Nov. 26, Stephanie Knight, SMU Dean of the Simmons School of Education and Human Development, for a piece explaining how SMU and collaborators at Toyota and Dallas ISD can mitigate the opportunity divide with a new West Dallas STEM school project. Published in the Dallas Morning News: http://bit.ly/2KWKRhs
The chairman of the Dallas Citizens Council wrote in The Dallas Morning Newsearlier this month that the city must act boldly to eliminate inequities in struggling neighborhoods. Fred Perpall challenged the community to make it a moral imperative to bridge the divide in incomes, health and education by better distributing opportunities.
Southern Methodist University understands this challenge and believes the university’s role is to provide knowledge and research to improve people’s lives. That’s why we are collaborating with Dallas ISD and Toyota to create a new pre-kindergarten-through-eight-grade school focused on STEM, science, technology, engineering and math, in West Dallas, an underserved area in the city. . .
By Stephanie Knight
The chairman of the Dallas Citizens Council wrote in The Dallas Morning Newsearlier this month that the city must act boldly to eliminate inequities in struggling neighborhoods. Fred Perpall challenged the community to make it a moral imperative to bridge the divide in incomes, health and education by better distributing opportunities.
Southern Methodist University understands this challenge and believes the university’s role is to provide knowledge and research to improve people’s lives. That’s why we are collaborating with Dallas ISD and Toyota to create a new pre-kindergarten-through-eight-grade school focused on STEM, science, technology, engineering and math, in West Dallas, an underserved area in the city.
Over a year ago, Toyota USA Foundation gave SMU a $2 million grant to create a school with real-world, problem-solving curriculum and multidisciplinary areas of study. The district anticipates opening the school in 2021 at the site of the old Pinkston High School. We are doing this work with the intent to increase opportunities and resources for families and students. A secondary goal is to create a program that can be replicated in the district and around the country.
The West Dallas community is our fourth partner and we work hard to identify community needs and aspirations. Design teams include representations from all partners to offer advice on social services needed in the school, professional learning for educators, and research and evaluation on the success of the school model. Just as important is how the school’s space will serve students and teachers. We are planning an education center that doubles as a community center, offering literacy training, social services and job services.
People want to know if this school can succeed, given that other university partnerships have failed. We will succeed because our partnership has the right stakeholders at the table at the right time, and all are invested in a long-term commitment. It is not a new idea or a new promise to create a school meant to breathe life back into the struggling, “challenging” circumstances Perpall cites.
But our partnership offers a new promise. Toyota’s commitment goes well beyond its $2 million planning grant. Corporate leaders and staff are helping formulate plans so the school can provide new pathways for students in the Pinkston feeder pattern. Dallas ISD is our guide to logistics, staffing and the eventual transformation of Pinkston to the model school. A big advantage is Dallas ISD’s transformation and innovation schools that are designed with new concepts in mind. We at SMU are charged with developing the curriculum, school design and professional development. We need to support professional learning groups for teachers in the feeder pattern schools and beyond. Teachers throughout the district will be exposed to best practices and will be able to implement them in their home schools.
But the most important partner is the West Dallas community. If you build it, they won’t come unless the final school product is what people need and what inspires them. Our primary stakeholders are in the community: parents, teachers, nonprofits, thought leaders and politicians. In meetings, they share their visions and concerns. For instance, what if gentrification and lack of affordable housing impact who can attend the school? That’s why we are exploring approaches that preserve access to the school for those currently living in the area, while recognizing that increasing the number and diversity of students in West Dallas public schools is an important goal.
How do we ensure a certain number of affordable housing units in West Dallas? This is where city leaders can help the most, as they negotiate better opportunities for residents. Can we create affordable housing for teachers so they are embedded in the community? Often, teachers are not part of any underrepresented population, but we want a community school, and we want teachers to live in the area.
A sense of community can only strengthen a school. We want that vigor reflected in what we do because our students need to stand out in the highly competitive fields. We feel confident our STEM school students will be ready.
Such a quest begins with the moral conviction Perpall articulated. It is up to our partners and the communities we have identified to get involved, buy in, and contribute their tenacity to convert this moral charge to a model path to success. Join our quest. Offer your skills and support to West Dallas STEM School.
Stephanie Knight is dean of Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University. She wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.