H. Grady Spruce High School

H. Grady Spruce High School
Address
9733 Old Seagoville Road
Dallas, Texas 75217
United States
Coordinates 32°42′31″N 96°39′16″W / 32.708698°N 96.654401°W / 32.708698; -96.654401Coordinates: 32°42′31″N 96°39′16″W / 32.708698°N 96.654401°W / 32.708698; -96.654401
Information
Type Public, secondary
School district Dallas Independent School District
Principal Danielle Petters
Faculty 91 (2012)[1]
Grades 9-12
Number of students 1,323 (2012)[1]
Color(s) Scarlet Red and Royal Blue[2]
Mascot Timberwolves (Originally the Apaches)
Trustee dist.  4, Nancy Bingham[3]
Learning Community   1, Ivonne Durant[4]
Website Official Website

H. Grady Spruce High School is a public school in the Spruce Square Development of Southeast Dallas in the state of Texas. H. Grady Spruce High School, which covers grades 9–12, is a part of the Dallas Independent School District.

Spruce serves several sections of Southeast Dallas, including and Balch Springs.

In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.[5]

History

SPRUCE SQUARE Once part of Rylie, this unincorporated land was annexed to Dallas in the late '50s and developed into a community most noted for its High School, H.Grady Spruce, which opened in 1963. Spruce replaced Rylie High School (which was turned into a junior high school, and later a middle school in 1972).

The school is named for Henry Grady Spruce, a native of Omen, Texas, who earned degrees from Southern Methodist University and the University of Chicago. He devoted much of his 35-year YMCA career to youth, including 25 years as director of the Dallas YMCA's Camp Crockett (now Camp Grady Spruce) near Granbury and the Park Cities YMCA.

When it opened, Spruce's student body reflected the community and was predominately Caucasian (White and with some Black students and other ethnic groups). Beginning in 1973 Spruce was selected to take part in Busing. Black students became a majority in the early 1980s as the demographics of the Pleasant Grove area changed. Starting in the 1990s Hispanics became the majority.

From 1963–1998, the mascot of Spruce High School was the "Mighty Fighting Apaches" which was proudly born by the student population and staff. Due to a hyper-sensitive atmosphere centering on the use of names thought by some to be derogatory toward Native American (ex: "redskin") as nicknames for school mascots, the "Apache" mascot was changed to the Timberwolves. This was done despite the fact that "Apache" was not derogatory or used as such. Also interesting is that the timberwolf is not common to east Texas.

On June 26, 2008 the Dallas ISD board voted to move all 10th and 11th graders from Spruce High School and released all staff from their contracts. As a result, Spruce disbanded all athletic teams during the 2008–2009 school year; thus, seniors who participate in athletics are eligible to transfer to other DISD schools as well.

Statistics

During the 2011–12 school year 90% of the students at H. Grady Spruce High School are economically disadvantaged, 12.9% enroll in special education, 6.7% enroll in gifted and talented programs, and 27.1% are considered "limited English proficient."[1]

The ethnic makeup of the school during the 2011-2012 school year was 71% Hispanic, 26.9% Black, 1.5% White, non-Hispanic, less than 1% Asian/Pacific Islander, and less than 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native.[1]

Feeder patterns

As of 2007, E. B. Comstock Middle School feeds into H. Grady Spruce High School.[6]

The following elementary schools feed into Comstock and Spruce

Athletics

The H.Grady Spruce Timberwolves compete in the following sports:[7]

Notable alumni

Maceo Demond Baston

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 DISD Data Packet for 2012-2013 Planning
  2. ↑ Dallas ISD – David W. Carter High School. Retrieved on June 12, 2007.
  3. ↑ Dallas ISD – Schools by Trustee Archived October 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.. (PDF). Retrieved on June 12, 2007.
  4. ↑ Dallas ISD – Schools by Area Archived March 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.. (PDF). Retrieved on June 12, 2007.
  5. ↑ "2015 Accountability Rating System". Texas Education Agency.
  6. 1 2 Dallas ISD – 2007 School Feeder Patterns – . Retrieved June 12, 2007.
  7. ↑ The Athletics Department
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 HGS alums on DMN.
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