Connor Schmidt is picking out books for his classroom library at the new Museum School of East Dallas, already buzzing with students here for summer camp.
“What about Dogman?” he asks.
“Yes!!” a chorus of students agrees.
Last year, just two miles away, Schmidt taught third grade at Dallas ISD's Victor H. Hexter Elementary School.
"I was beloved and I was respected, and that's all that you can hope for," Schmidt said. "But I had lost that creative joy that comes with education."
Schmidt said the tuition-free Museum School appealed to him because it blends traditional academics with hands-on learning.
Students spend the mornings in core academic classes — reading, math, science and social studies. After an hour-long lunch and recess, community partners lead activities like art, music and sports.
Schmidt said he could teach students about ecosystems in the morning, and then they may spend the afternoon working with a local nature center on a project — giving him several hours to prepare his lessons for the next day.
At his previous school, he said he often had less than 30 minutes of preparation time a day.
"Teachers have a lot more power in the classroom to adapt the curriculum to each student," Schmidt said.
The Museum School model began in Atlanta in 2010. Today, there are more than 40 across the country. Loren Colman is bringing the first one to Texas, one of just four charters opening this fall.
"Three years ago, we made shirts that said, 'Wanna start a school together?'" Colman said.
A Teach for America alum, Colman has her undergraduate degree in special education and master’s degree in education leadership from Southern Methodist University. She’s taught in Richardson and Dallas ISDs and was most recently a principal at an Uplift Charter School in East Dallas, where she and her family live.
Over the past few years, she's held community meetings asking parents what they loved about their schools — and what they wished was different.
"They felt like their kids were getting lost and kind of in the shuffle," Colman said. "Yes, we want our kids to have access to a rigorous education, but we also want them to like coming to school."
As part of a fellowship with the education nonprofit BES, Colman visited high-performing public, private and charter schools across the country. She said those visits helped shape her vision.
"There was such a stark difference in how kids were operating in private schools," Colman said. "I wanted to give kids the agency and the opportunities that I saw there. I wanted to bring that into a public setting."
Not everyone believes East Dallas needs another public school option.
Lindsay Staggs has lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade, and her two daughters will attend Hexter Elementary this fall.
"This school is already entering a neighborhood with thriving public schools," Staggs said. "If you look at the school performance, the TEA ratings, these schools are very high performing."
Staggs and more than 30 Hexter parents signed a public letter opposing the charter school, arguing it weakens neighborhood schools by drawing away students and teachers — like Connor Schmidt. She said Texas districts are already facing “headwinds” like the state’s new school voucher program and a lack of funding from Austin.
"You are just taking more away from public schools,” Staggs said.
Like all school districts, Texas charter schools receive state funding based on student enrollment. The Museum School will receive about $6,200 per student, and must therefore follow Texas academic standards, including administering the STAAR test.
So far, 156 students have enrolled, with roughly equal numbers of Black, Latino and white students, Colman said.
Asked whether the district is concerned the Museum School is drawing students and teachers away from Dallas ISD, school board member Dan Micciche — who represents the neighborhood — declined an interview.
He told KERA via text the district “has launched an initiative to ensure that almost 50,000 elementary students to go on learning voyages to venues such as the Perot Museum, the Arboretum, the zoo, and the Environmental Education Center.” He said the program will connect classroom instruction with real-world learning.
Some East Dallas parents say they are not convinced. They think Dallas ISD’s focus will remain on testing and they are looking for an educational experience that goes beyond state standards. Brianna Short-Peña pulled her 4th grade daughter out of Dallas ISD’s Alex Sanger Preparatory School to instead attend the Museum School this fall.
"I lost trust in the rating system of the schools because her school was rated extremely high, and ultimately it came down to how these kids tested," Short-Peña said.
Yesenia Altamirano feels the same way. A Dallas ISD graduate herself, she always expected her two children would attend district schools. But she changed her mind when her son was in third grade — the year students begin taking the STAAR test.
“I could not wrap my head around the type of pressure he was receiving,” Altamirano said. “That kind of spark of him wanting to learn seemed to go away.”
Altamirano said leaving Dallas ISD wasn't about funding or politics. It was about finding a school that matched what she wanted for her children.
Next week, when classes begin, she and other East Dallas parents will get their first real look at whether this new approach to public education can deliver on its promise.
"I just want to instill that learning is beyond the metrics," she said, “and to have the joy to come to school.”
Sujata Dand is KERA’s early childhood education reporter. Got a tip? Email her at sdand@kera.org.
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