3 Nov 2007
Event Celebrates Dallas Educator Larry G. Smith
DALLAS—Dallas Independent School District officials were joined by parents, community leaders, students and elected officials Saturday, Nov. 3, for the dedication ceremony of Larry G. Smith Elementary School, 5299 Gus Thomasson Road, in Mesquite.
The Smith Elementary School dedication celebrates the nineteenth of 20 new Dallas ISD schools funded by the district's 2002 Bond Program. The elementary school receives students from Charles A. Gill and Edwin J. Kiest elementary schools.
The school is named for Larry G. Smith, a Dallas ISD educator and administrator for 37 years. Born in Amarillo, Texas, Smith earned a bachelor's degree at North Texas State University in Denton, (now the University of North Texas) in 1966 and later earned two master's degrees and a doctoral program certification. An educator who built his career at Dallas ISD, Smith moved into school administration at Fred F. Florence Middle School, served as assistant principal at the Business Management Center Magnet High School and as principal at J.L. Long Middle School and Bryan Adams High School. He was named area superintendent in 1997 and served the last six years of his career overseeing the schools in the White Rock community.
Smith Elementary principal Lora Morris opened the dedication ceremony and thanked the voters of Dallas for making the new elementary school possible. Program participants included District 9 Dallas City Councilman Sheffie Kadane, Dallas ISD District 3 Trustee Leigh Ann Ellis, and Dallas ISD Chief Operating Officer for Business Services, Eric Anderson
Anderson welcomed the dedication guests and detailed the features of the new Smith Elementary School campus.
Bryan Adams High School JROTC and the Smith Boy Scouts Troop #543 joined together for the Presentation of the Colors and the Pledge of the Allegiance. Under the direction of Susan Harris, the Larry G. Smith Choir sang You Are Our Heroes. In addition, Smith's second grade students and their teachers Norma Perez and Kristella Longoria made a special presentation to the family of Larry G. Smith. His son, Michael P. Smith, shared remembrances of his father and his work in public education. He recalled that Larry Smith was not only an educator but also a coach, principal and administrator, adding that his father's main concern was always for the students in his care. "He lived his life with his students' education and future always on his mind."
Smith Elementary is a two-story, 91,500 square-foot building located in the northeast Dallas suburb of Mesquite. It accommodates 800 students in 37 classrooms serving grade levels kindergarten through fifth grade. Smith Elementary features a media center, science and computer labs, an auditorium, gymnasium and cafeteria.
To date, 19 new schools and 137 of 148 planned renovations have been completed. Fifteen hundred forty-seven new classrooms have been added across the district with the capacity to serve more than 30,000 students.