Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts is a public secondary school located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). Booker T. Washington HSPVA enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is the Dallas Independent School District's arts magnet school (thus, it is often locally referred to simply as Arts Magnet). Many accomplished performers and artists have been educated in the school. Some examples include Ernie Banks, Norah Jones, Erykah Badu, Adario Strange, Valarie Rae Miller, Edie Brickell, Kennedy Davenport, Sandra St. Victor, Roy Hargrove, and Scott Westerfeld.
Video Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
History
In 1892, Dallas established its first high school for African American pupils. In 1911, the school was enlarged and named the Dallas Colored High School. The school was moved in 1922 to larger quarters, designed by famed Dallas architects Lang & Witchell, and renamed Booker T. Washington High School, after the African-American education pioneer Booker T. Washington. For many years, it was the only Dallas high school that allowed students of color.
In 1939, Wilmer-Hutchins Colored High School of the Wilmer-Hutchins ISD burned down in a fire. Afterwards, African-American WHISD students were sent to DISD high schools for "colored" people such as Washington.
In 1942, teacher Thelma Paige Richardson sued the Dallas School District, demanding equalization of pay based upon tenure and merit; the school district denied that any discrimination was taking place. Richardson, with the help of the NAACP, won the case, increasing general awareness of discrimination in the public school system.
In 1952, it was enlarged yet again, and given the new name as Booker T. Washington Technical High School.
In 1976, the school was repurposed as the Arts Magnet at Booker T. Washington High School, inheriting and expanding the magnet-school arts curriculum that had been in place in the Performing Arts Cluster at Skyline High School since 1970. The Arts Magnet would become a prototype for magnet schools across the country. The repurposing was part of the Federal Court Desegregation Orders that created the Magnet School system in Dallas ISD (Tasby v. Estes). Paul Baker was selected by Superintendent Estes has Founding Director of the School.
In 2008, the building was enlarged a third time. After receiving many grants, the school underwent a $65,000,000 expansion. [1].
The surrounding neighborhood has evolved into the Dallas Arts District and the school building is an official Dallas Landmark.
In 2008, a new $65 million facility designed by Brad Cloepfil, was completed. The main building, incorporated as an historical landmark, has been preserved.
Maps Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
Statistics
The attendance rate for students at the school is 96%, equal with the state average of 96%. 32% of the students at Washington are economically disadvantaged, 2% enroll in special education, 31% enroll in gifted and talent programs, and 1% are considered "limited English proficient." The class of 2017 managed to receive over $60 million in offered scholarships and grants.
The ethnic makeup of the school is 42% White American, 21% African American, 30% Hispanic American, 3% Asian American/Pacific Islander American, and 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native.
The average class sizes at Washington are 20 students for English, 27 for foreign language, 19 for math, 22 for science, and 25 for social studies.
Alumni
Notable alumni include:
- Erykah Badu - Grammy Award-winning artist
- Zac Baird - keyboardist for nu metal band Korn
- Ernie Banks - Hall of Fame baseball player
- Bill Blair - Negro Leagues baseball player, newspaper publisher
- Edie Brickell - Grammy Award-winning artist
- Laganja Estranja - RuPaul's Drag Race season 6, top 8
- Kennedy Davenport - RuPaul's Drag Race season 7, top 4
- Todd Duffey - actor, Office Space (1999), Waiter with "flair".
- Arlo Eisenberg - X Games in-line skate athlete and visual artist.
- Shahine Ezell - Actor, producer, DJ
- Comfort Fedoke - Dance
- Roy Hargrove - Grammy Award-winning Jazz musician, performer
- Darius Holbert - Film/TV Composer, Album Producer, Performer
- Willie Hutch - Singer, songwriter
- Norah Jones - Grammy Award-winning artist
- Shaun Martin - Grammy Award-winning Jazz musician
- Elizabeth Mitchell - Actress, known for her role as Dr. Juliet Burke on Lost.
- Ephraim Owens - Musician (trumpet)
- Julia Scott Reed - Journalist
- Don Sidle - NBA draft pick from Univ. of Oklahoma
See also
- History of the African Americans in Dallas-Fort Worth
References
External links
- Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
- Booker T. Washington High School website
- Booker T. Washington HS photos at the Portal to Texas History
- Arts Magnet Building Campaign
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments