Mesquite Independent School District

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Quality Texas Names MISD Winner of Highest Award

MISD Superintendent Dr. Linda Henrie accepted the 2011 Texas Award for Performance Excellence on behalf of district during the Quality Texas Foundation's annual Awards and Quest for Excellence Conference in Irving. Quality Texas is the state chapter of the national Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Mesquite ISD has been using the Baldrige Criteria for excellence in its strategic planning process since 2005.

According to the Quality Texas Foundation, this award is presented to a role model organization demonstrating exceptional performance in all areas of organizational management — leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement analysis and knowledge, workforce focus, process management and business results.

Mesquite ISD is only the fourth school district to receive this prestigious award since the first awards were presented in 1994. Superintendent Dr. Linda Henrie said, “Achieving this level of excellence is a direct result of a team effort and a focus on our district’s mission and vision. Every employee contributed to this accomplishment, and we are extremely honored to be recognized in this way.”

District Profile
Each school day, the district welcomes more than 37,000 students through the doors of its 46 campuses, including 32 elementary schools, eight middle schools, five high schools and the Mesquite Academy, an alternative education campus of choice that offers accelerated instruction for nontraditional students. MISD encompasses an area of approximately 60 square miles along either side of I-635 in east Dallas County. It draws from the communities
of Mesquite, Garland and Balch Springs, but also includes parts of Dallas. Mesquite ISD has a record of steady, marked improvement and a continual quest for excellence. Ninety-one percent of Mesquite ISD campuses hold Recognized or Exemplary ratings, and MISD is home to two nationally recognized Blue Ribbon Schools selected and honored by the U.S. Department of Education.

History of Mesquite ISD

On March 12, 1901, an election was held for the purpose of creating an independent school district in Mesquite. Affirmative votes totaled 103 of the 108 votes cast in that election. The newly created district's doors opened that historic fall of 1901 with approximately 200 students and five teachers. Later that same year, a new two-story brick building was completed.

During the next 50 years, growth was slow except for the annexation of five neighboring Common School Districts. In 1950, a faculty of 53 and a student body of 1,350 still were housed all on one campus where Mesquite High School is now located.

In 1953, Florence Black Elementary School was opened. It was the first of 32 modern elementary schools, eight middle schools, five high schools and one alternative education campus of choice that currently serve Mesquite ISD students.

The school district has built a record of proud achievement in instructional program quality, policy development, efficiency of operation and student co-curricular activities. In 2000, Mesquite ISD earned a Recognized rating from the Texas Education Agency, fulfilling one of the district's long-held goals for excellence in education.

Characterized by remarkable degrees of dedication to children's best interests, citizens, patrons, boards of education, administrators, teachers and auxiliary personnel have worked diligently to provide the best learning opportunities possible. This dedicated service, combined with the support of civic leaders and the cooperation of other community organizations and institutions, has resulted in the outstanding success Mesquite ISD is now experiencing.

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