West Dallas STEM School has a new principal
Families and community members are invited to meet Venita Jones, the new principal of the Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School this Friday. Jones steps into the role following the departure of the school’s original principal, Marion Jackson, who left in August to take on a new position at Region 10 focusing on early learning.
Jones will be the second principal of the West Dallas STEM school. A Louisiana native, she has spent most of her career in the Oak Cliff and West Dallas communities, according to a Dallas ISD press release. Jones was a math and social studies teacher, most recently at Pinkston High School, before she chose an administrative track within Dallas ISD. She was assistant principal at L.V. Stockard Middle School for 4 years before moving to Hector P. Garcia Middle School where she led the math, science and technology departments.
Dr. Marion Jackson's Le… by Dallas Free Press
The West Dallas STEM School opened in 2021 — touted as a partnership between the West Dallas community, Toyota USA Foundation, and SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development with Jackson as the first principal. At the time, she said the school’s goal was to set itself apart from other STEM programs by providing non-academic services and resources to students.
The Dallas ISD school board renamed the school after Dr. Elba Garcia and Domingo Garcia earlier this year. The community did not support the name change.
The meet-and-greet event with Jones is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 18 at 3:30 p.m. at the STEM school.
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Sujata Dand is an award-winning journalist who is energized by change brought in communities in response to news stories. She lives in and has spent most of her reporting career in Dallas, with ample experience covering health care, education and public policy.
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Prior to her work with KERA, Sujata was a reporter and anchor at the CBS affiliate in Wichita Falls, Texas. She has worked as a freelance reporter for NPR and Dallas Morning News. Dand is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio.
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