Best of 2019: Walnut Hill Wins Another Blue Ribbon
Editor’s note: As 2019 turns into 2020, we’re taking the opportunity to look back at some of our best and biggest stories of the year. When we slated this piece on Walnut Hill Elementary earning its second Blue Ribbon school distinction and its importance to the neighborhood, we had no idea that the achievement would be made bittersweet when the historic building was hit by an EF3 tornado on Oct. 20.
Since its start as a schoolhouse in 1914, Walnut Hill Elementary (then Walnut Hill School) has been a mainstay of the communities it serves.
Thanks to the strength of its Spanish-language immersion program and its robust general education program, the school recently became the first Dallas ISD neighborhood elementary school to
earn two National Blue Ribbon School distinctions.
The school won its first Blue Ribbon in 1999, and a second this year.
The Blue Ribbon distinction is awarded by the U.S. Department of Education and recognizes schools where students are performing at very high levels.
