W. W. Samuell High School

W. W. Samuell High School
Together We Make It Happen[1]
Location
8928 Palisade Drive Dallas, TX 75217
Information
Type	Public, Secondary
School district	Dallas Independent School District
Principal	John Vega[1]
Faculty	128 (2012)[2]
Grades	9-12
Number of students	1,732 (2012)[3]
Color(s)	Blue and Gold[1]
Mascot	Spartan[1]
Trustee dist.	4, Nancy Bingham[4]
Area	1, Ivonne Durant[5]

W. W. Samuell High School is a public secondary school located in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, Texas (USA). Samuell High enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District.

The school serves portions of southeast Dallas and a portion of the city of Balch Springs.

History

Dallas ISD annexed Pleasant Grove ISD in 1955, and Pleasant Grove High School was replaced by Samuell High School the same year. In the 1950s and early 1960s, a number of new housing developments in the Pleasant Grove area made Samuell one of Dallas' largest high schools; a new wing was opened in the mid-1960s to handle the increase in population. H. Grady Spruce and Skyline high schools were opened in 1963 and 1971 to help reduce attendance at Samuell.

Dr. William Worthington Samuell was a wealthy individual who before his death donated millions of dollars to the City of Dallas Parks and Recreation Department. There are now at least six institutions named after Dr. Samuell in the Dallas area, including the high school, a boulevard, a City of Dallas ranch, a city park and two streets in bordering cities. Dr. W. W. Samuell purchased the first ambulance for the City of Dallas in 1911.

The school and the district became the focus of a prominent civil rights case in 1966 when three male students — Paul Jarvis, Phil Ferrell and Steve Webb — sued the district after they were ordered to cut their long hair in order to be admitted to school. The case was one of the first in which individuals sued a large urban school district to preserve their individual rights, and the cause was taken up by the American Civil Liberties Union as well as local retail pioneer Stanley Marcus. Marcus did not know the students, but saw their hairstyles as a fashion choice rather than a show of disregard for authority. The case was lost in the U.S. District Court, and despite a series of appeals leading to the U.S. Supreme Court, it was not overturned. The decision is still cited in court cases over constitutional rights.^[6]

The 1964 Spartan Track and Field Team won the Class AAAA state title and the 1965 Spartan baseball team won the Class AAAA title.^[7] According to records maintained by the University Interscholastic League, these are the only state titles won by Samuell and the only baseball state championship won by any DISD high school to date.

Towards the end of the 2008-2009 school year, Samuell was announced as academically acceptable (for the first time in the TAKS era) for the 2009-2010 school year.

Student life

The alma mater is "Hail Samuell High, Hail Samuell High", written in 1955 by a music teacher at the school. The school yearbook is The Torch and the school newspaper is The Sentinel. For many years, the seniors' annual memory book was The Senior Pub, a publication of senior moments which covered all levels of the school, from the classroom funnies to athletics to activities. These traditions, with the exception of the alma mater, have since been discontinued.

Demographics

The ethnic makeup of the school in the 2011-2012 fiscal year was 68.5% Hispanic, 28.9% Black, 1.3% White, Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander 1.1%.^[8]

Student Subgroups

88.8% of the student population is categorized as being economically disadvantaged and 15.7% of the student population is listed as having special education. ^[9]

Feeder patterns

As of 2007, Fred F. Florence and John B. Hood Middle Schools feed into Samuell High School.^[10] John Quincy Adams, Pleasant Grove, John W. Runyon, and Edward Titche Elementary Schools all feed into Florence Middle School, and ultimately into Samuell High School.^[10] Annie Webb Blanton, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Ireland, San Jacinto, and C. A. Tatum Jr. Elementary Schools feed into Hood Middle School, and ultimately into Samuell High School.^[10]

Notable alumni

• Joan (Juricek) Wynne — Married Bedford S. Wynne, Sr. Co-Founder of the NFL Dallas Cowboys;^[11] Board Member of the Dallas' Cattle Baron's Ball;^[12] Founder of the 25th Largest Woman Owned Business (Wynne Enterprise and Wynne MotorCoaches) ^[13] in Dallas - Fort Worth; Original Board Member of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.^[14]
• John Ford Coley — partner in musical duo with Dan Seals; hits include "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"
• Arcelina Publio Dias— noted Brazilian journalist from São Paulo, Brazil.
• Joe Dixon — Defensive back on The University of Texas 1963 National Championship Team.
• Michael Gunstanson — Noted Web pioneer/journalist. Was first to use Flash as an editorial tool, conducted chat with orbiting space station and conceived then conducted first triplecast (web, analog and digital broadcast) in nation's history.
• Wayne Harrison — Texas radio reporter jailed in 1979 in Longview, Texas for refusing to reveal a news source.
• James Hughey — Samuell High School principal from 1984 to 1989 & Dallas Independent School District superintendent from 1995 to 2000 and 2001 to 2003.
• Ron Jones — 1969 NFL tight end for the Green Bay Packers
• Joe Kendall — former federal judge (1992–2002)
• Russ Martin — Host of The Russ Martin Show, a radio program in Dallas.
• Carl Mitcham — professor of technology and engineering, now at Colorado School of Mines
• Dr. Gregory L. Pierson — Former elected official, International Consultant
• Steve Ramsey — Punter/Quarterback New Orleans Saints 1970, Denver Broncos (1971–76)
• Mark Reeves — "Dapper Bandit," robbed banks in the North Texas area from 1978 to 1988.
• Lulu Roman — Former Hee Haw TV show personality.
• Stephany Samone — 1986 Miss Texas and top 10 finalist for Miss America.
• Dan Seals — country and pop musician also known as England Dan.
• Rodrigo Cancun — 1994 Philanthropist, chapeau connoisseur and owner of vacation resorts in Central America
• Morgana Shaw — television, theatre, movie actress.
• Dale Tillery — former Texas state representative for District 10.
• Mike Trent — former University of Texas Longhorn center fielder; set College World Series record by scoring 4 runs in 1983 game, helping win the title
• Sammy Walker — shot put collegiate record breaker at Southern Methodist University and athlete at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
• Bo Wayne Weaver — professional baseball player for Seattle Pilots, a forerunner of the Milwaukee Brewers
• Dwain Wilder, '58 — Noted builder of Appalachian dulcimers, inventor (three patents, in solid state device processing and lutherie), poet and essayist
• Stanley Hauerwas — world renowned theologian.

Trivia

• Samuell High's International Exchange Program was in effect in 1963, with Arcelina Publio Dias from São Paulo, Brazil, this was the first such program in the Dallas area.
• Samuell High has two cheerleading groups, the Varsity Cheerleaders and Deaf Cheer Pride. The latter are a group of deaf students who attend the school.
• The Award winning Samuell Starlets are the school's Drill Team.
• The made-for-TV movie Right to Kill? was filmed at Samuell High in 1985 and aired nationally on May 21, 1985, on ABC. The film's leading actors were Frederic Forrest (Oscar-nominated for The Rose in 1979) and Justine Bateman, who was nominated for an Emmy for playing the role of a physically abused daughter in this movie.
• W.W. Samuell has won 2 Dr Pepper Basketball Tournaments in Dallas. The tournament consists of over 32 high school teams from the DFW area.
• In 2007, the W.W. Samuell High School Marching "Sound System" Band, under the direction of Mr. Carlton Cooper won Grambling State University's Dallas High School "Battle of the Bands" at D.I.S.D.'s Kincaide Stadium over Townview Magnet High School "Big D" Band in the large band category. This was the Samuell band's first "Battle of the Bands" victory in the school's history.
• Site of a school shooting between two rival neighborhood gangs, December 5, 1989. A Special Ed teacher was wounded.

References

External links

• Dallas ISD listing for Samuell High School
• School profile (PDF)
• Attendance zone map (PDF)

Coordinates: 32°44′46″N 96°40′07″W / 32.746069°N 96.668490°W / 32.746069; -96.668490