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As the nation's eleventh largest school district, Dallas Independent School District serves more than 160,000 students who come from homes where 58 different languages are spoken.  Operating with a $1 billion dollar budget, DISD employs 18,613 employees including 10,000 teachers in 220 schools.

Getting A Second Chance

20 Oct 2000

DISD Welcomes Dropout Students Back With New Attitude and Options

The DISD Dropout, Prevention, Intervention and Recovery staff deals with students who are looking for another chance to finish their high school education. They are students who did not find success in the traditional school environment.

Students like the young mother who returned to school, wanting to be a role model for her son; the senior who could not graduate because of her inability to pass the TAAS; or the young man, lacking only three credits to graduate, faced with quitting school because of a need to provide financial support to the family.

After dropping out, these students were among the 2,000 young people who returned to school last year through the district's Dropout Prevention, Intervention and Recovery program. By focusing on the academic issues, the intervention and recovery initiative approaches helping students to complete graduation requirements with a new attitude, said H. B. Bell, associate superintendent–Dropout Prevention, Intervention and Recovery.

The reasons why students drop out of school vary. Some of those reasons are: dislike for school; falling behind in school; peer pressure; over-age for grade level; chronic health issues; pregnancy; rejected by majority; or need to work. Whatever the reason that forces young people to quit school, Bell says the students who drop out impact the district's mission “to prepare all students to graduate with the skills to become productive and responsible citizens.”

The district has relaxed the restrictions of the traditional classroom and is aggressively pursuing students who need extra support because of a community responsibility to make sure more students graduate from the Dallas Independent School District. The Dropout Prevention, Intervention and Recovery program graduated 137 students last year.

“Assisting students to get an education is in their best interest,” Bell said. “It is in our best interest as well. Our business is to make sure students are successful for life after high school. It is in everybody's best interest to reconnect these young people with the opportunity to complete their high school education.”

To meet the needs of these students, he says the district has tailored programs that are alternatives to the traditional semester-seat time to earn one credit.

“We are welcoming these young people back with more options and technology than we had when they left,” he said. “The district has more staff, job placement teachers, counselors and programs that will enable students to recapture credits faster.”

The program includes two Central Learning Communities and 19 Campus Learning Communities. Servicing more than 300 students, the two central campuses are Barbara Manns High School (912 S. Ervay) and Metropolitan High School (1403 Corinth Street). Catering to students who have either dropped out or are at risk of dropping out, both high schools have a waiting list for students wanting to take advantage of the individualized, self-paced curriculum. Students at the two Central Learning Communities must attend a minimum of 20 hours a week.

The Campus Learning Communities are located on 19 high school campuses throughout the district. The targeted population for these centers are ninth grade students who are over-age or in need of a nontraditional learning environment. These students have access to computer-assisted instruction, accelerated credit recovery, a nontraditional classroom environment, career training and counseling. Once students get back on track with their peers, they return to the traditional high school environment, making room for other students. The nontraditional environment also offers students flexible hours with morning, afternoon and night schedules. Most communities operate daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., making it more convenient for working students to earn a high school diploma.

With a high school diploma, young people will earn four times more money than without one, Bell said. “They also will feel better about themselves and more likely to attend college,” he added. “They will be more productive in society.”

Geronimo Medrano agrees that more doors of opportunities are opened for high school graduates. At 18 years-old with three credits to graduate, Medrano dropped out of school. He felt dropping out was his only option.

“I played around in middle school with my friends,” Medrano said. “When I got in high school, I did not know what was going on.”

Discouraged, he continued to skip school with his friends and even began to drink alcohol. It was not until Medrano found himself working at a low paying job to support a wife and son that he realized the importance of a high school education.

Medrano received his second chance last year through the Campus Learning Communities. He earned his high school diploma last year from H. Grady Spruce High School. He is now attending Eastfield College and plans to transfer to a four year university.

“I made a commitment to my wife to finish high school,” he said. “We knew we needed an education to have a better life than our parents.”