Now that it’s possible to count the number of days left until school starts on one hand, students in Lakewood are scrambling to make the most of their remaining freedom. But the start of school won’t be boring, as there have been changes – both major and minor – at several schools in the Lakewood area.

Woodrow Wilson’s principal Ruth Vail abruptly resigned her position near the end of June to pursue her doctoral degree at the University of Texas at Austin. The move left Woodrow Wilson and DISD scrambling to find a replacement before school started again. It wasn’t until last week that the school announced they had found a suitable replacement. 

Russell Kyle Richardson is the new principal at Woodrow Wilson High School. Richardson was formerly the principal at Thomas C. Marsh Middle School. Richardson has previously turned down positions at Hillcrest High School and W.T. White School.

J.L. Long Middle School has undergone renovations over the summer that forced the school to reschedule their annual Buc Camp for incoming sixth grader for later in September. However, school officials have promised the school will be ready by August 22. 

In other news, J.L. Long has been accepted as an IB (International Baccalaureate) candidate school for the middle school program. Long, of course, feeds into Woodrow Wilson, which was the first Dallas high school to offer the IB Program to its students. The school still has to work through its candidacy before it can truly call itself an IB World School authorized to offer the Middle Years Programme.

Finally, students and parents both should remember that Dallas ISD has changed its school hours. With the original schedule, school started at 8:45 a.m. and ended at 3:45 p.m. DISD has pushed school back by 15 minutes, so classes now start at 9:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m.