Two Dallas Schools Damaged, Destroyed By 2019 Tornado Reopen

Two schools in Dallas have reopened more than three years after a tornado outbreak damaged hundreds of buildings.

For the past month, students at Thomas Jefferson High School and the Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy have been adjusting to their new buildings. Mia Gonzales, an eighth-grader at Walnut Hill, there was some anxiety leading up to her first day.

“I was nervous. I didn’t know what it going to be like,” Gonzalez said.

She was in the 5^th grade when a tornado destroyed about 90% of her old school Walnut Hill Elementary on Oct. 20, 2019.

“I was heartbroken. I just couldn’t believe the school was gone. I’ve been going to the school since like pre-K,” she recalled. “Just to know that all of a sudden it was gone, I was sad. I was heartbroken. I was confused. It just didn’t seem real.”

She and other students attended other schools for three years before Walnut Hill reopened in January with dual-language education. The school combines the former Walnut Hill Elementary School and Cary Middle School, which was a total loss as a result of the tornado.

Phillip Meaker serves as the principal of the academy. Both Spanish and English are taught to about two-thirds of their students, he said. The school teaches students as young as three and goes through the 8^th grade.

“We have communities that have people who are immigrants. We have people who come across our border, are illegal immigrants but they need a community. We need to teach their kids, support them, and help them just as much as any other student,” Meaker said. “We’re here for kids. That’s all that matters in Dallas ISD, is the kids.”

An official ribbon cutting was held for the school on Saturday, along with Thomas Jefferson High School. About 75% of the school, which is located nearby, was destroyed in Oct. 2019.

The structure is different from its 1956 design, with larger classrooms and more modern technology.

“It’s been a very long road to back home. It took a lot of determination to get there,” Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizade said Saturday.

Alma Pandya, a 5th-grade dual-language teacher at Walnut Hill, said she and other teachers toured the new school before Christmas break.

“I could not wait. I just could not wait for my kids to come to the school, so we started working earlier than usually come to work after the holidays,” Pandya said. “I thought, I don’t care what happens. I’m going to come and make sure my room looks perfect for them.”

Though students like Gonzalez only have a few months in the new school before heading off to high school this fall, she said she is grateful.

“It feels like home again,” she said Saturday.

That Dallas tornado in Oct. 2019 damaged more than 900 homes and buildings. It caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damage, making it the costliest tornado event in Texas history.