School of Science and Engineering

Infobox School
name = School of Science and Engineering
type = public, secondary, magnet
location = 1201 E. Eighth St.
Dallas, TX 75203


imagesize = 100px
district = Dallas Independent School District
grades = 9-12
principal = Jovan Carisa Wells
faculty =
students = 383
colors = Maroon and White
mascot = Eagle
motto = "Where The Possibilities are Endless"
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The School of Science and Engineering at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center (known as the Science and Engineering Magnet or SEM) is located at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center, home of six magnet high schools in the Dallas Independent School District. SEM's mascot is the eagle, and its school colors are maroon and white.

Jovan Carisa Wells is acting as principal following the sudden retirement of the former principal, Richard White, for health reasons.

Academic Activities

SEM offers math courses from the basics of Algebra to higher level courses such as Calculus AB & BC and Statistics which are taken as Advanced Placement courses allowing the student chances to earn college credit. Tech courses that instruct students in Computer Science concepts and the Java programming language are also available. SEM stresses a philosophy of hands-on science education. It is the only high school in the nation to offer concurrent lab classes where students are exposed to college level laboratory experience along with their AP science curriculum. SEM is one of the few high schools in the nation to own a functioning transmission electron microscope reserved solely for student use.

Prestige

SEM was ranked as second best high school in the United States in 2007 according to Newsweek's survey "The 1200 Best Public High Schools in the USA" [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18757087/site/newsweek/] , it was eighth in 2006 and sixth in 2005. In 2007, SEM was ranked as the 18th best public high school in America by US News and World Report [http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2007/11/29/gold-medal-schools.html?s_cid=related-links:TOP] .

The College Board announced that SEM is number one in the world for passing minorities in Calculus BC and number one in the United States for passing Hispanics in Computer Science.

In 2005, SEM received the Blue Ribbon School award by the U.S. Department of Education.

In 2006, SEM was visited by President George W. Bush for excellence in education and the school's philosophy of emphasising math and science, something he stressed in his 2006 State of the Union address. The school consistently ranks number two in D Magazine's Best Public High Schools in Dallas and has been named the Academic UIL District Champion for District 9-5A and 11-5A in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

SEM graduates have gained acceptance to and have attended many prestigious schools including:University of Dallas, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, Duke University, Yale University, Harvard University, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wellesley College, Vanderbilt University, Rice University,the University of Oklahoma, Johns Hopkins University,the United States Military Academies, Emory University, California Institute of Technology,Harvey Mudd College, and University of California-Berkley.

Extracurricular Activities

SEM does not offer sports (due to rules and regulations involving magnet schools-though students may play at their home high schools), but it does provide a wide variety of extracurricular activities, including:

External links

* [http://semmagnetschool.org Science and Engineering Website]
* [http://www.dallasisd.org/schools/hs/sem/ DISD Science and Engineering page]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18757087/site/newsweek/ Newsweek: Best High Schools in the United States]
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060203-13.html President Visits Science and Engineering High School in Texas]
* [http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_033180351.html President Bush Heads To North Texas School]
* [http://www.dallasisd.org Dallas ISD home page]
* [http://www.sem2009.com Student Council Announcements Site for the Class of 2009]