3500 Armstrong Ave
Highland Park, TX 75205

Worst school. Stay away from this public underfunded school. Principal is uneducated

Students at this school tend to have a high number of absences and tardies. Many fights throughout the year. Students do not follow dress code despite the policy. Students roam around the park and shopping centers throughout the day. Administration has no control or authority. High teacher and principal turnover. Students with good grades are kicked out and the ones with excessive absences, missing credits and low grades get to stay. Office staff is not friendly. P-Tech program is unorganized and below district average.

My child, who scored in the top 1% on the STAAR test, was excited about going to Spence. The TAG Coordinator portrayed it as such an amazing school, but the reality was much different. The school-within-a-school idea is terrible. It’s supposedly the best of both worlds for participating in extracurriculars, but the reality is that DISD didn’t want to build a new TAG academy, so they tried to combine it with a failing community school. The TAG students wear different uniforms than the community students, making them easy targets for bullies who resent them being there in the first place. The biggest problem we experienced was how the school treats students with disabilities. Usually, 504/ILP meetings are conducted at the start of every school year, so teachers know what the accommodations are & can follow them. Spence didn’t conduct a 504 meeting until I insisted & none of the teachers were aware of any accommodations until I gave them a list. But it didn’t matter since they refused to follow them anyway. We witnessed this same treatment given to other students with disabilities. I got the impression the TAG teachers felt disabled students were a waste of time. When I requested meetings with the faculty, it just made things worse. Teachers failed to show up for parent/teacher conferences & the few who did attend only did so to repeatedly tell me how all the problems had nothing to do with them or the school. When I wouldn’t stop trying to get help, the school began saying my child was a “discipline problem.” Previously, the only issue my child had ever had was talking too much in class. But Spence accusations ranged from insubordination to fighting. This is a common ploy to keep 504 numbers down & probably why Spence has such a high suspension rate. The one saving grace was the school’s counselor. She was caring person who let my child hide in her office when the situation became too overwhelming. On the day I withdrew my child from Spence, she told me how glad she was not to have to watch Spence destroy another sensitive kid. So, if your child is gifted, has no disabilities, can tolerate bullying & doesn’t require any help from the faculty or staff, Spence might be a good fit. If not, avoid this school & save yourself the heartache.