Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy at A. Maceo Smith (BOMLA) is a

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

secondary school for boys located in the

Oak Cliff Oak Cliff is an area of Dallas, Texas, United States that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; established in 1887 and annexed by Dallas in 1903, Oak Cliff has retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older establ ...

area of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It is a part of the

Dallas Independent School District The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas, United States. It operates schools in much of Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and t ...

. After the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School, it is DISD's second single gender school. The school, which occupies the campus of the former A. Maceo Smith High School, is named after former

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, in honor of the fact that he was the first black President. The campus was named for Antonio Maceo Smith (1903–1977), a pioneer civil rights leader in Dallas.

History

The former B. F. Darrell Vanguard Elementary School campus was renovated until Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy at B.F. Darrell opened. Obama opened in August 2011 with grades 6 through 9. Each subsequent year a grade level will be added until the school gets grade 12. The school had 205 students during its first year of operation. The school was dedicated on November 11, 2011. In 2018 Obama swapped buildings with New Tech High School, with the latter now occupying B. F. Darrell while Obama now occupied the A. Maceo Smith campus, where Obama has the potential to increase its enrollment.

Admissions

A prospective student needs to meet entrance requirements before being considered for admission. He must have sufficient

grade point average Grading in education is the application of standardized Measurement, measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentage ...

s in the core classes and score within the fortieth percentile in his examinations, such as the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) or the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). If a prospective student meets the requirements, he will take an examination measuring his writing and mathematics skills.

Academics

Obama offers classes in

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Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and robotics. 8th grade students have "accelerated curriculum" schedules. All students have access to pre-

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

classes. Students are expected to maintain an average of 85 and above. All students are required to attend Saturday Academy once a month for enrichment and academic support.

School norms

Students are required to address teachers using the standard "Mister" "Miss" or "Mrs."

honorifics An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

. Students are required to use the honorific "Brother." For instance, John Smith would be "Brother John Smith" and Fred Jones would be "Brother Fred Jones." Faculty members also use the "brother" honorific to address students. Students and Teachers of the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy are put into four houses(the only expectation being the principal and the House point manager). These Houses are The House of Justice, The House of Alliance, The House of Decree, and finally the House of Expedition. These houses compete with each other to gain "house points" These points can be gained by behaving well and showing kindness to other fellow students but the reverse can also happen if a student is acting unwell then house points will be taken away from their house. Another way to gain house points is to complete and win in a "house competition" These competitions happen every other Friday and include a wide variety of activities such as

Trivia Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value. Modern usage of the term ''trivia'' dates to the 1960s, when college students introduced question-and-answer contests to their universities. A board game, ''Trivial Purs ...

and other

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

. At the end of the semester or at the end of the year the total amount of house points is added and the house with the most house points receives a special reward such as a Game of

Laser Tag Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated wit ...

and or a party.

Uniform

Students are required to wear

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution. They are common in primary school, primary and secondary schools in various countries and are generally widespread in Africa, Asia, O ...

s. The uniform includes a blue oxford shirt, a tie, slacks, a black belt, student identification badge, and a jacket. All students are required to wear navy blazers while students are in hallways or common areas, but students may remove the blazers while in class. Middle school students wear gray ties, while high school students wear navy ties.

Athletics

Lacrosse is currently available for 6th-8th grade students through a partnership wit
Bridge Lacrosse
Additionally, sixth-grade students can participate on the basketball team. Students are also allowed to participate in sports at their home school location if the sport is not available at Barack Obama.

Demographics

As of the 2021 school year, 71% of students were Hispanic, 26% were Black, 1% were Asian, and 1% were White.

References

External links

Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Obama, Barack Male Leadership Academy Dallas Independent School District schools Dallas Independent School District high schools Public high schools in Dallas Boys' schools in Texas Public middle schools in Texas Public magnet schools in Dallas Public boys' schools in the United States Barack Obama