W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy Principal Yvonne D. Rojas welcomed parents, community and district officials on Thursday to a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of the historic campus’ recent expansion.
The event featured the school’s mariachi band, Leadership Cadet Corps, choir and international and academy dance performances. The event closed with the ribbon-cutting and the unveiling of a recently installed piece of student artwork titled “The Towers at Greiner”—a ceramic sculpture garden comprised of student reflections of the school’s diverse heritage, student experiences, the Oak Cliff Community and the City of Dallas.
“We have a great group of students,” said Rojas, who herself was at one time a Greiner student. “I’ve been fortunate to see generations pass through our campus some of whom have returned as faculty members here.”
Notable attendees included current Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees members Eric Cowan, Joyce Foreman, newly-elected trustee member Audrey Pinkerton, Hon. Rafael Anchia, Representative of District 103 of the Texas House of Representatives, a former Dallas ISD Trustee for District 7 from 2001 to 2004, and Dallas ISD Chief of School Leadership Stephanie Elizalde.
“This project is a great testament to the school and community Greiner has become, and a testament to the support and action of the surrounding community,” Cowan said.
Greiner’s expansion includes a two-story building addition comprised of 32 classrooms, six science labs, cafeteria expansion, a new drop-off lane and 25 parking spots with a circular driveway to the existing parking lot. The improvements represent the bond plan’s focused efforts to provide quality campus facilities for district students. The Greiner expansion added 57,600 square feet to the campus to better accommodate the school’s more than 1,700 students. Students moved into the new addition in late December.
The Greiner expansion is one of the last projects funded by the 2008 Bond Program. Greiner is one of the largest middle schools in Texas with an enrollment of nearly 1,800 students. The school has a rich history stretching back to the turn of the 20th century. The original classrooms were separate plank buildings on a grassy South Oak Cliff field. In 1915, plans were approved for a new middle school.
W.E. Greiner Academy is a magnet school that welcomes students with an interest in fine arts and is the only fine arts academy in the district offering concentrations in visual art, band, choir, dance, mariachi, orchestra, piano and theatre.
