409
chestnut, TX 76262

My daughter arrived at Byron Nelson High School at fourteen, braids neatly down her back, carrying ambition and pride. She was brilliant honor roll every semester, ten honors, over 100 hours of community service, and a wrestler who pushed through injuries. She had earned five choir solos at her previous schools without asking. Here, she never requested one but she was never offered.Her voice, rich and soulful, didn’t fit the school’s preference for acoustic, polished songs. Her efforts went unnoticed. Coaches rarely supported her on the mat; teammates celebrated victories she helped secure, yet she remained at the edges.Then came the humiliation. Police officers took her from class over an incident involving her younger brother without her parents’ knowledge. Video proved her innocence, but she was pressured to sign a no-trespass agreement. Her mother’s complaints only resulted in minor policy changes.Junior night arrived. Medals were handed out. Names were called. Hers was not. Her hard work academic, athletic, and artistic was ignored. Over $30 million in scholarships went to her classmates, yet not a penny to her. Her counselor never reached out.By the time graduation came, her diploma wasn’t ready. She wouldn’t receive it for two years. She left the school a proud young Black girl, dimmed by constant disregard. She stopped performing, stopped expecting recognition, stopped believing effort guaranteed acknowledgment.They could only apologize no but greatness doesn’t need permission to exist. She may have been invisible there, but her voice, her talent, and her future remain hers, untouchable by their failures.

I'm a seventh grader at Tidwell. Now, Tidwell is an amazing school. Their fine arts? Top notch. I love orchestra (shout out to Mrs. Harris) and it's probably my favorite class. The education they provide for the school is amazing- I'm pretty sure they even offer Geometry classes for math. Now for the other kids? Yeah, there's some bad apples. I'm part of the 1% of one of the ethnicites in this school, and throughout the 1-2nd quarter, I've had to deal with a minimum of 1 to even 10 racial insults or slurs put to me, which really broke me. Near the 3 & 4th quarter, it happened much less often as people got used to my race and were tired of trying to get a reaction, though it still happened ocuasionally. The counslers really don't feel like any help; when I'm with them I feel very uncomfortable. They try to make me feel comfortable just to lie to try to get answers out of you. I am not able to open up to any teachers very well. Other than all of that, althought that may seem bad, I LOVE this school.

My children love Cox Elementary! The teachers have high expectations, while also providing kids with the tools they need to be successful and meet those expectations. I can send my kids to school every day knowing they’ll be loved and taken care of.