Preston Hollow Elementary School

Preston Hollow Elementary School
Location
6423 Walnut Hill Lane Dallas, Texas 75230  United States
Information
Type	Public, Primary
School district	Dallas Independent School District
Principal	Pete Chapasko
Grades	PK-5
Number of students	601[1]
Color(s)	hunter green and white[2]
Mascot	patriot[2]
Information	+1 (972) 794-8500[3] Fax: +1 (972) 794-8501[4]
Trustee dist.	2, Jack Lowe[5]
Area	4, Dr. Robin S. Ryan[6]
Website	http://phes.txpta.org/

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 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.^[7]

History

In August 2006 Jack Lowe, Sr. Elementary opened, relieving Preston Hollow.^[8] Lowe opened, the section of Lakewood Elementary School's boundary that was within Vickery Meadows became a part of Lowe's boundary; therefore Lakewood no longer served any sections of Vickery Meadows.^[9][10]

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 Education 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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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."^[11] 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.^[13]

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.^[14][15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17][18]

Statistics

77% of the students at Preston Hollow are classified as economically disadvantaged, 8% enroll in special education, 13% enroll in gifted and talent programs, and 42% are considered "limited English proficient."^[19]

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.^[19]

The average class sizes at Preston Hollow are 17 for Kindergarten, 12 for 2^nd grade, 15 for 3^rd grade, 22 for 4^th grade, and 30 for 5^th grade.^[19]

Teachers at the school carry, on average, 16 years of teaching experience and 0% of the teachers on staff are first-year teachers.^[19]

Test Scores

Below is a list of percentages that represent the percent of students meeting or exceeding standards on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test.

School uniforms

All DISD elementary school students [1], including Preston Hollow students, are required to wear school uniforms.

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.^[21]

Feeder patterns

As of 2008, Preston Hollow feeds into Benjamin Franklin Middle School and ultimately into Hillcrest High School.^[22]

Notable alumni

• Jenna Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush - Daughters of U.S. President George W. Bush and Laura Bush; Laura Bush served on Preston Hollow's PTA while the Bush twins attended Preston Hollow^[23][24]

References

External links

• Preston Hollow Elementary School
• Dallas ISD listing for Preston Hollow Elementary School
• School profile (PDF)
• Attendance zone map (PDF)

Coordinates: 32°52′50″N 96°47′44″W / 32.880575°N 96.795486°W / 32.880575; -96.795486