DeSoto High School (DeSoto, Texas)
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| DeSoto High School | |
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| Location | |
| 600 Eagle Drive DeSoto, Texas, United States |
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| Coordinates | 32.581137,-96.870425 |
| Information | |
| School type | Public |
| Established | 1956 |
| School district | DeSoto Independent School District |
| Principal | Dr. Sheryl Ensley |
| Grades | 10-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,989 |
| Color(s) | Green & Gold |
| Nickname | Eagles |
| Website | www.desotoisd.org/highschool |
DeSoto High School is a public school in DeSoto, Texas, United States. It is part of the DeSoto Independent School District. It is located at 600 Eagle Drive.
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[edit] History
From 1956 to 1962, DeSoto High School was located at 200 East Belt Line Road. In 1962, a new campus opened at 601 East Belt Line Road (present-day DeSoto East Junior High). As the district continued to grow, voters approved a $7.5 million bond by a margin 445-366 in 1973 that contained a provision for the construction of a new high school.
On February 15, 1974, a groundbreaking ceremony took place at the new site - 600 Eagle Drive. The building contract was awarded to Central Texas Construction of Terrell at a cost of approximately $3,100,000. It opened on August 16, 1976.
To relieve overcrowding, an adjoining Freshman Campus opened in 1997 to serve the district's ninth graders.
The Dallas Morning News reported that the school "had a lower-than-expected college readiness percentage."[1] In 2011 the district was building additions for the school's college and career academies.[1] The State of Texas defined "college readiness," or readiness to undergo university studies, by scores on the ACT and SAT and in the 11th grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests.
[edit] School uniforms
In the 2005-2006 school year, DeSoto ISD began a mandatory school uniform policy at all of its schools.
[edit] Student demographics
As of the 2005-2006 school year, DeSoto High had a total of 1,832 students in grades 10-12 (78.6% African American, 10.9% White, 9.8% Hispanic, 0.6% Asian, and 0.1% Native American). The school had 2,641 enrolled overall including the freshman campus (the 9th grade extension of the high school.)
[edit] Athletic State Championships
DeSoto High School is noted for its successful sports programs. The Desoto Baseball team advanced to the state tournament in 1977, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984 and 1985 and won state championships in 1979 and 1985 completing one of the most successful runs in Texas high school baseball history. The Lady Eagle Track and Field team was one of the most recent successes, winning the 2011 state championship in May 2011. They also won the championship in May 2007 with only 6 competitors at the meet - Gayla Cloud, Monica Dunn, Roshunda Pierson, Diamond Richardson, Hayley Shade, and Skylar White.
The school's boy's basketball team also won the Texas 5A State Championship in 2003 as well as in 2009.
[edit] Student Investigation
In January 2005, the school district was investigated by the press for its questionable hiring of an outside "gang consultant". The investigation focused on whether the district truly had a "gang problem" (the local police chief stated no), or whether the consultant was creating the "problem", since the consultant stood to gain a sizeable contract if in fact a problem existed. The end result is that there was no real gang problem, and the consultant's contract was terminated.
The unique feature of the investigation was that none of the media outlets in the Dallas area had anything to do with it. The investigation was performed solely by the Eagle Eye, the DHS student newspaper. For their role in the story, four members of the newspaper staff received the Courage in Student Journalism Award for their work; the student advisor received the educator's version of the award. Both awards came with $5,000 prizes.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Hacker, Holly K. "Analysis shows true Texas high school performance, stripping away socioeconomic factors." The Dallas Morning News. September 3, 2011. Retrieved on February 10, 2012.
- ^ "Texas students, adviser receive Courage in Student Journalism Awards". http://www.splc.org/news/report_detail.asp?id=1247&edition=38. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
[edit] External links
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