No excuses

The high school principal tells the people in Sunday church service how important it is for the children to pass the tests and graduate. He lived the story and says 'Failure is not an option'. DP

Story by MACARENA HERNÁNDEZ and GARY JACOBSON / The Dallas Morning News
Holly K. Hacker contributed to this report.

dallasnews.com: Blessed Sacrament church on Marsalis Avenue is packed for 8 a.m. Mass on a sunny Sunday. Latecomers wedge sideways through the crush of people at the sanctuary door. Many of the men wear jeans, Western shirts and cowboy boots. Some hold Western hats.

After communion, the only person in the Catholic church wearing a suit and tie steps into the pulpit. Adamson High School principal Rawly Sanchez tells the worshippers to get their kids to school and get them to pass the state TAKS tests.

"We need your help," he says in Spanish.

His Spanish isn't polished, but there's no mistaking Mr. Sanchez's zeal for the gospel of education. He delivers his sermon at least once a year at churches near Adamson's Oak Cliff campus. Ninety-four percent of the school's nearly 1,240 students are Hispanic, and four-fifths are classified as low income.

After the service, the principal greets kids and parents outside. Across the street, a few men wait in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven, hoping to be picked up for day labor.

"You know I was talking about you up there," Mr. Sanchez tells a student wearing an Abercrombie T-shirt.

"I'm not worried about the TAKS," the boy says. You shouldn't either, he assures the principal.

Running an urban high school like Adamson is one of the toughest jobs in education. Some experts call these schools dropout factories because of their shockingly low graduation rates.

At Adamson, the mission is complicated by the high number of students who are immigrants or the sons and daughters of immigrants. Many need to master English before they can master academics. They need to master both to pass the TAKS exams and graduate.

"We underestimate the enormity of children not being able to comprehend the language," said Mr. Sanchez, who has been principal for four years.

Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa taught and coached at Adamson earlier in his career. He said it's helpful for a principal at a school like Adamson to be able to speak Spanish, to better communicate with students and parents. Being sensitive to social crosscurrents also is important.
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