Richardson Independent School District

Richardson Independent School District (RISD or Richardson ISD) is an independent school district in northern Dallas County, based in Richardson, Texas (USA). The 46 sqmi district serves the Dallas County portions of Richardson, the Lake Highlands and North Dallas neighborhoods of Dallas, and portions of Garland. RISD operates 55 campuses and serves more than 37,000 students. Portions of the City of Richardson in southern Collin County are served by Plano Independent School District.

In 2022, the district was given a "B" accountability rating by the Texas Education Agency.

History
The district was founded in 1854. At the time it provided education for children of local farmers, small business owners and settlers around the railroad just outside Dallas, TX. In recent times RISD has been rated as "Recognized" by the Texas Education Agency for many years in a row. RISD is the largest, most racially and socioeconomically diverse district in Texas to receive a rating this high. In 2010 the Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) added 22 RISD schools to the TBEC Honor Roll. RISD and Houston ISD leads the state in schools named to the Honor Roll. Only 252 public schools out of 8,000 in Texas were named to the TBEC Honor Roll, placing those 22 RISD schools in the top 4% of Texas public schools.

Demographics
In 1997, over 50% of the students were non-Hispanic white. In a period until 2009, Richardson ISD's student body transitioned from a mostly white and affluent student body to a racially and socioeconomically diverse student body. In 2009 the State of Texas defined "college readiness," or readiness to undergo university studies, of high school graduates by scores on the ACT and SAT and in the 11th grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests. During that year the district's high schools consistently had high college readiness rates. Holly K. Hacker of The Dallas Morning News said that "Richardson school district leaders credit the strong showing at their high schools to attitude -- a refusal to accept poor performance based on changing demographics." Texas Education Agency (TEA) officials made positive statements about Richardson ISD, which had a "recognized" rating in 2007. From 1997 to 2016 the number of non-Hispanic white students had declined by 44%, the least severe decline of the four major suburban Dallas County school districts that were majority white in 1997.

From 1997 to 2016 the number of students on free or reduced lunches, a way of determining low income status, increased by 131%, the least severe increase of those four districts.

High schools

 * Lloyd V. Berkner High School (Richardson)
 * 1988-89 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Lake Highlands High School (Dallas)
 * 2001-02 National Blue Ribbon School
 * J.J. Pearce High School (Richardson)
 * 1988-1989 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Richardson High School (Richardson)
 * 1983-84 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Christa McAuliffe Learning Center (Richardson)

Junior high schools

 * Apollo Junior High School (Richardson)
 * Forest Meadow Junior High School (Dallas)
 * 1994-96 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Lake Highlands Junior High School (Dallas)
 * 2010-11 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Liberty Junior High School (Dallas)
 * Parkhill Junior High School (Dallas)
 * 1992-93 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Richardson North Junior High School (Richardson)
 * Richardson West Junior High School (Richardson)
 * Westwood Junior High School (Dallas)
 * 2011 National Blue Ribbon School

Primary schools

 * Aikin Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Arapaho Classical Magnet School (Richardson)
 * Audelia Creek Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Big Springs Elementary School (Garland)
 * 1987-88 and 2008 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Bowie Elementary School (Dallas)
 * 2000-2001 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Brentfield Elementary School (Dallas)
 * 1993-94 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Carolyn G. Bukhair Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Canyon Creek Elementary School (Richardson)
 * 2005 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Dartmouth Elementary School (Richardson)
 * 1989-90 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Dobie Primary School (Dallas)
 * Dover Elementary School (Richardson)
 * Forest Lane Academy (Dallas)
 * Forestridge Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Greenwood Hills Elementary School (Richardson)
 * Hamilton Park Pacesetter Magnet (Dallas)
 * 1985-86 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Jess Harben Elementary School (Richardson)
 * Lake Highlands Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Mark Twain Elementary School (Richardson)
 * Math/Science/Technology Magnet School (Richardson)
 * Merriman Park Elementary School (Dallas)
 * 1989-90 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Mohawk Elementary School (Richardson)
 * 2005 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Moss Haven Elementary School (Dallas)
 * 1993-94 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Northlake Elementary School (Dallas)
 * The attendance zone is diverse, consisting of intellectually-strong, lower-, middle-, and upper-middle class neighborhoods.
 * Northrich Elementary School
 * Northwood Hills Elementary School (Dallas)
 * O. Henry Elementary School (Garland)
 * Prairie Creek Elementary School (Richardson)
 * 2003 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Prestonwood Elementary School (Dallas)
 * 1996-97 National Blue Ribbon School
 * Richardson Heights Elementary School (Richardson)
 * Richardson Terrace Elementary School (Richardson)
 * Richland Elementary School (Richardson)
 * RISD Academy (Dallas)
 * Skyview Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Spring Creek Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Spring Valley Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Springridge Elementary School (Richardson)
 * Stults Road Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Thurgood Marshall Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Wallace Elementary School (Dallas)
 * As of 2016 about 25% of the students are Burmese refugees living in area apartment complexes. In the period 2006-2016 60% of the students were low income. The school's increased enrollment mostly came from the Burmese, although affluent White students also increased in number.
 * The Burmese students began arriving around 2010. Many of the Burmese students originated from refugee camps in Thailand. In 2010 there were 30 Burmese students, and the school hired a part-time liaison, a refugee named Juna Paw, to assist them. In 2011 a larger group of refugees moved from another apartment complex into one in the Richardson ISD district and the Wallace Elementary attendance boundary. The students spoke Chin, Karen, and Karenni. In the fall of 2011 there were 96 Burmese students at Wallace Elementary, making up around 16% of the student population. The increase meant that Paw became a full-time employee, an additional English as a second language instructor was hired, and that additional morning tutoring was established for the Burmese. The teachers at Wallace began cooperating with area churches, which held summer tutoring. By 2013 20% of the school's students were Burmese. By 2016 about 200 of the students, almost 25% of the student body, were Burmese.
 * White Rock Elementary School (Dallas)
 * White Rock Elementary originally was a mostly ethnic majority school that its employees described, in the words of Laura Miller, then working for D Magazine, as the "Norman Rockwell of neighborhood schools". . In 1989 the school had 500 students. That year the number of ethnic minority students rose from 25 to 130. Due to the Fair Housing Act of 1988 apartments could no longer deny families with children as tenants. However its student body was still more intellectually strong than other schools.
 * The construction of Lake Highlands Town Center on the site of demolished apartments meant that the number of low income and minority students declined and the test scores improved: in the 2005-2006 school year, there were 270 low income students, making up 44% of the student body, and there were 205 black students, and 110 Hispanic students; 87% of the students passed Texas standardized tests, and 24% were ranked as "commended" on these tests. There were 620 total students in 2006. The student body immediately declined after the demolition of the apartments. In 2009-2010 the school had 96 low income students, making up 17% of the student body, and there were 68 Hispanic students and 68 black students; 97% of students passed state tests, the highest percentage of any RISD school, and 57% reached commended. The number of non-minority students increased significantly after the apartments were demolished.
 * By the late aughts the popularity of the school caused it to be overcrowded with students, starting a political issue on whether to build a new school. There were 630 students by 2012, and then around 2014 there were 800 students. RISD had added classrooms that year, giving the school a capacity of 912, but the district projected that in 2017 the school would need to have portable classrooms as there still would be too many students. Eric Nicholson of D Magazine wrote "Whether White Rock Elementary actually got better at educating students is a trickier question" since on one hand having too high poverty levels in any school can damage student performance, but also that the "strongest single predictor of student achievement" is socioeconomic status; however he added that the area real estate market perceived White Rock as having improved, and therefore house values rose.
 * White Rock Trail Elementary School (Dallas)
 * Planning to open in August 2018
 * Yale Elementary School (Richardson)
 * 2006 National Blue Ribbon School

Former secondary schools

 * Northwood Junior High School (Closed in 1988; now houses RISD Academy)
 * Richardson Junior High School (Closed in 2007; now houses Math/Science/Technology Magnet Elementary School)