The Walt Whitman Community School (WWCS) was a private alternative school in Oak Lawn,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

that catered to youth who identified as

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

.Fowler, Jimmy. "School's out." ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

''. November 13, 1997. p
1

Archive
). Retrieved on September 22, 2014. It opened in 1997 and closed in 2004. It was the United States's first LGBT-oriented private school,Walt Whitman Community School, Nation's First Private School For Gays, Opens in Dallas
" '' Jet''.

Johnson Publishing Company Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his d ...

, September 22, 1997. Vol. 92, No. 18. . p
12
and by 2003 it remained the country's only LGBT-oriented private school not in Manhattan or Los Angeles. It was co-founded by Becky Thompson and Pamala Stone. The former is lesbian, while the latter is straight. The school was named after

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

History

The co-founders worked at the Walden Preparatory School in

Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field * Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York ...

.Fowler, Jimmy. "School's out." ''

''. November 13, 1997. p
2

Archive
. Retrieved on September 22, 2014. According to Thompson and Stone, anti-LGBT sentiments occurred at Walden. Whitman opened in 1997. Mary M. Clare and Steven E. James, the authors of the encyclopedia entry "Secondary Schools," wrote that it received media attention from around the world due to the "unique mission and its location in a southern city, considered nationally to represent conservative social values". When the school opened, its annual tuition was $7,000 ($ according to inflation) but financial assistance was given to all of the enrolled students. Financial assistance originated from the Walt Whitman Community School Foundation's fundraisers, including the GAYla prom, and other community and fundraising programs from the wider DFW LGBT community.Clare, Mary M. and Steven E. James. "Secondary Schools." In: Sears, James Thomas (editor). ''Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 2'' (part of: Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, James Thomas Sears, , 9780313327483).

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, January 1, 2005. , 9780313327551. Start: p. 754. CITED: p
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The OutTakes film festival was one of the school's beneficiaries. When the school first opened, it was unaccredited. As of November 1997 it was still unaccredited. At the time it was attempting to get accredited by the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

(SACS). The earliest the school would be accredited would be three years after its opening, but once accredited it would retroactively apply to the diplomas of all graduated students.Fowler, Jimmy. "School's out." ''

''. November 13, 1997. p
3

Archive
. Retrieved on September 22, 2014. Towards the end of the school's life, financial support from other schools kept Whitman alive.

Winfree Academy Charter Schools Winfree may refer to: People * Arthur Winfree (1942–2002), American biologist * Daniel Winfree (born 1953), American lawyer and jurist * Erik Winfree (born 1969), American biochemist and computer scientist, son of Arthur Winfree * Juwann Winfree ...

had offered its support to Whitman.Clare, Mary M. and Steven E. James. "Secondary Schools." In: Sears, James Thomas (editor). ''Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 2'' (part of: Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, James Thomas Sears, , 9780313327483).

, January 1, 2005. , 9780313327551. Start: p. 754. CITED: p
757
In 2003 the school's budget was under $150,000 ($ when adjusted for inflation). That year,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

created the documentary episode ''School's Out: The Life of a Gay High School in Texas'', a part of the ''

True Life ''True Life'' is an American documentary television series that aired on MTV from March 31, 1998 to June 21, 2017. Each episode follows a particular topic, such as heroin addiction as in the first episode – "Fatal Dose". The show is created by ...

'' series. The school hoped that it would increase attention focused on it.Fischer, Kent. "Struggling Walt Whitman hopes film brings students, funds." ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

''. April 17, 2003. Retrieved on September 22, 2014. The World of Wonder company had produced the film. It received a screening at the Lakewood Theater.Martin, Merritt. "This Week's Day-By-Day Picks." ''

''. April 17, 2003. p
1

Archive
. Retrieved on September 22, 2014. In 2004, prior to the beginning of the new

school year A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

, Winfree abruptly withdrew its support, causing Whitman to close.

Campus

When it opened, the school occupied space in the Cathedral of Hope, the Dallas

Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. There are 222 member congregations in 37 ...

worship center in

Oak Lawn, Dallas Oak Lawn is a neighborhood in Dallas, Texas ( USA), defined in Dallas City Ordinance 21859 aPlanned Development District No. 193, the Oak Lawn Special Purpose District The unofficial boundaries are Turtle Creek Boulevard, Central Expressway, the ...

. The MCC did not charge rent. The school facility was the youth center, a five-room building; it had received renovations to serve as classroom space. By 2003, it had moved to rented space at the White Rock Community Church, located on Garland Road.

Student body

The school originally had nine students, two of whom were in the 12th grade (seniors). The student body included white and ethnic minority students. Of the original nine students, four identified as gay. Two students identified as straight and had lesbian mothers. Two additional students identified as bisexual. One identified as transgender.Clare, Mary M. and Steven E. James. "Secondary Schools." In: Sears, James Thomas (editor). ''Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 2'' (part of: Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, James Thomas Sears, , 9780313327483).

, January 1, 2005. , 9780313327551. Start: p. 754. CITED: p
756
The students had transferred from traditional public schools. The total number of students increased to 14 at the end of the 1997–1998 school year. The school had an enrollment goal of 30 students but never met this goal. Its enrollment had steadily increased during the first five years of its life. In 2003 it had 16 students.

References

External links

* * * *
School's Out: The Life of a Gay High School in Texas
' (profile) at ''

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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitman, Walt Community School High schools in Dallas Private schools in Dallas Educational institutions established in 1997 1997 establishments in Texas 2004 disestablishments in Texas Educational institutions disestablished in 2004 LGBT in Texas LGBT and education

History

Campus

Student body

See also

References

Further reading

External links