Hotchkiss opened as a neighborhood school in 1994. Glenna Taite, a specialist from DISD who analyzed enrollment data, stated that many North Dallas apartments saw population increases because previously singles and couples only apartments were required by law to open housing to families in 1989, so the area saw a surge in families.
In 1999 the PHES had almost 200% of the number of students that it was designated to house. In 2000 the E.D. Walker Math, Science and Technology Vanguard opened, taking some students from Preston Hollow.
In August 2006 Jack Lowe, Sr. Elementary opened, relieving Preston Hollow. Lowe opened, the section of Lakewood Elementary School's boundary that was within Vickery Meadow became a part of Lowe's boundary; therefore Preston Hollow no longer served any sections of Vickery Meadow. As of 2000 PHES had at least 20 portable buildings used to house the excess students.
decision. Judge Sam Lindsay ruled in November
that the school's practices were not legal because they attempted to keep white
students together even if minority
students had to be placed in inappropriate courses; this ruling was mis-cited in at least one local paper as indicating that all-white classes had been created. Defense noted that not a single whites-only class existed in the school, and that placement was based on test scores; however, Latino claimants in the suit argued that their children were placed in bilingual
or English as a Second Language
classes even when test scores suggested they should be in a general education program. The district's attorneys also argued that no harm had been caused to the minority students, prompting the judge to write, "The court is baffled that in this day and age, that [DISD relied] on what is, essentially, a 'separate but equal
' argument." The policies were criticized in the judge's ruling and in subsequent news articles as being an attempt to lessen white flight
by attracting more parents from the surrounding, mostly white community to keep their children in the local public system rather than sending them to private schools.
The school and the president of the school's Parent Teacher Association, Meg Bittner, were also called to task for development and use of a promotional brochure
that – according to the suit and to e-mails from Bittner introduced into evidence – intentionally featured almost exclusively white children, despite the school's enrollment being predominately minority. The ruling was affirmed by Lindsay in April, 2007, following his granting of a motion to amend a finding regarding the date on which the principal, Teresa Parker, had announced the planned ending of the special class assignments; the judge stated that this detail had not affected the decision and also denied defense motions to amend the conclusion of the judge's opinion and to amend the punitive damages
assessed against Parker. The judge criticized both motions as follows:
Parker initially retained her position despite the court's having found her personally liable
for violation of the 14th Amendment
with regard to specific children. News stories near the Jan. 17, 2007, deadline for implementation of policy changes reported that Parker had been moved to an administrative position with the school district and the principalship would be taken over by interim principal Enid Rosenfeldt.
, 8% enroll in special education
, 13% enroll in gifted and talent programs
, and 42% are considered "limited English proficient."
The ethnic makeup of the school is 66% Hispanic American, 18% White American
, non-Hispanic, 13% African American and 3% Asian American/Pacific Islander American
.
The average class sizes at Preston Hollow are 17 for Kindergarten
, 12 for 2nd grade
, 15 for 3rd grade
, 22 for 4th grade
, and 30 for 5th grade
.
Teachers at the school carry, on average, 16 years of teaching experience
and 0% of the teachers on staff are first-year teachers.
, south of Royal Lane, east of Preston Road, and west of the North Central Expressway. Housing within the attendance zone includes single family houses with wealthy White residents, several middle class houses, and apartment complexes which are mostly minority. PHES serves a portion of Preston Hollow.
The Texas Education Agency
specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform; parents must specify "bona fide
" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.
.
Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas
Preston Hollow is a neighborhood in north Dallas, Texas, USA.-History:In 1924 Ira De-Loache bought a farm in 1924. Preston Hollow's first lots were carved out of the former farm parcels. De-Loache and Al Joyce developed Preston Hollow, with development largely occurring in the 1930s. Initially...
area of north
North Dallas
North Dallas is an expensive area of numerous communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas . The phrase "North Dallas" is also sometimes used to include any suburb or exurb north of Dallas proper within the metropolitan area. The majority of North Dallas is located in Dallas County while a small...
Dallas, Texas, (USA). Preston Hollow Elementary School enrolls students in grades PK
Pre-Kindergarten
Pre-kindergarten refers to the first formal academic classroom-based learning environment that a child customarily attends in the United States. It begins between the ages of 3-5 depending on the length of the program...
-5
Fifth grade
Fifth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fifth grade is the fifth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 10 – 11 years old, and are preteens...
and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District
Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District is a school district based in Dallas, Texas . Dallas ISD, which operates schools in much of Dallas County, is the second largest school district in Texas and the twelfth largest in the United States.In 2009, the school district was rated "academically...
.
The school is located within the Preston Hollow North subdivision. The school serves homes within the homeowner associations of Glen Lakes, Lane Park, Preston Hollow North, Sorento, and Windsor Park. It also serves The Meadows Neighborhood Association and a portion of the Caruth Hills Home Place Neighborhood Association.
History
In 1987 Preston Hollow Elementary School parents stated that they wanted a voluntary busing program established so the school could attract racial and ethnic minorities. During the same year Preston Hollow participated in a Save the Children Foundation school to school partnership with the village school of N'Dimi, Cameroon. It was the first Dallas school to do a Save the Children Foundation partnership.In 1989 the DISD board proposed the re-opening of Arthur Kramer Elementary School. Under the plan, portions of the attendance boundaries of Pershing, Preston Hollow, and Rogers would have been modified. In 1991 the Kramer, Pershing, and Preston Hollow schools had a combined total of 32 portable buildings to house excess students. Parents from those schools supported plans to re-open Hotchkiss Elementary School as a neighborhood school, so it could house excess students. In 1992 federal judge Barefoot Sanders blocked the plan. The president of the Preston Hollow parent-teacher association (PTA), Terri Piacenti, criticized Sanders' decision. Hotchkiss opened as a neighborhood school in 1994. Glenna Taite, a specialist from DISD who analyzed enrollment data, stated that many North Dallas apartments saw population increases because previously singles and couples only apartments were required by law to open housing to families in 1989, so the area saw a surge in families.
In 1999 the PHES had almost 200% of the number of students that it was designated to house. In 2000 the E.D. Walker Math, Science and Technology Vanguard opened, taking some students from Preston Hollow.
In August 2006 Jack Lowe, Sr. Elementary opened, relieving Preston Hollow. Lowe opened, the section of Lakewood Elementary School's boundary that was within Vickery Meadow became a part of Lowe's boundary; therefore Preston Hollow no longer served any sections of Vickery Meadow. As of 2000 PHES had at least 20 portable buildings used to house the excess students.
Class-assignment policy controversy
In 2006, Preston Hollow Elementary School achieved notoriety after a lawsuit claiming the school's class-assignment policies violated the 1954 Supreme Court Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
decision. Judge Sam Lindsay ruled in November
November 2006
November 2006 was the eleventh month of that year. It began on a Wednesday and 30 days later, ended on a Thursday....
that the school's practices were not legal because they attempted to keep white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
students together even if minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
students had to be placed in inappropriate courses; this ruling was mis-cited in at least one local paper as indicating that all-white classes had been created. Defense noted that not a single whites-only class existed in the school, and that placement was based on test scores; however, Latino claimants in the suit argued that their children were placed in bilingual
Bilingual education
Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model.-Bilingual education program models:...
or English as a Second Language
English language learning and teaching
English as a second language , English for speakers of other languages and English as a foreign language all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with different native languages. The precise usage, including the different use of the terms ESL and ESOL in different countries, is...
classes even when test scores suggested they should be in a general education program. The district's attorneys also argued that no harm had been caused to the minority students, prompting the judge to write, "The court is baffled that in this day and age, that [DISD relied] on what is, essentially, a 'separate but equal
Separate but equal
Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that justified systems of segregation. Under this doctrine, services, facilities and public accommodations were allowed to be separated by race, on the condition that the quality of each group's public facilities was to...
' argument." The policies were criticized in the judge's ruling and in subsequent news articles as being an attempt to lessen white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
by attracting more parents from the surrounding, mostly white community to keep their children in the local public system rather than sending them to private schools.
The school and the president of the school's Parent Teacher Association, Meg Bittner, were also called to task for development and use of a promotional brochure
Brochure
A brochure is a type of leaflet. Brochures are most commonly found at places that tourists frequently visit, such as museums, major shops, and tourist information. Brochure racks or stands may suggest visits to amusement parks and other points of interest...
that – according to the suit and to e-mails from Bittner introduced into evidence – intentionally featured almost exclusively white children, despite the school's enrollment being predominately minority. The ruling was affirmed by Lindsay in April, 2007, following his granting of a motion to amend a finding regarding the date on which the principal, Teresa Parker, had announced the planned ending of the special class assignments; the judge stated that this detail had not affected the decision and also denied defense motions to amend the conclusion of the judge's opinion and to amend the punitive damages
Punitive damages
Punitive damages or exemplary damages are damages intended to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit...
assessed against Parker. The judge criticized both motions as follows:
Parker initially retained her position despite the court's having found her personally liable
Strict liability
In law, strict liability is a standard for liability which may exist in either a criminal or civil context. A rule specifying strict liability makes a person legally responsible for the damage and loss caused by his or her acts and omissions regardless of culpability...
for violation of the 14th Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
with regard to specific children. News stories near the Jan. 17, 2007, deadline for implementation of policy changes reported that Parker had been moved to an administrative position with the school district and the principalship would be taken over by interim principal Enid Rosenfeldt.
Statistics
77% of the students at Preston Hollow are classified as economically disadvantagedPoverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, 8% enroll in special education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
, 13% enroll in gifted and talent programs
Gifted education
Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented...
, and 42% are considered "limited English proficient."
The ethnic makeup of the school is 66% Hispanic American, 18% White American
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
, non-Hispanic, 13% African American and 3% Asian American/Pacific Islander American
Pacific Islander American
Pacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
.
The average class sizes at Preston Hollow are 17 for Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, 12 for 2nd grade
Second grade
In the United States, second grade is a year of primary education. Second grade is the second school year after kindergarten. Students are traditionally 7–8 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs....
, 15 for 3rd grade
Third grade
In the United States, third grade is a year of primary education. It is the third school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 8 – 9 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs....
, 22 for 4th grade
Fourth grade
Fourth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fourth grade is the fourth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 9 or 10 years old, depending on their birthday. It is a part of elementary school. In some parts of the United States, fourth grade...
, and 30 for 5th grade
Fifth grade
Fifth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fifth grade is the fifth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 10 – 11 years old, and are preteens...
.
Teachers at the school carry, on average, 16 years of teaching experience
Tenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
and 0% of the teachers on staff are first-year teachers.
Neighborhoods served
The PHES attendance zone mainly consists of areas north of the Northwest HighwayNorthwest Highway
Northwest Highway may refer to several highways in the United States:*Texas State Highway Loop 12*U.S. Route 14 in Illinois...
, south of Royal Lane, east of Preston Road, and west of the North Central Expressway. Housing within the attendance zone includes single family houses with wealthy White residents, several middle class houses, and apartment complexes which are mostly minority. PHES serves a portion of Preston Hollow.
School uniforms
All DISD elementary school students http://www.dallasisd.org/uniforms/, including Preston Hollow students, are required to wear school uniforms.The Texas Education Agency
Texas Education Agency
The Texas Education Agency is a branch of the state government of Texas in the United States responsible for public education. The agency is headquartered in the William B...
specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform; parents must specify "bona fide
Bona Fide
Bona Fide is a studio album from rock band Wishbone Ash. It is the first studio album in six years and is the only studio album to feature guitarist Ben Granfelt...
" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.
Feeder patterns
As of 2008, Preston Hollow feeds into Benjamin Franklin Middle School and ultimately into Hillcrest High SchoolHillcrest High School (Dallas)
Hillcrest High School, formerly Vickery Meadows High School is a public secondary school located in North Dallas, Texas . Hillcrest High School enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District.- History :...
.
Notable alumni
- BarbaraBarbara Pierce BushBarbara Pierce Bush is the elder of the sororal twin daughters of the 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, and the granddaughter of the 41st U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and his wife Barbara Bush, after whom she was named...
and Jenna Bush – Twin daughters of U.S. President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
; Laura BushLaura BushLaura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
served on Preston Hollow's PTA while Barbara and Jenna attended Preston Hollow
External links
- Preston Hollow Elementary School (PTA website)
- Preston Hollow Elementary School (DISD website)
- Dallas ISD listing for Preston Hollow Elementary School
- School profile (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
)