James Madison High School (Dallas, Texas)
Encyclopedia
For schools with a similar name, see Madison High School
.
James Madison High School, formerly Forest Avenue High School, is a public secondary school
located at 3000 Martin L. King Boulevard in South
Dallas
, Texas
(USA
). Madison High School enrolls students in grades 9
-12
and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District
.
The school serves several areas, including much of Downtown Dallas
and Cedars. The structure is a Dallas Landmark.
, in what were then fast-growing suburban areas of Dallas. The building is on the United States National Register of Historic Places
on the basis of its architecture as well as its importance in the growing South Dallas community over the period ending with the close of World War II
in 1945. In 1951 a junior high annex for grades eight and nine was constructed at the south end of the building. Beginning in the late 1940s, the demographics
of the surrounding community shifted as large numbers of African-Americans moved into the area.
On June 14, 1956, the Dallas Board of Education announced that Forest Avenue High School would have its attendance zone redrawn to relieve overcrowding at the two existing "Negro schools," Booker T. Washington High School and Lincoln High School. In keeping with its existing policy on racial segregation
, the school would be reassigned as a school for Black
students and the current White
student body would attend Crozier Tech High School. The following day, the front page of The Dallas Morning News
reported the criticism of the Texas Field Secretary of the NAACP, Edgar Washington, Jr., of the district's decision to turn over the school rather than to integrate
; the paper also ran an editorial in the same day's paper applauding the school system for providing Black students with an excellent facility while not violating state law by integrating the school. One week later, the paper reported a petition by "the Dad's Club [sic] and Parent-Teacher Association
" of the school — with signatures from the student body — to request that the school's name, colors (green
and white
), and emblem (lion
) be retired, with the colors and emblem remaining available to any future whites-only school that might request to use them. The principal announced at that same meeting that all Forest Avenue trophies and other memorabilia were to be transferred to Crozier Tech. The school reopened that fall as James Madison High School, and the first day was reported as uneventful, though the district's faculty and staff had been prepared for possible repetition of the 1955 attempts of 24 Black students to enroll in five White schools.
The ethnic makeup of the school is 86% African American
, 13% Hispanic
, 1% White American
, non-Hispanic, and less than 1% Asian American
/Pacific Islander American
.
The average class sizes at Madison are 16 students for English
, 22 for foreign language
, 16 for math, 16 for science
, and 17 for social studies
.
Teachers at the school carry, on average, 12 years of teaching experience and 11% of the teachers on staff are first-year teachers.
(TAKS) test.
As James Madison High School:
Madison High School
Madison is a name for several high schools in North America, including:James Madison High School Dallas Texas*Madison Area Memorial High School, Madison, Maine*Madison County High School , Gurley, Alabama*Madison High School , Rexburg, Idaho...
.
James Madison High School, formerly Forest Avenue High School, is a public secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located at 3000 Martin L. King Boulevard in South
South Dallas
South Dallas is an area in Dallas, Texas, . It is usually either defined in one of two ways: As the area south of the Trinity River and south of Interstate 30, which consist mostly of Oak Cliff and Pleasant Grove, or to the area bounded by I-30 and Downtown Dallas to the north, the Trinity River to...
Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
). Madison High School enrolls students in grades 9
Ninth grade
Ninth grade is the ninth post-kindergarten year of school education in some school systems. The students are 13 to 15 years of age, depending on when their birthday occurs. Depending on the school district, ninth grade is usually the first year of high school....
-12
Twelfth grade
Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...
and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District
Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District is a school district based in Dallas, Texas . Dallas ISD, which operates schools in much of Dallas County, is the second largest school district in Texas and the twelfth largest in the United States.In 2009, the school district was rated "academically...
.
The school serves several areas, including much of Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District...
and Cedars. The structure is a Dallas Landmark.
History
The original Forest Avenue High School was constructed in 1916 in the style of Italian Renaissance architectureRenaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
, in what were then fast-growing suburban areas of Dallas. The building is on the United States National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on the basis of its architecture as well as its importance in the growing South Dallas community over the period ending with the close of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1945. In 1951 a junior high annex for grades eight and nine was constructed at the south end of the building. Beginning in the late 1940s, the demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
of the surrounding community shifted as large numbers of African-Americans moved into the area.
On June 14, 1956, the Dallas Board of Education announced that Forest Avenue High School would have its attendance zone redrawn to relieve overcrowding at the two existing "Negro schools," Booker T. Washington High School and Lincoln High School. In keeping with its existing policy on racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
, the school would be reassigned as a school for Black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
students and the current White
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
student body would attend Crozier Tech High School. The following day, the front page of The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
reported the criticism of the Texas Field Secretary of the NAACP, Edgar Washington, Jr., of the district's decision to turn over the school rather than to integrate
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
; the paper also ran an editorial in the same day's paper applauding the school system for providing Black students with an excellent facility while not violating state law by integrating the school. One week later, the paper reported a petition by "the Dad's Club [sic] and Parent-Teacher Association
Parent-Teacher Association
In the U.S. a parent-teacher association or Parent-Teacher-Student Association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a public or private school. Most public and private K-8 schools in the U.S. have a PTA, a...
" of the school — with signatures from the student body — to request that the school's name, colors (green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
and white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
), and emblem (lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
) be retired, with the colors and emblem remaining available to any future whites-only school that might request to use them. The principal announced at that same meeting that all Forest Avenue trophies and other memorabilia were to be transferred to Crozier Tech. The school reopened that fall as James Madison High School, and the first day was reported as uneventful, though the district's faculty and staff had been prepared for possible repetition of the 1955 attempts of 24 Black students to enroll in five White schools.
Statistics
The attendance rate for students at the school is 87%, compared with a state average of 96%. 64% of the students at Madison are economically disadvantaged, 14% enroll in special education, 12% enroll in gifted and talent programs, and 6% are considered "limited english proficient."The ethnic makeup of the school is 86% African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 13% Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
, 1% White American
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
, non-Hispanic, and less than 1% Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
/Pacific Islander American
Pacific Islander American
Pacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
.
The average class sizes at Madison are 16 students for English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, 22 for foreign language
Foreign language
A foreign language is a language indigenous to another country. It is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to, i.e. an English speaker living in Japan can say that Japanese is a foreign language to him or her...
, 16 for math, 16 for science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, and 17 for social studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...
.
Teachers at the school carry, on average, 12 years of teaching experience and 11% of the teachers on staff are first-year teachers.
Test Scores
Below is a list of percentages that represent the percent of students meeting or exceeding standards on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and SkillsTexas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is a standardized test used in Texas primary and secondary schools to assess students' attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies skills required under Texas education standards. It is developed and scored by Pearson Educational...
(TAKS) test.
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Notable alumni
As Forest Avenue High School:- Jack GlatzerJack GlatzerJacob Joseph Glatzer is an American violinist who resides in Portugal. He has performed as a soloist in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and has also released several acclaimed recordings...
'56, concert violinist - Stanley MarcusStanley MarcusHarold Stanley Marcus was an early president and later chairman of the board of the luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas, which his father and aunt had founded in 1907...
'21, department-store magnate - Aaron SpellingAaron SpellingAaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...
'40, television producer - Ruthe Lewin WinegartenRuthe Lewin WinegartenRuthe Lewin Winegarten was an American author, activist, and historian. Born in Dallas in 1929, Winegarten attended Forest Avenue High School , receiving a scholarship to attend Southern Methodist University...
'47, author and activist
As James Madison High School:
- Stone JohnsonStone JohnsonStone Johnson was an Olympic sprinting athlete and American football kick returner/running back for the Kansas City Chiefs....
, 1960 OlympicOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
track star, Kansas City ChiefsKansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
star - Brett Maxie, assistant coach with the NFL's Dallas CowboysDallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
, former NFL player - Dave StallworthDave StallworthDavid A. Stallworth is a retired American professional basketball player.A 6'7" forward/center from Dallas Madison High School and Wichita State University, Stallworth played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association as a member of the New York Knicks and Baltimore/Capital Bullets...
, NBA player (first-round draft pick), won championship with New York KnicksNew York KnicksThe New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association... - Dwight WhiteDwight WhiteDwight Lynn White was an American football defensive end who played for ten seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League and was a member of the famed Steel Curtain defense....
, former NFL Pro Bowl player, member of Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
"Steel CurtainSteel CurtainThe Steel Curtain was the nickname given to the front four of the famous defensive line of the American football team Pittsburgh Steelers during their 1970s dynasty years. This defense was the backbone of the Steelers dynasty, which won 4 Super Bowls...
" defense - Ambassador Sylvia G. Stanfield, A senior diplomat and one of the country's few Chinese language specialists was confirmed as America's first Black woman ambassador to Brunei.
External links
- Dallas ISD listing for James Madison High School
- School profile (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
) - Attendance zone map (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
) - Madison High School Football