On a recent May afternoon, just weeks before the start of summer break, Uriel Diaz is teaching history to a classroom of 8th graders at Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy.
“What we're going to work on is going to be the letter to our future selves,” Diaz tells his students. “We're going to go ahead and start a rough draft and do that today.”
Diaz started at Walnut Hill last year, not long after the new school opened.
After a 2019 tornado leveled the former Walnut Hill Elementary School — often a top performer – Dallas ISD leaders saw the opportunity to combine it with Cary Middle School — which perennially struggled.
Improving poor history scores was part of Diaz’s challenge. Maintaining high expectations, his students write a lot — often, he said, above grade level. Assignments link history to kids’ lives, to “make the subject relevant,” he said. As a result, scores have risen. Diaz credits Principal Philip Meeker.
“The reason why I am here is not because I was passionate to come teach middle school,” Diaz said. “I made the jump to middle school because I wanted to, one, expand my horizons, but two, I also wanted to work under a leadership that trusts teachers to do their job and be able to let us do our job without being micromanaged.”
That hands-off approach has been one of Meeker’s core concepts since he started at the school in the fall of 2022.
“These teachers are professionals. I don't need to micromanage them. And I need to trust them in what they are doing,” Meeker said. “Our teachers, I think, value that a lot. You know, if you cause me to have to micro-manage and support you and give you more help, then I will, but they value that freedom.”
The approach is paying off: Walnut Hill’s state accountability score rose from a C in 2024 to an A the following year.
That goal was part of the re-thought design of the two schools’ rebuild as the pre-K through 8 International Leadership Academy. District leaders wanted not only to make sure the school could withstand another tornado, but also compete with area charter and private schools – especially with school vouchers available next year.
It’s not the first time the district has combined an elementary and middle school, Meeker said.
“They're seeing a lot of success at it,” he said. “Kids going from fifth to sixth grade no longer have to change schools. They're allowed to have that smooth transition while their body's going through all the changes that they go through. They’re allowed to stay in the same building, with the same teachers, the same friends.”
The new Walnut Hill opened inJanuary,2023 with additional curriculum changes to attract families, grow enrollment, and improve scores. It added a Spanish English dual language program, all-AP classes, and Mandarin. Those all matter in this part of Dallas surrounded by big-name private schools.
Walnut Hill – where two-thirds of students are considered economically disadvantaged– must hold its own to keep students, and the state funding attached to them.
Sharon Foley is with the Holdsworth Center, which develops school leaders. She said the education non-profit worked with Meeker and his team for two years.
“He met with everyone from cafeteria workers to teachers and assistant principals,” Foley said, “to really understand how the year was going and what they needed and what their goals were. And that's a really different approach than what they were doing previously.”
Foley says teachers met one-on-one with students to review goals, progress and plan next steps. It all added up.
Elijah Smith, who just finished 8th grade and now heads to the private Jesuit college prep school in Dallas, felt comfortable here, having moved from a small town.
“I'd rather be in the city than be in a rural community, because there are a lot of different opportunities here with academics, sports,”the14 year-old said.
Parents, like Wendy Jasso, also like the options. She works in Walnut Hill’s school office. Her11 year-old son — who’s into science — attends Walnut Hill, as did his older brother.
“Every student is different,” Jasso said.“ Having all those options for them, I think it's a good way of, you now, as a parent, choosing where your student can go and what your student can do.”
And once they finish 8thgrade, Meeker said high school options abound.
“Our kids can go anywhere they want. In eighth grade, they're taking high school credits. They're taking physics, algebra one, foreign language credit for high school credit,” he said.“ You can leave here with multiple high school credits already under your belt.”
He said graduates have attended Booker T. Washington school for the performing and visual arts. They’ve attended all five Dallas ISD Townview Center magnet schools – some of the best in the country. And like student Elijah Smith, they’ve gone to private schools like Jesuit, Hockaday and St. Marks.
But Meeker said Walnut Hill is proof students can stay in the public system for a great education.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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