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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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South Oak Cliff High School
South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).

The school serves the area of Dallas known as "South Oak Cliff" (generally east of Interstate 35E and south of Illinois Avenue, though the area was never technically part of Oak Cliff). The school also previously had some students who lived in the former Wilmer-Hutchins ISD boundaries. DISD began to take in WHISD-zoned students during the 2005–2006 school year, and at that time the entire Wilmer-Hutchins High School senior class attended South Oak Cliff.

In 2015, the school was rated "Improvement Required" by the Texas Education Agency.

History

South Oak Cliff opened in 1952 as the first DISD high school to be constructed in almost 15 years (Lincoln High opened in 1939.) The school served developing areas of south and east Oak Cliff. In the first year only a few hundred students enrolled, but the school grew rapidly as new housing developments were completed along Kiest Boulevard and Ledbetter Drive. In the late 1950s, before Kimball and Carter high schools were opened, SOC was one of the largest high schools in the city. For its first 13 years SOC was designated a "white" high school by DISD, but the neighborhoods surrounding the school began to change rapidly to African-American in the early 1960s. Many of the schools that fed into SOC (Holmes and Zumwalt junior high schools and Miller, Stone, Pease, Bushman and Mills elementary schools) were converted to "negro" elementary schools in the late 1960s.

1967-1968 SOC football team
This picture of the 1967-1968 SOC football team illustrates the school's changing demographics

Roosevelt High School was opened in north Oak Cliff 1963 to serve the growing African-American student population, but at the beginning of the 1966-1967 school year, DISD was forced to desegregate its high schools and black students enrolled at SOC for the first time.

Between 1966 and 1970 the student body changed from nearly 100 percent white to almost 100 percent African-American. This type of racial turnover was common in the US during the white flight era of the 1960s, but it was rare to see it happen in such a newly developed area. Most of the homes, businesses and shopping centers in this area of Oak Cliff were less than ten years old when the racial changes began. There was a period when SOC had over 2,000 students.

After the A. Maceo Smith High School moved in 1989, the attendance boundaries between Smith and South Oak Cliff shifted, with students zoned to Stone Middle School and Zumwalt Middle School, except for students also zoned to Bushman Elementary, moving from SOC to Smith, and students zoned to Storey Middle School, except for those who began their educations at Marshall and Oliver elementaries, would be zoned to SOC.

In 2005, after the closure of the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District, what would have been the entire senior class of Wilmer-Hutchins High School was sent to South Oak Cliff. SOC and other DISD schools absorbed the remaining WHISD high school students.

In 2011, the district re-opened Wilmer Hutchins and converted A. Maceo Smith into a technology magnet. Some former WHISD zones covered by South Oak Cliff were rezoned to Wilmer-Hutchins. South Oak Cliff absorbed parts of the former A. Maceo Smith boundary.

By 2016 the district agreed to remodel the SOC building. At first the renovation was to only cover the inside, the plumbing system, and the roof, with $13 million in funding. The funding and scope increased after advocacy from the SOC community and student walkouts. In February 2016 DISD agreed to up the amount to $25 million. The following May it increased to $42 million. Finally the board voted 6-3 to increase it to $52 million in October 2016. The renovation is to include refurbished classrooms, new hallways with an atrium and athletic facilities. The latter category consists of a gymnasium for athletic competitions that has a capacity of 2,000 people, as well as another weight room and an auxiliary gymnasium.

At first the students were to be housed in temporary buildings on the SOC site, but SOC community members insisted that the students be housed on another site during renovations. In January 2018 students were moved to Village Fair, along Interstate 35E, previously used as a shopping complex, so the permanent building may be remodeled. DISD converted the facility, with 23,000 square feet (2,100 m) of school space, for the stated purpose for $2.2 million. Normally it was used for the alternative school but to accommodate SOC that school was moved to Nolan Estes Plaza. The temporary facility has a band hall, a dance room, and two rooms for science classes. The basketball team, during the renovation period, is using Sprague Field House as its practice area. The renovations of the permanent SOC campus continued into the 2019-2020 school year, and students remained at Village Fair.

In January 2018 the school had about 1,200 students. For the 2019-2020 school year the administration expected that the enrollment would be 963, but by October was 1,322, above expectations.

In December 2019, $52 million worth of renovations were completed on the original campus and students began classes there beginning in January 2020.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

The South Oak Cliff Golden Bears compete in the following sports: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball, and Wrestling.

Football

SOC is the 2021 and 2022 Texas 5A-DII State Champion in Football

The team has missed the state playoffs only once in 25 seasons and as of 2022,with Jamarcus Ingram signing with the Buffalo Bills, has produced at least 26 players who have gone on to play in the National Football League,which is the most in Texas. The Pro-Reference website has yet to be updated to include Ingram or Jacquies Smith. (Another SOC Alum, Marvin Terry, has been invited to the Jets minicamp but yet to sign a contract)

In the 2021 football season, SOC beat Liberty Hill 23-14 for their first state title in school history. With this win, SOC became the first Dallas ISD school to win a state championship in football since 1950 (Carter defeated Converse Judson in the 1988 Class AAAAA final, but the University Interscholastic League stripped Carter of the championship over two years after the game was played, due to the alleged changing of one grade of one player; which ultimately came down to one contested assignment).

SOC won their second consecutive state championship in 2022 by defeating the Port Neches-Groves Indians 34-24, becoming the first Dallas ISD high school to win back-to-back football state championships.

Basketball

On the court, SOC's boys' basketball team won six state championships, 1977, 1992, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Off the court, however, the team was forced to forfeit the titles in 2005 and 2006 after teachers were found to have changed failing grades in order to maintain the eligibility of basketball players.

SOC's girls' basketball team has won four state championships: 1977, 1978, 1980, and 1985. Gary Blair helped start the girls' basketball team in 1973. In his 7 seasons as coach, Blair's teams won 3 state championships, lost the 1979 championship game by 2 points, and compiled an overall record of 239-18. Blair now coaches the women's basketball team at Texas A&M.

At least three women who played for SOC have gone on to play in the Women's National Basketball Association.

At least 19 male SOC players accepted college basketball scholarships between 2005 and 2020. Three alumni men have gone from playing at SOC to playing in the NBA. A 4th, Dennis Rodman, never actually played high school basketball but went on to a pro basketball career that led him into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

School uniforms

SOC has chosen to institute mandatory school uniforms consisting of white, black or gold tops and khaki or black bottoms.

The Texas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform, parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.

Feeder patterns

Seven elementary schools (Harrell Budd, Lisbon, Thomas L. Marsalis, Clara Oliver, Clinton P. Russell, Erasmo Sequin, and Robert L. Thornton) feed into two middle schools (Boude Storey and Sarah Zumwalt), which feed into South Oak Cliff High School.

Controversy

A 2008 investigation within the Dallas school district's Office of Professional Responsibility found that then-principal Donald Moten as well as other school officials staged cage fights among troubled students, making them fight in a steel utility cage inside a boys locker room. The investigation showed that Moten and other employees "knew of the practice, allowed it to go on for a time, and failed to report it".

South Oak Cliff High was stripped of its 2005 and 2006 state basketball championships after investigators determined Moten had coerced teachers into changing athletes' grades. District reports also confirmed unauthorized pep rally fundraisers that Moten used to fund personal gambling trips. Moten had a previous checkered work history at the Dallas Police Department – one that included staging his own kidnapping and the fatal shooting of an elderly crime-watch volunteer. Moten was moved from South Oak Cliff High to Jackson Elementary School in 2006, and resigned from the district in 2008.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ Dallas ISD - General Information, South Oak Cliff High School. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  2. ^ "SOUTH OAK CLIFF H S". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  3. ^ Dallas ISD - Schools by Trustee Archived October 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. (PDF). Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  4. ^ Dallas ISD - Schools by Area Archived March 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. (PDF). Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  5. ^ "2015 Accountability Rating System". Texas Education Agency.
  6. ^ Smith, Corbett (September 6, 2019). "The good (and not-so-good) news about Dallas ISD's latest enrollment numbers". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  7. ^ Garcia, Joseph. "DISD BOUNDARY CHANGES OUTLINED." The Dallas Morning News. March 9, 1989. 30A. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  8. ^ Gordon, Jennifer. "Wilmer -Hutchins seniors will go to South Oak Cliff High." The Dallas Morning News. Wednesday July 27, 2005. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  9. ^ Hobbs, Tawnell D. "Dallas school district to open 3 Wilmer-Hutchins campuses, close 2 others." The Dallas Morning News. November 24, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  10. ^ "Fall 2010 South Oak Cliff High School Attendance Zone with Wilmer-Hutchins - Grades 9-12 Archived February 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  11. ^ "Fall 2011 Wilmer-Hutchins High School Attendance Zone Grades 9-12." Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  12. ^ "South Oak Cliff High School Attendance Zone Grades 9-12 ." Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  13. ^ "Fall 2010 A. Maceo Smith High School Attendance Zone with Wilmer-Hutchins - Grades 9-12 Archived February 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." Dallas Independent School District. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  14. ^ Smith, Corbett (October 28, 2016). "South Oak Cliff High funding pushed to $52 million during heated DISD board meeting". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  15. ^ Jaramillo, Cassandra; Corbett Smith (January 9, 2018). "Why South Oak Cliff High School students are moving to an old shopping center at Village Fair". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  16. ^ Smith, Corbett (June 14, 2019). "Dallas ISD says South Oak Cliff High repairs won't be complete when school starts Aug. 19". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  17. ^ "After a long fight over repairs, South Oak Cliff High's community unites in celebration of revived campus". December 20, 2019.
  18. ^ The Athletics Department
  19. ^ Sentendrey, David (December 18, 2021). "South Oak Cliff football team wins state title; 1st for Dallas ISD in decades". Fox4News.com. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  20. ^ Livengood, Paul (December 16, 2022). "South Oak Cliff becomes 1st Dallas ISD school to win back-to-back state titles in history after win over Port Neches-Groves". WFAA.com. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  21. ^ "Grading scandal costs S. Oak Cliff second title", The Dallas Morning News, February 20, 2009.
  22. ^ The Dallas Morning News, Sports Briefs section, February 28, 2009.
  23. ^ "Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair Once Built a Dynasty in South Oak Cliff". March 24, 2021.
  24. ^ "South Oak Cliff High School, Dallas (TX) Basketball Players - RealGM".
  25. ^ "School Uniforms". state.tx.us. Archived from the original on June 2, 2008. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  26. ^ Dallas ISD - 2006 School Feeder Patterns Archived April 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine - South Oak Cliff High School Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  27. ^ Hobbs, Tawnell D.; Fischer, Kent (March 20, 2009). "DISD South Oak Cliff High". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ Kovach, Gretel C. (March 19, 2009). "Report Says Principal Put Students in Cage to Fight". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  29. ^ "Texas High School Staged Cage Fights Between Students, Documents Say". Fox News. March 19, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
  30. ^ Another fight club at a Texas school: Dallas staff accused of staging student bare-knuckle fights Archived April 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press, March 20, 2009
  31. ^ Ex-principal accused in 'cage fights' involved in fatal shooting, staged own kidnapping as Dallas police officer Archived March 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Dallas Morning News, March 19, 2009
  32. ^ How did the principal behind the 'cage fights' get hired anyway?, Dallas Morning News, March 20, 2009
  33. ^ "My High School: South Oak Cliff," The Dallas Morning News sports section online.
  34. ^ Scott Goldstein, "Hometown cop David Brown is accessible to residents but stern with those under his command", Dallas Morning News, April 1, 2010, updated November 26, 2010.
  35. ^ "Kevin Henry-jennings' South Oak Cliff High School Football Stats". Max Preps. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  36. ^ "Malik Muhammad - Football". University of Texas Athletics.
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