DeSoto High School (DeSoto, Texas)
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DeSoto High School is a public school in DeSoto, Texas (USA). It is part of the DeSoto Independent School District.
Located at 600 Eagle Drive (the eagle is the school mascot), the school serves students in grades ten through twelve.
From 1956 to 1962, DeSoto High School was located at 200 East Belt Line Road. In 1962, a new campus opened at 601 East Belt Line Road (present-day DeSoto East Junior High). As the district continued to grow, voters approved a $7.5 million bond by a margin 445-366 in 1973 that contained a provision for the construction of a new high school.
On February 15, 1974, a groundbreaking ceremony took place at the new site - 600 Eagle Drive. The building contract was awarded to Central Texas Construction of Terrell at a cost of approximately $3,100,000. It opened on August 16, 1976.
To relieve overcrowding, an adjoining Freshman Campus opened in 1997 to serve the district's ninth graders.
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[edit] School uniforms
In the 2005-2006 school year, DeSoto ISD began a mandatory school uniform policy at all of its schools.
[edit] Student demographics
As of the 2005-2006 school year, DeSoto High had a total of 1,832 students in grades 10-12 (78.6% African American, 10.9% White, 9.8% Hispanic, 0.6% Asian, and 0.1% Native American). The school had 2,641 enrolled overall including the freshman campus (the 9th grade extension of the high school.)
[edit] 2005-06 Accountability rating
Based on the accountability ratings released by the Texas Education Agency on August 1, 2006, DeSoto High is currently rated "Academically Acceptable".
[edit] 2007 Track and Field State Championships
DeSoto High School is noted for its successful sports programs. The Lady Eagle Track and Field team was one of the most recent successes, winning the 2007 State Chmpionship in May of 2007 with only 6 competitors at the meet - Gayla Cloud, Monica Dunn, Roshunda Pierson, Diamond Richardson, Hayley Shade, and Skylar White.
[edit] Student Investigation
In January 2005, the school district was investigated by the press for its questionable hiring of an outside "gang consultant". The investigation focused on whether the district truly had a "gang problem" (the local police chief stated no), or whether the consultant was creating the "problem", since the consultant stood to gain a sizeable contract if in fact a problem existed. The end result is that there was no real gang problem, and the consultant's contract was terminated.
The unique feature of the investigation was that none of the media outlets in the Dallas area had anything to do with it. The investigation was performed solely by the Eagle Eye, the DHS student newspaper. For their role in the story, four members of the newspaper staff received the Courage in Student Journalism Award for their work; the student advisor received the educator's version of the award. Both awards came with $5,000 prizes.
[edit] External links
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| High schools | DeSoto | DHS Freshman Campus |
| Middle schools | DeSoto East | DeSoto West | McCowan |
| Elementary schools | Amber Terrace | Cockrell Hill | Frank D. Moates | Northside | Ruby Young | The Meadows | Woodridge |
