High School Education

Watch the Spectacular Collapse of a Flaming Texas Railroad Bridge

If you've ever been curious what it would be like to watch a century-old railroad trestle go down in flames, the video above should give you an idea. The bridge, which spans 900 feet over the Colorado River near San Saba, Texas, was built in 1910 on a spur of the Santa Fe Railroad. The video, per Ya ... More >>

What Do Lance Armstrong, Dopers and Nazis Have in Common?

Michael Sorrell: The Prez

In this week's Dallas Observer we profile 30 of the metro area's most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Mark Graham. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. Paul Quinn College in South Dallas is empty, most of its students home for the summer, but ... More >>

Texas Attorney General Responds To Obama Immigration Announcement With Rather Misleading Tweet

Do you agree with #Obama's decision to stop deporting illegal immigrants? chron.com/news/houston-t...— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 15, 2012 Today, President Barack Obama announced an executive order effective immediately that will protect undocumented immigrants under the age of 30 who ... More >>

U.S. News and World Report: DISD Has Two of Top Three High Schools in the Country

Two Dallas high schools -- the School for the Talented and Gifted and the School of Science and Engineering Magnet -- didn't just survive the multi-stage culling process U.S. News and World Report used to arrive at a list of the country's 97 cream-of-the-crop schools. They snagged two of the top thr ... More >>

Rest in Peace, Mr. Peppermint

Jerry Haynes in the 1944 Woodrow Wilson High School yearbook​I last spoke with Jerry Haynes a few weeks ago. He wasn't feeling well -- he'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's a while back and had moved to Longview -- but said he was in good spirits. We didn't talk long; he said he'd call back later, ... More >>

Standing Up In His Brother's Shadow

If You Want to Get Your Child Into a DISD Magnet or Academy, You Had Best Hustle

​Here you'll find a list of how many slots are available at each of the Dallas Independent School District's elementary vanguards, middle-school academies and magnet high schools for the 2011-'21 school year. Might wanna glance at it, hard, if you're trying to get the wee one into one of the distr ... More >>

At WaterTower and Amphibian Stage, two plays about drama teachers deserve big fat A's.

Dallas ISD Scores With 63 Exemplary Schools. But Completion Rates Take Their Toll.

​We warned you in early June, when the Dallas Independent School District crunched some TAKS test scores and released its list of exemplary and recognized schools well ahead of the Texas Education Agency's official date of, well, today: Those numbers were very preliminary. As TEA spokesperson DeEt ... More >>

Super Bowl XLV to Bring Quite the Collection of Gridiron Greats to Woodrow Next Week

​Tony Fay started working for the Dallas Mavericks in 1987 as the media relations intern; by the time he left in '99, he was director of communications -- which was no easy feat back then, given that was six months before Mark Cuban bought the then-struggling franchise just off a lockout season. T ... More >>

Days Gone Bite: The Other First Thanksgiving

Pocahontas' request that the warriors "save the best part for me" is misunderstood by her father.​Tomorrow we celebrate the time a bunch of dour workaholics with buckled shoes sat down to eat a quiet dinner of thanksgiving with the native peoples. We all know we'd really rather party with that oth ... More >>

Sons of the Shining Star

Why Would Mexican Girls Want to Fail High School?

Jump For Glee, Starring Three Locals and an Amazing Version of "Somebody to Love"

Justin Kimball High School Class of 1969 represents on last night's episode of Glee.​While we keep tabs on the Dallas and Richardson designers cutting and sewing their way to the middle on Project Runway, which has been rendered a hot mess by Lifetime, keep in mind: Three locals populate the cast ... More >>

And Now, For Some Good DISD News ...

Thomas Jefferson High School, which, ahem, some of us have always recognized as one of DISD's finest learning establishmentsBased on preliminary calculations and TAKS results, a record number of Dallas Independent School District campuses are poised to be classified as "recognized" or "exemplary" b ... More >>

High School Zero

United Way of Dallas to Put $1 Million Toward Keeping Kids in the Dallas ISD

I was glancing at the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees' meeting agenda for Thursday when I espied this intriguing item: Acceptance of Donation from United Way of Metropolitan Dallas in the Amount of $1,005,000 to Support Destination: Graduation. Seems awfully generous, which is w ... More >>

On National Signing Day, DISD Recognizes its Outbound Athletes

Patrick MichelsJames Madison High recruits watch game highlights on an overhead video screen.On this (overhyped?) National Letter of Intent Signing Day, high schoolers all over the country chose which school they'd be suiting up for next. For some, it was as simple as faxing in a signed letter (a mi ... More >>

Nuns That Rock

Ladies and Gentlemen: Your Halftime Act For The Last Game Ever At Texas Stadium...

...is a metal band made up of 14-year-old high school freshmen called Crooked X. They've toured as openers for Ted Nugent. Were featured on CBS' The Early Show. Even had a song in Rock Band. All nice accomplishments.But, c'mon. Seriously? --Pete Freedman

Unfair Park Exclusive: TEA Appoints Monitor For DISD's "Academically Unacceptable" Schools

Death By Art

General Badass

Wesley Clark speaks

Nerd Love

Geeky, freaky teen virgins attempt to get knocked up in Superbad, produced by guess who?

King Dreams

DISD students honor MLK

Jokes for the Def

Comedy Jam hopefuls compete

Sideburns and Frowns

Pay tribute to Luke Perry at the Fallout

Artistic Algebra

Slightly Stoopid

Thursday, March 2, at the Gypsy Tea Room

Class Clowns

Go back to school with Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Microphoner

Get It On (Self-released)

Best Sushi

Tei Tei Robata Bar

All the Rage

A year after Taylor Hooton’s suicide, Plano West Senior High is still in denial about steroid abuse

Big Deal

A good idea grows up into a missed opportunity

Jibe, Space Cadet and Dana's Fast

February 28

Best Tuxedo Rental

Mister Tuxedo

Toe to Toe

DBDT springs for Booker T.

Three's a Crowd

Circle Theatre goes for middle-aged angst amid a depressing class reunion in The Pavilion

Warped Tour

June 28

Best Tamale Shop

La Popular

Best Watch Repair

A Jewelry Place

Out & About

Arlo

Best Oak Lawn Restaurant

Marco Italian

Power play

Coaches and parents in the area's elite youth hockey league say the Dallas Stars are trying to ice anyone who threatens their control of the kid hockey business

Sweet grown-up James

James Taylor talks to the kids, but he plays for the adults

Flunking Out

Charter school scandals are teaching Texas a tough lesson -- one the state should have known four years and $77 million ago.

Out There

A house divided

Racialy tinged civil war looms in Richardson ISD

School for Scandal

Principal Mike Stiles was turning Dallas' troubled Sunset High around - until a critical misjudgement threw him into a political snakepit