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Not to be confused with Rhode Island School of Design.

Richardson Independent School District (RISD or Richardson ISD) is an independent school district in northern Dallas County, Texas, based in Richardson. The 46-square-mile (120 km2) district serves the Dallas County portions of Richardson;[a] the Lake Highlands, Northwood Hills, and Prestonwood neighborhoods of Dallas; and small portions of Garland.

RISD operates 55 campuses and serves more than 37,000 students.[3] In 2022, the district was given a "B" accountability rating by the Texas Education Agency.[4]

History

The district was founded in 1854. At the time it provided education for children of local farmers, small business owners and settlers around the railroad just outside Dallas, TX. In recent times RISD has been rated as "Recognized" by the Texas Education Agency for many years in a row. RISD is the largest, most racially and socioeconomically diverse district in Texas to receive a rating this high. In 2010 the Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) added 22 RISD schools to the TBEC Honor Roll. RISD and Houston ISD leads the state in schools named to the Honor Roll. Only 252 public schools out of 8,000 in Texas were named to the TBEC Honor Roll, placing those 22 RISD schools in the top 4% of Texas public schools.[5]

Demographics

The Richardson Independent School District has an internationally diverse, intellectually-strong, and multi-lingual student body due to the influx of international companies and their highly educated employees and families relocating to the area. RISD prepares skilled, knowledgeable, and motivated students to meet these demands of the changing high-technology industries. The City of Richardson, branded as the Telecom Corridor, has a reputation that has grown consistently since the 1950s with the establishment of Texas Instruments and Collins Aerospace. Today, Richardson hosts more than 500 companies engaged in telecommunications, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and software development. Because of the attention given to all its foreign investors, the Texas State Legislature named the city the “International Business Capital of North Texas.” The Richardson Economic Development Partnership is also a partner of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI). [6]

As of the Richardson Independent School District 2020-21 school year, 95.7% of teachers are licensed, and 82.7% have three or more years of experience. The student-to-teacher ratio is lower than the state average, at 13:1. The district has 70 full-time counselors on staff. The student body at the schools served by Richardson Independent School District is 30% White, 22.4% Black, 6.9% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander, 37.3% Hispanic/Latino, 0.3% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. In addition, 3% of students are two or more races, and 0% have not specified their race or ethnicity. [7]

Secondary schools

High schools

Junior high schools

Primary schools

  • Aikin Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Arapaho Classical Magnet School (Richardson)
  • Audelia Creek Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Big Springs Elementary School (Garland)
  • Bowie Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Brentfield Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Carolyn G. Bukhair Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Canyon Creek Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Dartmouth Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Dobie Primary School (Dallas)
  • Dover Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Forest Lane Academy (Dallas)
  • Forestridge Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Greenwood Hills Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Hamilton Park Pacesetter Magnet (Dallas)
  • Jess Harben Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Lake Highlands Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Mark Twain Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Math/Science/Technology Magnet School (Richardson)
  • Merriman Park Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Mohawk Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Moss Haven Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Northlake Elementary School (Dallas)
    • The attendance zone is diverse, consisting of intellectually-strong, lower-, middle-, and upper-middle class neighborhoods.[11]
  • Northrich Elementary School
  • Northwood Hills Elementary School (Dallas)
  • O. Henry Elementary School (Garland)
  • Prairie Creek Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Prestonwood Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Richardson Heights Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Richardson Terrace Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Richland Elementary School (Richardson)
  • RISD Academy (Dallas)
  • Skyview Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Spring Creek Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Spring Valley Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Springridge Elementary School (Richardson)
  • Stults Road Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Thurgood Marshall Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Wallace Elementary School (Dallas)
    • As of 2016 about 25% of the students are Burmese refugees living in area apartment complexes. In the period 2006-2016 60% of the students were low income. The school's increased enrollment mostly came from the Burmese, although affluent White students also increased in number.[11]
    • The Burmese students began arriving around 2010. Many of the Burmese students originated from refugee camps in Thailand.[12] In 2010 there were 30 Burmese students, and the school hired a part-time liaison, a refugee named Juna Paw, to assist them. In 2011 a larger group of refugees moved from another apartment complex into one in the Richardson ISD district and the Wallace Elementary attendance boundary. The students spoke Chin, Karen, and Karenni. In the fall of 2011 there were 96 Burmese students at Wallace Elementary, making up around 16% of the student population. The increase meant that Paw became a full-time employee, an additional English as a second language instructor was hired, and that additional morning tutoring was established for the Burmese.[13] The teachers at Wallace began cooperating with area churches, which held summer tutoring.[14] By 2013 20% of the school's students were Burmese.[15] By 2016 about 200 of the students, almost 25% of the student body, were Burmese.[12]
  • White Rock Elementary School (Dallas)
    • White Rock Elementary originally was a mostly ethnic majority school that its employees described, in the words of Laura Miller, then working for D Magazine, as the "Norman Rockwell of neighborhood schools".[16] . In 1989 the school had 500 students. That year the number of ethnic minority students rose from 25 to 130. Due to the Fair Housing Act of 1988 apartments could no longer deny families with children as tenants.[16] However its student body was still more intellectually strong than other schools.[11]
    • The construction of Lake Highlands Town Center on the site of demolished apartments meant that the number of low income and minority students declined and the test scores improved: in the 2005-2006 school year, there were 270 low income students, making up 44% of the student body, and there were 205 black students, and 110 Hispanic students; 87% of the students passed Texas standardized tests, and 24% were ranked as "commended" on these tests. There were 620 total students in 2006. The student body immediately declined after the demolition of the apartments. In 2009-2010 the school had 96 low income students, making up 17% of the student body, and there were 68 Hispanic students and 68 black students; 97% of students passed state tests, the highest percentage of any RISD school, and 57% reached commended. The number of non-minority students increased significantly after the apartments were demolished.[11]
    • By the late aughts the popularity of the school caused it to be overcrowded with students, starting a political issue on whether to build a new school. There were 630 students by 2012, and then around 2014 there were 800 students. RISD had added classrooms that year, giving the school a capacity of 912, but the district projected that in 2017 the school would need to have portable classrooms as there still would be too many students. Eric Nicholson of D Magazine wrote "Whether White Rock Elementary actually got better at educating students is a trickier question" since on one hand having too high poverty levels in any school can damage student performance, but also that the "strongest single predictor of student achievement" is socioeconomic status; however he added that the area real estate market perceived White Rock as having improved, and therefore house values rose.[11]
  • White Rock Trail Elementary School (Dallas)
  • Yale Elementary School (Richardson)

Former schools

Former secondary schools

  • Northwood Junior High School (Closed in 1988; now houses RISD Academy)
  • Richardson Junior High School (Closed in 2007; now houses Math/Science/Technology Magnet Elementary School)

Notes

  1. ^ Portions of Richardson in Collin County are served by Plano Independent School District[2]

References

  1. ^ "Superintendent – District Leadership – Richardson ISD". Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  2. ^ Hanson, Royce. Civic Culture and Urban Change: Governing Dallas. Wayne State University Press, April 1, 2003. ISBN 0814337473, 9780814337479. p. 82.
  3. ^ "Demographics" (PDF). Richardson Independent School District.
  4. ^ "2022 Accountability Rating System". Texas Education Agency. November 29, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  5. ^ "Richardson ISD - About RISD". Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
  6. ^ The Japan Times. "City of Richardson High Tech Hub". The Japan Times.
  7. ^ US News. "Richardson Independent School District". US News.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Blue Ribbon Schools Program" (PDF). www.ed.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
  9. ^ "2008 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools - All Public and Private Schools by State" (PDF).
  10. ^ a b c d e "National Blue Ribbon Schools Program" (PDF). www.ed.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
  11. ^ a b c d e Nicholson, Eric. "Lake Highlands Finds the Secret to Great Public Schools: Getting Rid of Poor Kids." Dallas Observer. Monday May 16, 2016. Retrieved on May 24, 2016.
  12. ^ a b Fancher, Julie. "Not your typical spring break: Richardson educators travel to refugee camp to see where their students come from" (Archive). The Dallas Morning News. March 28, 2016. Retrieved on May 25, 2016.
  13. ^ Weiss, Jeffrey. "Richardson ISD welcomes Burmese refugees" (Archive). The Dallas Morning News. January 1, 2012. Retrieved on May 25, 2016.
  14. ^ Weiss, Jeffrey. "Richardson teachers, local churches help young Myanmar refugees eager to learn " (Archive). The Dallas Morning News. June 25, 2012. Retrieved on May 25, 2016.
  15. ^ Toler, Carol. "Refugee students at Wallace: ‘It’s just a different level of poverty’." Lake Highlands Advocate. October 28, 2013. Retrieved on May 25, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Miller, Laura. "METROPOLIS THE "APARTMENT KIDS" AND A BEAVER CLEAVER SCHOOL." D Magazine. January 1990. Retrieved on May 24, 2016.
  17. ^ Fancher, Julie. "Richardson ISD to decide whether new school will shake up elementary boundaries." The Dallas Morning News. June 10, 2016. Retrieved on June 12, 2016.
  18. ^ Toler, Carol. "RISD trustees: K-6 for new school on White Rock Trail." Lake Highlands Advocate. June 21, 2016. Retrieved on August 25, 2016.

See also

References

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