Irving Independent School District

Irving Independent School District is a school district based in Irving, Texas (USA). The district, which covers 48.5 square miles (126 km2), serves most of the city of Irving, except for Valley Ranch and a portion of Las Colinas. The district also serves small portions of Grand Prairie and Dallas.

Irving Independent School District
Location
Irving, Texas
United States
District information
TypePublic
Motto"Where Children Come First"
GradesPre-Kindergarten through 12th grade
Established1909
SuperintendentMagda Hernandez
Budget$250 million general fund
Students and staff
Students34,851 (2011–12)
Staff
  • full-time teachers: 2315
  • full-time staff: 1729
  • full-time and part-time: 4875
Athletic conference6A
Other information
Websitewww.irvingisd.net
Location of Irving within Texas
Location of Texas within the United States

There are two parts of West Dallas that are in Irving ISD: an area south of the west fork of the Trinity River and north of the Bernal Greenbelt, and an area west of Top Line Drive and south of the Trinity River.[1]

School District

All Irving ISD high school students are issued a laptop computer. The IISD Library Media Program received national recognition in 2000 and 1991 when it received the National School Library Media Program of the Year Award (Large District Category) by the American Association of School Librarians.

In 2010, the final year of TEA academic ratings, the school district was rating academically acceptable. While the school district has a high percentage of free and reduced lunch students, language minority students, all schools have consistently been ranked either exemplary, recognized, or academically acceptable by the Texas Education Agency.[2] In 2010 and 2011, the school district received a 5-star rating from the Texas Comptroller for its fiscal management and academic progress. Irving ISD was one of approximately 43 school districts out of over 1200 in Texas to receive the rating in 2010. During the 2011 school year, Irving was one of only 23 school districts out of over 1200 to repeat the 5-star rating. In 2015, Irving ISD was one of two winners of the national AP District of the Year by College Board.

IISD graduates in the Class of 2010 earned approximately $22 million in scholarship offers. Eleven seniors were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program, and many others received local, regional, state and national honors in academics, fine arts, and athletics.

Demographics

Irving ISD is made up of 80% low-income families, including 9,500 high school students. It is also a majority-minority district. The student population represents more than fifty-six countries speaking over ninety-five languages.[3]

  • African American 12.06%
  • American Indian 0.47%
  • Asian 3.57%
  • Hispanic 70.84%
  • White 11.66%

During the 2011–12 school year, the district had a peak enrollment of 34,851. The district enrollment has risen since 2007 when the it faced a decrease in student population as result of the City of Irving performing a code enforcement crackdown on several low rent apartments, causing many low income families to leave the district. In addition, then Superintendent Jack Singley said that some illegal immigrants may have feared deportation, so they and their families left the district.[4]

In 1997, 43.4% of the students were non-Hispanic white. Eric Nicholson of the Dallas Observer stated that white flight was already occurring by then.[5] In 2000 45% of the students were Hispanic or Latino, but this increased to 61% by 2005.[6] By 2016, 9.2% of the students were non-Hispanic white, and Nicholson concluded that "change happened rapidly."[5]

In 1997, 49.2% of the students were low income - Nicholson stated that an increase in poor students was already occurring by then-but this increased to 79.6% in 2016.[5]

School uniforms

All Irving ISD elementary and middle school students are required to wear school uniforms, a dress code that has been enforced since the 1999-2000 school year. The uniforms consists of a polo shirt and appropriate school pants (navy blue pants, khakis, etc.). The acceptable shirt colors are light blue, white, forest green, navy blue and attending campus school colors. High schools do not have school uniforms but still enforce district dress code. High school students are trusted to wear appropriate attire.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) specifies 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.[7][8]

High schools
  • The United States Department of Education designated MacArthur High School as a National Blue Ribbon School in May 2002.

Middle schools
  • Austin Middle School
  • Bowie Middle School
  • Crockett Middle School
  • DeZavala Middle School
  • Houston Middle School
  • Lamar Middle School
  • Lamar Middle School was designated a National Blue Ribbon School in May 2000.
  • Travis Middle School
  • Lady Bird Johnson Middle School
  • Lady Bird MS opened in the 2011-12 school year as the largest net-zero middle school in the country. The school is powered by solar panels, wind turbines, etc. and produces as much energy as it uses while serving a student population of approximately 1000 students.

Primary schools
  • Barton Elementary School
  • Brandenburg Elementary School
  • Britain Elementary School
  • Brown Elementary School
  • Davis Elementary School
  • Elliott Elementary School
  • Farine Elementary School
  • Gilbert Elementary School
  • Good Elementary School
  • Good Elementary School was designated a National Blue Ribbon School in May 2001.[9] Good was also one of 12 schools in the U.S. and the only school in Texas to receive special recognition in technology in 2001.
  • John Haley Elementary School
  • Thomas Haley Elementary School
  • Hanes Elementary School
  • Johnston Elementary School
  • Keyes Elementary School
  • Lee Elementary School
  • Lively Elementary School
  • Schulze Elementary School
  • Stipes Elementary School
  • Townley Elementary School
  • Townsell Elementary School

Early childhood centers
  • Clifton Early Childhood School
  • Kinkeade Early Childhood School
  • Pierce Early Childhood School

Learning centers
  • Elementary Development Center
  • Ratterree Career Development Center
  • Secondary Reassignment Center
  • Barbara Cardwell Career Preparatory Center (Formerly Union Bower Center for Learning)
  • Wheeler Transitional and Development Center

References
  1. "Live in Dallas (But Don’t Use Its Schools)" (Archive). The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on March 8, 2016.
  2. "2009 Accountability Rating System". Texas Education Agency. Archived from the original on 2015-10-25.
  3. Leal Unmuth, Katherine. "Irving ISD faces challenges as poverty grows in inner-ring suburb". 18 Jan 2011. Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  4. Hupp, Staci and Katherine Leal Unmuth. "Irving, Richardson schools face sliding enrollment, hard choices." The Dallas Morning News. Sunday December 9, 2007. Retrieved on November 19, 2011.
  5. Nicholson, Eric (2016-05-03). "In Dallas, White Flight Never Ends". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  6. Smith, Andrew D. (2006-09-05). "Schools rising to meet needs: Influx of Hispanics driving construction in aging neighborhoods". Dallas Morning News.
  7. "DOCKET NO. 008-R5-901." Texas Education Agency. Accessed October 13, 2008.
  8. "School Uniforms", Texas Education Agency. June 2, 2008. Retrieved on June 20, 2017. "(c) A parent or guardian of a student assigned to attend a school at which students are required to wear school uniforms may choose for the student to be exempted from the requirement or to transfer to a school at which students are not required to wear uniforms and at which space is available if the parent or guardian provides a written statement that, as determined by the board of trustees, states a bona fide religious or philosophical objection to the requirement."
  9. Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF) Archived 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine
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