22 Oct 2006
High School Named for Prominent Dallas Physician
DALLAS—Dallas Independent School District officials were joined by Vickery Meadow community leaders, parents, students, and elected officials Sunday, Oct. 22, for the dedication ceremony of Emmett J. Conrad High School, 7502 Fair Oaks Ave.
The only new high school built with funds from the 2002 bond program, the $49.8 million Emmett J. Conrad High School is named for local surgeon and civic leader Dr. Emmett J. Conrad, who was the first African-American elected citywide to the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees and later served on the State Board of Education.
"Doc would have loved that Dallas ISD built this school in the Vickery Meadow community," said Conrad's wife, Eleanor. "Because he had such a passion to provide quality education for all children, he would be proud to know that a school named for him serves such a diverse community."
District 3 Trustee Ellis spoke about the school's emphasis on giving students career options. Conrad High School will offer several such programs, including a full-service restaurant in which students can train for careers in food and hospitality services, marketing and entrepreneurship. "This school will not only prepare students for graduation. It will also give them a glimpse of what college and career can offer," Ellis said. The restaurant is a joint venture of Dallas ISD, the Texas Restaurant Association, the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association, and Outback Steakhouse.
Students also can explore careers in the banking industry through the school's Academy of Finance program. The academy will offer students job shadowing and other internship opportunities.
The Fair Oaks Youth and Family Center will provide mental and physical health care and other support services to Dallas ISD students and their families. Parkland Health and Hospital system will provide the center's medical services.
Located in northeast Dallas in the Vickery Meadow community, the 325,000-square-foot school serves 800 ninth and tenth graders, and includes 46 core classrooms, an art classroom, a science classroom, space for performing and visual arts, an instructional technology classroom, a media center, and outdoor athletic fields.
The construction project team included program manager, Jacobs Pegasus; architect, SHW Group, Inc.; and builder, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.
Other schools scheduled to be dedicated this fall include Leonides Gonzalez Cigarroa, M.D., C.A. Tatum Jr., Frank Guzick, Celestino Mauricio Soto Jr., Jimmie Tyler Brashear and Jerry R. Junkins elementary schools. Four additional schools will be dedicated in the spring.