Despite anticipated growing pains, leaders see bright future at Townview School for the Talented and Gifted
By Benjamin Hernandez, 9th grade, TAG
The Townview School for the Talented and Gifted (TAG), a paragon of magnet schools which offers specialized courses not available elsewhere in Dallas ISD such as a STEM-focused curriculum, has expanded its traditionally small student body — and educational leaders see growing opportunities for TAG’s future.
In the 2017 academic year, TAG increased class sizes to 150 students. This is approximately more than double the amount of students accepted into classes the previous years. The change has even repurposed teachers’ roles and led to the hiring of new teachers to accommodate the larger number of freshmen.
By the time the TAG Class of 2022 graduates, the school will have approximately 600 students, compared to the relatively small previous size of about 260. TAG Principal Benjamin Mackey said he hopes the expansion, “will be a net positive.”
Currently, TAG has been recruiting at many Dallas ISD schools in order to try and fill in all 150 spots with in-district students.
The expansion is taking place as Dallas ISD is trying “to give more students the opportunity to endure the benefits of the program that [Dallas ISD] has at Townview, and because Townview is big enough to take on the additional capacity,” said Dallas ISD Trustee Lew Blackburn, who represents the district containing TAG and various other schools found in Oak Lawn, West Dallas, Wilmer, Hutchins and portions of East Oak Cliff.
When asked how he believed the expansion would impact the school in national rankings, Blackburn stated, “It should not change.”
TAG is one of the six magnet schools present at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center. It has consistently been named the number one public high school in the nation by various sources including U.S. News and World Report and is known for sending its students on to prestigious colleges.
The expansion currently taking place is just the latest in a slew of changes that have been proposed over the past decade for Dallas magnet schools.
When funding cuts were proposed that would impact TAG in 2009, parents were vocal in their opposition and “creat[ed] a flurry of panic, e-mails and meetings among local parents,” according to an op-ed published in The Dallas Morning News.
Parents, including those at TAG, were concerned over proposed changes to the admission policy in 2010 that would change the way students were admitted into vanguards, academies, and magnets. Some from the TAG community were worried about the proposed lottery system, which “would place all students in the same basket, regardless of how hard they worked or how well they did in school,” according to an article from Dallas Observer.
Though many were disappointed about previous changes proposed for TAG, the current proposition has brought excitement and joy for the future.
A parent who is also a teacher at TAG stated in an email that “the expansion is great and long overdue.” Although, the parent also mentioned that, “[t]here will of course be growing pains and some things will have to change.” However, the parent “think[s] this will give even more students the opportunity to be a part of the TAG family,” which he believes, “[is] a great thing.”
Mackey welcomes the expansion. “If [TAG] has so many qualified kids who want th[e] program, [TAG] should be larger to be able to offer the program to those qualified students,” Mackey said.
When Mackey was asked if he believes the expansion will affect the schools ranking nationally, he added that, “it’s hard to tell because they change the rankings, every year, and they don’t have a very clear formula for how they rank.”
“Every single thing on achievement — in culture, ACT/SAT commended rates, AP Exams, culture surveys — show improvement on every single area over th[e] years, so the rankings don’t correlate with what [TAG] is actually doing,” Mackey also stated.
The Dallas ISD Magnet Application portal at one point this year incorrectly showed that TAG was only accepting 65 students into the freshmen class this year, according to school administrators.
“That’s definitely an error,” Mackey said.
The site now reflects the intended number of freshmen TAG is accepting.
