Star pupils

This Dallas elementary school is No. 1 in Texas, says U.S. News & World Report

One Dallas school moves to the head of the class.

Photo by Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

A Dallas school has earned top honors in Texas in U.S. News & World Report’s first-ever ranking of the state's best elementary schools.

Dallas ISD’s William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted holds the No. 1 spot among 4,446 elementary schools in Texas. It ranks first among Texas elementary schools for reading proficiency and ties for first in the math proficiency category, U.S. News says.

One other Dallas ISD school, Sudie L. Williams Talented and Gifted Academy, also made the top 10, coming in at No. 6.

Just two other local elementary schools came close: Old Union Elementary School (No. 3) and Carroll Elementary School (No. 4). Both are in the Southlake Carroll district.

William B. Travis enrolls students in the fourth through eighth grades, meaning it’s both an elementary school and a middle school. The Vanguard component is a magnet school for fourth- and fifth-graders, and the academy component is a magnet school sixth-, seventh, and eighth-graders. Total enrollment is 521.

The institution “is a premier destination for children and families across the city — a hub for accelerated education, community spirit, and excellence,” according to the school's website. Its academic offerings include language arts, foreign languages, math, science, social studies, humanities, computer science, and fine arts.

For the brand-new list, U.S. News ranked schools according to performance on state-required tests, graduation rates, and high school preparedness. They note that 98 percent of Travis students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and 98 percent scored at or above that level for reading.

Among the interesting stats about Travis, they note:

The school’s minority student enrollment is 46 percent.
The student population is made up of 56 percent female students and 44 percent male students.
The school enrolls 17 percent economically disadvantaged students.
With 31 equivalent full-time teachers, the student-teacher ratio is 17:1, which is actually below that of the district.

At Sudie L. Williams, the student population is 327 in grades four through seven, U.S. Newsreports. "At Sudie L Williams Talented and Gifted Academy, 95 percent of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and 87 percent scored at or above that level for reading," they say.

The school’s minority student enrollment is 54 percent; student population is 46 percent female and 54 male; 36 percent of the students are classified as economically disadvantaged; and with 20 equivalent full-time teachers, the student-teacher ratio is 16:1, the report says.

Elsewhere in Texas
Unlike its annual list of the country’s best high schools, the publication didn’t come up with a national ranking of elementary schools. Rather, it published a ranking for each state. Their 10 best elementary schools in Texas are:

William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted, Dallas ISD.
Windsor Park G/T Elementary School, Corpus Christi ISD.
Old Union Elementary School, Carroll ISD.
Carroll Elementary School, Carroll ISD.
Hudson Elementary School, Longview ISD.
Sudie L. Williams Talented and Gifted Academy, Dallas ISD.
Canyon Creek Elementary School, Round Rock ISD.
Carver Center, Midland ISD.
Cactus Ranch Elementary School, Round Rock ISD.
Creekside Forest Elementary School, Tomball ISD.

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Weed News

Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Dallas over decriminalization of marijuana

Photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife

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The City of Dallas has been sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for its efforts to decriminalize marijuana.

According to a release, Paxton has sued the city for adopting a city charter amendment that would decriminalize marijuana-related offenses and prohibit police from enforcing Texas law.

That amendment was Proposition R, or Dallas Freedom Act, which decriminalizes possession of four ounces of marijuana or less. Voters passed the amendment in the November 5 election, with 67 percent voting in favor.

The lawsuit, filed against the Dallas City Council, alleges that Proposition R is unconstitutional and violates Texas drug laws criminalizing any amount of marijuana.

Paxton says that cities can't "pick and choose which state laws to follow." He's proposing a permanent injunction to stop Proposition R from going into effect.

"The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them," says Paxton in a statement. "This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.”

Before the recent election, possession of two to four ounces of marijuana could result in a punishment of 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Ground Game Texas, the activist nonprofit that has also helped get marijuana decriminalization on the ballot in elections across Texas, first got the issue on the ballot in July with the necessary 50,000 signatures.

Dallas is not the only city to be sued; Paxton also filed lawsuits against five other cities in Austin, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos in January for their ballots and policies decriminalizing marijuana.

Both Austin and San Marcos had a judge overturn their cases, according to a FOX 4 report.

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