¡Si Se Puede! Sustaining a Culturally Responsive School Climate
Dr. Macario Hernandez • Cahn Fellow 2021
Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School is a public school of choice in Dallas ISD. Garza ECHS is on the Dallas College Mountain View campus in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas. The students attend high school and college classes as they work toward graduating with their high school diploma and associate degree. The “Garza Family” empowers all students to take charge of their own learning and build upon their personal strengths, language, lived experiences, and home culture. In addition to exemplary academic achievement, Garza ECHS views diversity, equity, and inclusion as the foundation of our school culture. Garza ECHS students, staff, parents, and community members have developed a social justice framework, empowering students to transform their community through equity-based initiatives, social actions, civic engagement, and community-centered projects. African American and Mexican American Studies were also incorporated into the school curriculum to promote student’s voice. However, a recent legislative state law known as Senate Bill 3 has threatened our school culture of inclusion and racial equity. The law restricts the teaching of social advocacy and how racism is discussed in a classroom setting. As a result, many teachers and students felt reluctant to get engaged in the culturally relevant instruction, racial equity dialogues, and community-centered projects which are the bedrock of our school. Therefore, our Cahn project focused on answering the following question: how do we sustain our equity-based culture of inclusion and community-focused civic participation efforts while staying within the legal boundaries of Senate bill 3? Join us on this journey and movement to maintain a school climate of critical pedagogy and student’s voice during one of the most unprecedented times in history.
