Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School

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Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School
Location
Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School
Coordinates 32°46′26″N96°45′38″W / 32.773970°N 96.760481°W / 32.773970; -96.760481
Information
Type Secondary, Single-sex education, Public
MottoGirls Today, Women Tomorrow, Leaders Forever.
EstablishedAugust 16, 2004 (2004-08-16)
School district Dallas Independent School District
PrincipalYvonne Rojas
Grades6-12
Color(s)Red, navy blue, and white
   
Mascot Panther
Website http://www.dallasisd.org/rangel

The Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School is a school for girls in Dallas, Texas. Part of the Dallas Independent School District, it is the first public all-girls school in the state and is renowned for its challenging coursework and high college matriculation rate. [1]

Contents

The school was established in 2004 and graduated its first class of 21 students in 2009. [2] [3] It opened under the leadership of Principal Vivian Taylor-Samudio.

The school is in proximity to Fair Park. [4]

History

The school is named after Irma Lerma Rangel who was the first Mexican-American woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives and the first woman elected as Chair of the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus. [5]

Palm Harbor Homes founder and philanthropist Lee Posey, along with his wife, visited The Young Women's Leadership School of East Harlem, a high-performing all girls' school in New York City. Posey decided to have a similar school established in Dallas. Posey's organization, originally the Young Women's Leadership Foundation and later the Foundation for the Education of Young Women, established a partnership with DISD and had the school established as the first all girls school in Texas. [1]

Originally housed in the historic Stephen J. Hay Building, located at 3801 Herschel Ave. in the city's Oak Lawn district, the Irma L. Rangel Young Women's Leadership School opened its doors to 125 students on August 16, 2004 under the leadership of Principal Vivian Taylor-Samudio, who headed the school from its inception to her retirement in 2015. [6] In the 2005-2006 academic year, it expanded to receive ninth grade students, and the following year, it further expanded to receive sixth and tenth grade students. The school finally opened to grades sixth through twelve during the 2008-2009 academic year, graduating its first class in 2009.[ citation needed ]

In 2010 Rangel parents protested a plan to require children in Rangel's middle school to reapply for the high school grades. [7]

Network

The school is a member of the Young Women's Preparatory Network, which funds programs including leadership-building summer camps and on-campus college advising. [8] As part of the network, it maintains relationships with other institutions in the network, including sister school Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin. [9] Once graduated, students maintain connected via an alumnae network that helps establish professional connections. [10]

The Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy, established in 2011, is the school's all-boys counterpart, or brother school. [11]

Creed

In 2013, Principal Vivan Taylor-Samudio introduced and instilled the school creed, to be recited by students each morning. [12]

Programs

The school includes a hand bell choir, a vocal choir, a string instrumental orchestra, academic pentathlon and decathlon, a robotics team, a debate team, a yearbook staff, a GSA called Rainbow Rangers, an after-school community service club, and many more. [13]

Accolades

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hobbs, Tawnell D. "All-girls school thriving" (). The Dallas Morning News . Saturday May 12, 2007. Retrieved on October 17, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Schools-Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School". Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2009.
  3. "General Information / General Information".
  4. Haag, Matthew. "Irma Lerma Rangel school near Fair Park evacuated after carbon monoxide leak" (Archive). The Dallas Morning News . January 6, 2012. Retrieved on December 26, 2015.
  5. "The Irma L. Rangel Y.W.L.S. Site - Our Namesake". Archived from the original on May 30, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2009.
  6. "Twicsy | the latest in the social media industry". June 9, 2024.
  7. Rado, Diane. "Rangel parents worried about reapplication requirement " (Archive). The Dallas Morning News . January 15, 2010. Updated November 26, 2010. Retrieved on December 26, 2015.
  8. "Mission". August 7, 2014.
  9. "The Network". August 8, 2014.
  10. http://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX01001475/Centricity/Domain/9954/Irma%20L.%20Rangel%20YWLS%20Profile%202013-2014.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  11. Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy
  12. "General Information / School Creed".
  13. Aasen, Eric. "Hand bell choir at Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School rings in the season " (Archive). The Dallas Morning News . December 17, 2010. Updated January 5, 2011. Retrieved on December 26, 2015.
  14. http://www.tmscaonline.net/1A_-_Team.pdf%5B%5D
  15. http://www.tmscaonline.net/1A_sweepstake.pdf%5B%5D
  16. http://www.tmscaonline.net/1A_ind.pdf%5B%5D