The program is part of Toyota USA Foundation’s Driving Possibilities initiative, which seeks to provide for the interconnected needs of students through investment in educational programming.
By Meg Townsend, Dallas Morning News
When Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMNA) moved into its new headquarters in Plano in 2017, it did so with a plan to do more than simply create jobs in North Texas — being a responsible corporate partner and creating a positive impact within the D-FW community has always been the goal.
For evidence of the company’s impact, look no further than the Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School. Planning for the school began in 2018 with a public-private partnership between the Toyota USA Foundation, Southern Methodist University, Dallas Independent School District and the West Dallas community. Together, they’ve engineered a transformational school in an area where students have long experienced poverty, injustice and lack of resources.
What began as an educational initiative has expanded into a comprehensive community partnership that addresses both the learning and essential needs of children. It’s all a part of Toyota USA Foundation’s Driving Possibilities initiative that brings together educators, local and national nonprofits, industries and communities to prepare youth for the careers of tomorrow.
“Every program, every intervention that we are doing on this project, across the board, is intentional,” says Karen Pierce, an SMU Simmons School of Education and Human Development staff member who serves as the project manager for the West Dallas STEM School and has experienced firsthand the impact of the public-private partnership.
The West Dallas STEM School opened in 2021 and was designed to serve Pre-K through eighth grade, though grades will be added progressively. For the 2024-2025 school year, grades PK3, PK4, kindergarten, and first, second and third grades are available. The school will be fully expanded to eighth grade by the 2029-2030 school year. Programs provided by Dallas ISD and The Budd Center at SMU have transformed education and introduced students to STEM in new, effective ways. The partnership between Toyota USA Foundation, SMU and the public education system has yielded on-site support, innovative educational programming and teacher development that help improve student outcomes.
Replication as the ultimate goal
What makes this program unique is the goal of replication, Pierce says. Providing students with improved educational experiences is an immediate outcome but the long-term outcome of the program is to create a model that can be transferred to other local schools in the West Dallas community — and many more beyond. “We recognize the need to pilot programs and develop processes but then share that in a way that is transferable,” says Pierce.
Though the school is still in its third year of operation, impact is already measurable. Improving family and community involvement at the school, and in the children’s education, was one of the primary goals. Only a small number of parents attended activities like the Family Learning Hub, PTA meetings and STEM nights at the time the school was launched, but now that number has doubled to 33%. In the 2023-2024 school year, 86 students improved academic performance, and 234 students improved school attendance, according to The Budd Center at SMU.
“We’re able to take our discoveries and share those abroad and even go and implement some of our programming that’s being piloted at West Dallas STEM School with other Pinkston feeder pattern schools,” says Toni Harrison-Kelly, the executive director of The Budd Center at SMU. Through this initiative, more than 900 program resources have already been developed or enhanced to serve hundreds of additional students throughout the area.
Providing for a student’s whole experience
Nonprofit and after-school program community partners are other critical components of students’ success. Brother Bill’s Helping Hand runs a food pantry onsite where families can shop, plus a learning garden that’s used to teach students about growing food.
“Almost anything that we’ve asked to do for the people of West Dallas, Toyota’s been right there to support us,” says Blane Rogers, site director of the Brother Bill’s Helping Hand onsite food pantry at West Dallas STEM School. The food pantry is structured to provide a shopping experience, giving clients a self-serve option that enables them to support their families. “This partnership is just another way that we can ensure that anyone in the community that’s coming to us or coming to the school for help can do so in a dignified way,” Rogers says.
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas is another community partner that provides after-school programming for students. Destinee Merida, community youth development manager for the organization, says the school’s work primes the girls to explore STEM at a deeper level in their extracurricular programs because they can build on what was learned in school.
Early data shows that these programs are reaching students. Pierce says that all students at the West Dallas STEM School participated in sci-tech learning labs offered, as well as enrichment activities at the learning garden. This ecosystem of community support makes the impact sustainable because each organization fills gaps and meets needs. “Being able to be part of this wraparound service has really been beneficial because [if girls come to us with] needs that are far bigger than what we can actually do, we’re able to then refer them to those other community partners,” Merida says.
Partnership with Toyota also gives students in the program exposure to careers in STEM fields and potential future opportunities. Toyota is a unique collaborator in this regard, Pierce says, because the organization has a view of workforce readiness, and the skills youth need to develop to prepare for careers in the coming decades. This, in turn, helps educators like those from SMU and those working in Dallas ISD refine programs to ensure that students are prepared for the workforce. “We want to make sure that when we graduate a kid […], they are equipped to accomplish whatever that career trajectory was for them,” Pierce says.
Cross-industry collaboration continues to address key indicators of student success like providing field trips, creating a place for social belonging and other industry-informed learning opportunities. Now that the school is established, the work is to expand its impact, document the model, adjust as needed, and track the impact on students across their educational careers. Supporting students remains the program’s primary goal and children in the program get an all-encompassing learning experience that prepares them for their future.
