Celebrating success in Sunny South Dallas
In Sunny South Dallas, the seven legacy schools that make up the Lincoln-Madison vertical team are celebrating a milestone that reflects strong leadership, dedicated families, and a community invested in its own future: a B rating for all of its schools.
Charles Rice Learning Center, often called a “beacon of hope” in South Dallas, had long been the anchor of success in the area, standing as the only school of the seven, to consistently maintain a B rating over the years. More recently, Paul L. Dunbar Learning Center and James Madison High School joined Rice in maintaining consecutive B ratings.
Students and teacher at H.S. Thompson STEAM Academy
When the Texas Education Agency released its school ratings this summer, the rest of the vertical team’s schools—Lincoln High School, Billy Earl Dade Middle School, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Arts Academy, and H.S. Thompson STEAM Academy—joined the others with B ratings of their own.
Rockell Stewart is the executive director of the Lincoln-Madison vertical team, a product of South Dallas, and a Lincoln High School graduate, who has led the efforts.
“I am beyond proud of the principals, the staff and the students in this vertical team,” said Stewart. “It’s been almost a decade since every school in South Dallas has been B-rated. The work that I’ve seen the principals and teachers pour into their schools has been phenomenal to witness.”
Stewart leads with intentional care, guided by an African principle that begins with a simple question: “And how are the children?” The response, “All the Children are well,” reflects her vision for South Dallas.
For Stewart, this answer that reaches far beyond test scores to address the health, safety, and opportunities every student deserves is key to the success of the vertical team schools.
“This is our mantra: ‘Are the children well?’” she said. “I am always asking what their needs are because when students and schools prosper, the community transforms. I want everyone to feel safe in our schools.”
Building on success
Learning at H.S Thompson STEAM Academy
The vertical team’s newest member—H.S. Thompson STEAM Academy—had not been rated since reopening in 2021 as an elementary school. And its principal, Jennifer Atkins, who previously had led Rice Learning Center in obtaining consistent B ratings, was entrusted to do the same for the new school. This year, Atkins accomplished that goal.
“When I was an assistant principal, Mrs. Gabriel Jones, my principal at the time, would say ‘my time is going to be up soon, but people like you have to keep it going,’” Atkins said. “The older generation pours into the younger generation, and we keep the cycle going. That is our legacy in South Dallas.”
Building on Rice’s success, the feeder pattern has reached a unity the community has not seen in a long time.
Another contributor to the vertical team’s success, Atkins said, is the presence of veteran students, along with veteran teachers, whose impact on children at an early age helped lay the foundation for long-term achievement.
“When children started at Rice in prekindergarten and went through fifth grade, there wasn’t a high turnover with students,” said Atkins. “This is what I am trying to do here at Thompson. I want students to continue to come back. We want to keep our students in rotation in our schools in South Dallas.”
Atkins would like them to come back even after they graduate from college. Today many of those same South Dallas graduates are now teachers themselves, carrying forward the legacy by preparing the next generation academically.
It’s about community
The commitment to success is shared not only by the principals and team members in the vertical team schools but also by the families and community leaders. Stewart understands that student learning can be affected by challenges in their personal lives and is working to provide services to ensure students don’t miss school because of outside barriers.
Partnerships with local faith leaders and churches, community events, impactful school branding, and educational programming are all catalysts for the schools’ recent success.
H.S. Thompson STEAM Academy
At the same time, there is a priority for the emotional well-being of teachers and principals, keeping them uplifted and affirmed as they do the daily work of guiding students, she said.
For those invested in the South Dallas schools, this moment goes beyond test scores, it is a silver lining, a time of celebration, and a glimmer of hope for the community.
“When I think of our legacy in South Dallas, for me it’s about being a light for our students,” Atkins said. “Because many times they’ve been written off, but it takes leaders like us to keep it going.”
