| Lindale High School | |
|---|---|
| Official Lindale High School emblem
"A Tradition of Excellence"
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| Location | |
| 920 East Hubbard Street Lindale, Texas, Smith County, 75771 United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Co-Educational, Comprehensive Public High School, Secondary |
| School district | Lindale Independent School District |
| Superintendent | Stan Surratt |
| Principal | Donny Williams |
| Assistant Principals | Casey Neal, Holly Cargill |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Campus size | approx. 1,100 students |
| Color(s) | |
| Mascot | The Eagle |
| Newspaper | 'The Eagle Eye' |
| Website | LindaleEagles.org/school/Lindale-High-School |
Lindale High School, also called Lindale High, LHS, or Lindale, is a public secondary school located in Lindale, Texas, in the northeastern part of the state. It is home to multiple University Interscholastic League state academic championships and has earned multiple "Exemplary" ratings from the Texas Education Agency (one of only five high schools of its size in Texas to achieve that rating in 2009). Lindale High is a part of the Lindale Independent School District and includes grades 9 through 12. The school serves most of Lindale, Texas; a small portion of eastern Van Zandt County also lies within the district.
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"A Tradition of Excellence" is the motto of Lindale High School. The school's curriculum offers a full range of courses in the natural sciences (including biology, chemistry, physics, and anatomy/physiology), mathematics, English, social studies (including geography, world history, early U.S history, U.S. history since reconstruction, psychology, sociology, government, and economics), and fine arts, among others. At the present time, however, the school only offers instruction in one foreign language, Spanish, which is offered up to the honors level.
Particularly commendable are the school's English and social studies departments. Students of Lindale High School consistently achieve higher scores on writing exams (or on writing portions of standardized tests, like the SAT or the Texas Higher Education Assessment) in comparison to peer institutions, and frequently distinguish themselves through writing competitions. In 2010, for example, all three winners (first, second, and third places) in the 12th-grade division of the East Texas State Fair Academic Writing Contest were students of Lindale High School. Distinctions such as this have led many to insist that students of Lindale High are above-average writers, though such claims have not been conclusively proven.
In recent years, Lindale High has seen a significant drop in the number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered. This decrease is intentional on the part of the school's administration, as an array of college dual enrollment courses have taken place of the AP program. Nonetheless, the school still offers AP English Literature, AP English Language, AP Calculus AB, as well as a considerable number of pre-AP courses to its students. Moreover, Lindale High offers a large number of college-preparatory honors courses in nearly every subject.
The school's college dual enrollment program includes courses in subjects as varying as English, mathematics, history, biology, government, public and business speaking, art and art history, automotive technology, and many others. In fact, in the 2009-2010 school year, Lindale High once again had the largest college dual enrollment program of any high school in the area, according to the school's primary dual enrollment partner institution, Tyler Junior College, a commendable community college located in Tyler, Texas.
According to data published by the Texas Education Agency, Lindale High School has an exceptionally high graduation rate. Additionally, several LHS students are part of Texas's gifted education program (the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented).
The school also provides a surprising range of elective courses. These include (among others) creative writing, analysis of visual media, medical terminology, computer science, computer multimedia, webmastering, art, applied music, theater production, dance, accounting, a hands-on education course (called "Ready Set Teach"), and the many extracurricular activities listed below.
In the hallways of Lindale High School, banners read, "Through These Halls Walk Champions" and "Building Champions," sayings that ring true to the nature of the extracurricular accomplishments of LHS students. The school possesses an active variety of teams, clubs, organizations, and other extracurricular activities.
In terms of athletics, Lindale High is home to sports teams that include football (winning the district championship in 2009), volleyball, basketball, baseball, softball, golf, powerlifting, track, tennis, cross-country, soccer, and others. The athletic department's many teams claim multiple district and regional titles, and even a few state titles throughout the school's history. The tennis and soccer programs have garnered particular success. In recent years, it has been an unofficial tradition that poems are read aloud at school-wide pep rallies to bring good luck to the football team. The mascot of Lindale High is the eagle. Several athletes are named to all-district teams each year, and many maintain high grade point averages.
Other extracurriculars include an active chapter of the National Honor Society (with a student-governed Leadership Council), Key Club, student council, The Eagle Eye (campus newspaper), yearbook, theatre, cheer-leading, journalism, speech and debate (including a chapter of the National Forensic League), drill team, marching band, concert band (including the school's Wind Ensemble), Spanish club, political organizations, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), and numerous other groups, clubs, and organizations. Beginning with the 2006-2007 academic year, the school cut its choir program due to a brief financial crisis experienced by the district, though club choir has recently been made available. A new literary magazine is said to be in development.
Through the school's chapter of the National Honor Society, LHS students have recently expanded their community service initiatives, including a tutoring program in conjunction with Lindale Junior High School and E.J. Moss Intermediate School.
In 2007, the Lindale High School Wind Ensemble was selected as the Texas AAA State Honor Band, the highest distinction a band can earn from the Texas Music Educators Association. The "Pride of Lindale" Marching Band, a rare high school military-style marching band, was an area finalist in 2007, 2009, and 2010. The band also has a 37-year record of consistent first-division ratings at region marching competition (as of Oct. 2011).
La Bête, the theatre department's 2008 one-act play, advanced to the University Interscholastic League State One-Act Play Competition. "Blowing away audiences and racking up multiple awards," it was said, "the French comedic farce must be seen to be believed."
The Speech and Debate Club, which includes the varsity speech and debate team, is a successful organization at Lindale High School, winning dozens of district, regional, and state championships, as well as national recognition. The team has competed at the University Interscholastic League state meet every year for almost 20 years, and has medaled in at least one event (sometimes several events) nearly every year. The team has had state titles in cross-examination debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, persuasive and informative extemporaneous speaking, and both poetry and prose interpretation. It has several times been named the State Champion Speech Team (in Conferences AAA and AAAA). The speech and debate team has also qualified for the National Forensic League's national tournament every year for nearly 10 years. In 2008, Philip Hayes, a debater who graduated from Lindale High in 2009, won the national championship and a $150,000 scholarship in the Now Debate This national competition. Most recently, in 2009-2010, the team has been involved in The People Speak project, which is an initiative of the United Nations. When all schools participating in the project were ranked in May, 2010, Lindale High School was third in the United States and tenth internationally.
Lindale High School is active in University Interscholastic League competition academically, athletically, and musically, winning the state academic championship three times. The school also holds state academic titles in journalism, literary criticism, science, and others.
Starting with the 2010-2011 academic year, the school will be classified by the University Interscholastic League as Conference AAA for purposes of interscholastic competition, having been classified as Conference AAAA for the previous four years.
The academic calendar used at LHS follows a relatively traditional, two-semester form. The school year typically extends from late August to late May with appropriate breaks and holidays. Furthermore, each semester is divided into three marking periods (or 6-week periods) for grading purposes, yielding a total of six 6-week periods per academic year.
Currently, the school day is based on a modified block schedule system. The expected course load is eight courses per semester. Students attend six classes per day, and each day is designated in an alternating fashion as either an 'A Day' or 'B Day'. Periods 3 and 4 alternate from one day to the next, depending on whether the day is A or B. This pattern is expressed in the following table (note that the table does not include lunch periods).
| 'A Day' | Period 1 (50 min) | Period 2 (50 min) | Period 3A (80 min) | Period 4A (80 min) | Period 5 (50 min) | Period 6 (50 min) |
| 'B Day' | Period 1 (50 min) | Period 2 (50 min) | Period 3B (80 min) | Period 4B (80 min) | Period 5 (50 min) | Period 6 (50 min) |
There is a five-minute passing period between each class. The school day begins at 8:00 AM and ends at 3:15 PM.
Student overcrowding (at both Lindale High and the district's junior high campus) has become a growing concern in recent years. In 2009, voters passed a multi-million dollar bond to expand the school district. The bond includes renovations to Eagle Stadium (the varsity football complex), a new junior high school, and expansions to Lindale High School. Most notably, the school will receive a state-of-the-art, 1,200-seat auditorium.
Due to this construction, Lindale High School's graduating class of 2010 was the first and only graduating class to have its commencement exercises held at Rose Stadium in Tyler, Texas, rather than at Eagle Stadium, the traditional location.
Lindale High School, as well as the entire school district, is supported by the Lindale Education Foundation. The foundation's mission statement is as follows (taken from the foundation's website):
The mission of the Lindale ISD Education Foundation is to create and sustain a visionary coalition of businesses and citizens generating investments and funding for innovative programs and initiatives that enrich and inspire educational and leadership opportunities that will benefit the students and teachers of Lindale ISD.
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