A press conference on Wednesday morning formally announced that Dallas ISD is partnering with Paul Quinn College, an HBCU, to open a school that will operate under the International Baccalaureate model (IB) in southern Dallas.
The press conference announced that the new school, which is enrolling students right now for next school year, will be named, pending board approval, after Frederick D. Haynes, the leader of Friendship-West Baptist Church, national activist and trustee for Paul Quinn College.
“This for me is something that I cannot find words to express my appreciation for,” said Haynes, who was joined at the press conference by his wife and daughter.
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said the new school at Paul Quinn will build on efforts by Dallas ISD to partner with colleges and universities.
“We’ve had partnerships with SMU, Texas A&M Commerce and UT Southwestern, but we have not had a partnership with an HBCU,” Hinojosa said. “And now we have a partnership with an HBCU right here in our own backyard: Paul Quinn College.”
Trustee Maxie Johnson at the press conference said the school will have a big impact on an underserved community in Dallas.
“Educational inequity leads to poverty and poverty leads to violence,” Johnson said. “What you are witnessing today is the school board addressing the inequities in southern Dallas.”
Paul Quinn College is a private, faith-based, four-year, liberal arts-inspired university that has stood in Southern Dallas since 1872. This is the only institution that has received the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) accreditation within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
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The school will be a 6-12 Transformation School, operated under the International Baccalaureate model (IB).
The IB model focuses on teaching students to think critically and independently and how to inquire with care and logic. IB’s internationally-renowned programs and curriculums are implemented in over 5,000 schools globally every day, in over 150 countries around the world.
Christopher Barksdale, who has served as the principal of the Young Men’s Leadership Academy at Fred F. Florence Middle School, will serve as the school’s principal.
Dallas ISD Transformation Schools offer specialized academic programming, similar to Magnet Schools, but they do not have academic entry requirements. These schools do not have attendance boundaries; any student can apply to attend a Transformation School no matter where they live. Students are selected for enrollment through a randomized lottery, and transportation is provided within district boundaries.
The new Dallas ISD school operating in partnership with Paul Quinn College is now accepting applications for students entering sixth- and seventh-grade next school year. Families can apply by visiting www.dallasisd.org/choosedallasisd and filling out the online application.
