by Kelsey Gwinn, 5th grade, Hexter Elementary

[Background: Alex W. Spence is one of two Talented-And-Gifted (TAG) academies in the Dallas Independent School District. It has historically been very competitive, and consistently ranks high in TAKS scoring. This posting is from an 11-year-old who visited the school this Spring.]

In the mail I got a flyer for an Open House at Alex W. Spence TAG Academy at Spence Middle School. My dad really wanted to go there and see what it was like. He thought the magnet schools would be higher quality than private schools. We went to the Open House and first went to an orientation in the auditorium. They were telling how great their school was and showing off all their high test scores. They also bragged about the free breakfast that everyone got to have every day. They said they had very nice meals and it was a chance for the students to be with their friends.

Then they had all the teachers for 6th grade come up and talk about what they taught. I thought it was great. Then in the cafeteria they had tables set up where we could find out about all the electives. I really liked it a lot.

I decided to apply to Spence because they looked so good at the Open House. Everybody who applies can do a shadow program which is where you spend a day at their school with a buddy. So my mom and I arrived at the school at 7:40 because they told me to be there at 7:45. When we got there and went through the metal detector, we checked in at the office. Then they told us to wait in the hall because someone would be there immediately to help us.

There was a table outside the office with a lady who made my mom and I sign a visitor sheet and get Visitor passes. It turned out that we didn’t really need them. Then we were told to sit down in the hallway and we sat there for 10 to 15 minutes before anyone came to help us. A woman came to greet us and said we did not need the Visitor passes. She said that class had already started and that Kelsey’s buddy was in her first period class. The lady brought me to my buddy’s class. The buddy was a 6th grade girl. The teacher said hello to me. I did not see any other Anglo kids in that class, or all day for that matter.

The 6th graders are allowed to have lockers but no one uses them because too much stuff gets stolen, according to my buddy and her friend. All the lockers are in the main building. I was told that some kids pick the locks just to steal stuff from lockers. I did not use the restrooms all day because everyone said that they are really gross.

My buddy was really nice but a lot of people thought of her as a bully. A lot of people were telling me rude comments about how mean and obnoxious she was. The first class was Social Studies. It was in a portable, which is where all the TAG students have their classes, but all their electives are in the main building and are also for kids who are not in the TAG program.

This one boy turned to me when my buddy was away and asked me to have sex with him. My response was no. One girl told me to be very scared of him because he was girl crazy. Then the boy told me that the girl always had sex with boys behind the school. She denied it. Also, the boy was talking about girls and their private parts and the teacher joined in the conversation, saying she thought he was just interested in girls’ boobies. In this class, they were writing a Mexican song called a “corido.”

The next class was in the building. It was Creative Drama. There were two teachers – one for the 6th grade and one for the 7th grade. The teachers took attendance and then a bell rang signifying breakfast. Our whole class had to walk to the cafeteria where we got a small container of yogurt, 2 graham crackers, and some gross fruit juice in a juice box. Not very appealing. Announcements were made during breakfast and they were very long. Nobody really listened to them. They just chatted with their friends. One thing they talked about was all the past shadows that got beat up there by one girl. In the cafeteria, some people were threatening other people if they did not go get them more breakfast. Breakfast was about 30 minutes I think, but I didn’t have a watch on.

Then we went back to Creative Drama. In drama, they split into groups and finished up creating their skits from the day before. All the skits I saw had foul language and were about drugs. The teachers did not care if they had cussing in them. All they cared about was making sure the students were in the right places as they acted out the skits. When my buddy was on the stage acting, a guy sitting behind me started asking me a lot of personal questions. I felt very uncomfortable.

The next class was writing. They were studying Mardi Gras. The students had to bring beads that day and turn them in. There was a prize to the person who brought the most beads and the class that brought the most beads. The teacher gave me a necklace then rolled her eyes and walked away. I don’t know why she rolled her eyes. She tried to get control of the class but didn’t really get their attention. This class was in a portable.

The next class was in the main building. It was an elective called Introduction to Computers and Technology. The teacher wasn’t there, so all the students were just out in the hallway talking. After 5-10 minutes, my buddy asked me if we should go get a teacher and I said that that would be a good idea. So we went to the library and asked a librarian where the teacher was. We were told that we were supposed to have a substitute but that she was just late. When we got back to the hallway outside the classroom, everyone was mad at my buddy for having gone to get a teacher at the library.

Then a substitute finally showed up about 5 minutes later and everyone went in the classroom. They all finished up an assignment (making a brochure on the computer) and then sat around playing anything they wanted on the computer over the Internet. The substitute asked me why I wasn’t working. I guess she didn’t know I was just visiting. She told the class that she couldn’t believe they were TAG students because they were always talking and not wanting to work.

When the bell rang, my buddy said “Come on” and we went to the cafeteria for lunch. As we squeezed through the very crowded hallway, I accidentally bumped into somebody and he said “Move it, white girl!” A lot of people called me “white girl” for the rest of the day. The cafeteria was really dirty and gross. I had to buy my lunch, unlike at the private schools I visited where I got a free lunch. It was $1.25 and I was disappointed because they were having nachos, which I don’t like much. The nachos were really soggy and had way too much cheese sauce and meat on them. I got to pick two sides but the nachos also came with curly fries. The fries were so greasy I could see the grease dripping off. They got cold really quickly too. All they had to drink that day was the icky juice like they had at breakfast. We were not allowed to sit anywhere we wanted. Each row of tables had to fill up in order before the next row could start filling in.

During lunch, a boy was trying to open a little packet of mustard for his curly fries. Then, since he couldn’t open it, he set it on the table and started banging on it with his fist. Then it splattered open all over me and my buddy, and on to the next table. Some people just laughed but no adult did anything about it. Not even the monitors. When we were done eating, we were told to put our (Styrofoam) trays in a pile. I saw the people in the kitchen rinsing them so they could be used again. Lunch was 30 minutes and then there was a 15-minute break outside. Since we all carried everything with us, it all had to be carried to the cafeteria and then outside too. It was cold that day.

After lunch and break was 5th period, Science in the portables. We all did worksheets, even me. All the students were in groups. Those who weren’t working and called on by the teacher had no idea what to say. It was OK and the teacher just explained to them what they missed. They didn’t get in trouble for not listening. As we did our worksheets, I noticed that my buddy couldn’t even print the letter “e.” She wrote it as a “3.” Then when we took turns reading out loud out of textbooks, the students were having trouble with pronunciation and were reading very slowly. I couldn’t even believe they were TAG students! This teacher, like most teachers at Spence, did not pay much attention to me.

Sixth period was Beginner’s Orchestra, an elective so it was in the building. The students drop off their backpacks in a separate room attached to the class and pick up their instruments. They are not allowed to take them home. After all the instruments had been tuned by the teacher, almost everyone had to go to the bathroom. The teacher let them go, one at a time, to a bathroom way down the hall. The teacher yelled at them about how badly they were acting. He was kind of mean. He also had a deep, sing-song voice. They basically practiced a song and then went over their music notes out loud, saying what was on their music.

Seventh period. FINALLY!! I was so happy it was the end of the day. We went to math class in a portable. The sixth graders (TAG) were learning stuff I had already learned in 5th grade at Hexter Elementary. The teacher was nice to me but kind of mean to the class. Everyone kept coming up to him for help with their work. He looked annoyed. He let my buddy and me leave early so she could take me to the office. As we left, a lot of kids wished they could be a buddy so they could leave early too. In the office, I just sat and waited for my mom. On our way to the car, my mom said that a bunch of janitors were standing around talking instead of cleaning that nasty school.

Okay now it’s time for my opinion of Spence. As I went to the car I burst into tears and told my mom how terrible my day was. I hated it! Nobody made me feel welcome, it wasn’t a clean school, and how the heck were those kids TAG students (couldn’t read, write, do arithmetic)? That one question haunts me every night as I wonder about it.

Oh yeah, I have a friend who used to go to my school who goes to Spence now and when I found out that she went there I told her I didn’t like it when I visited. She then warned me to never ever go to that school. She told me it would be the biggest mistake of my life to go there. I agree. That is the truth.

I have 3 friends who visited Spence also and guess what: one loved it, one thought it was “so-so,” and one hated it. I absolutely despised it. My counselor wanted to know why I took my application out of Spence. I just told her the cold, hard truth. Hey, sometimes the truth may hurt but it is so much better to know the facts than to get hurt later.

Editorial

Keep in mind, this is coming from an 11-year old who has excelled at everything she's ever done. On the flip side, 11-year olds don't see things with 40-something-year-old eyes. But how can an 11-year-old exaggerate sexual advances in a classroom, or a teacher joining in on an extremely inappropriate conversation with children?

After listening to her story (and reading what she wrote), if there isn't "fire" here, there certainly is quite a bit of "smoke" at Spence TAG Academy.

It has been my experience that the condition of an organization reflects the leadership of that organization. There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding Spence Principal Mary Davies.

I'll freely admit that I've never met Davies, but I'd love to have her opinion on this posting.