WOODROW AND ITS BEGINNINGS
Woodrow opened its doors for the first time on September 14, 1928 at a grand opening which was heralded in city newspapers. The Dallas Morning News reported:
“Dallas’ newest and finest school building—perhaps the finest in Texas—the Woodrow Wilson High School, was inspected by about 5,000 persons at a housewarming which opened the institution…. Hundreds of automobiles were parked about the structure, which, fully equipped, cost about $700,000* [which was $50,000 over the $650,000 budgeted amount], and the campus and corridors of the building swarmed with admiring people…. Although the skies were threatening, with light flashing repeatedly, a great part of the crowd seemed in no hurry to get home until thoroughly inspecting the structure…. With light flooding from its multitude of windows, the three-story huge building presented a rare spectacle from afar.”
[*Note: The above text has been edited to correct a mistake in the article's original text, which incorrectly reported that cost as "$7,000,000".]
Woodrow was completed during a period of tremendous prosperity in Dallas and in the nation. The “Roaring Twenties” had ushered in a decade of style and extravagance that was unprecedented in the United States. Within Woodrow’s first year of operation, this would suddenly change, when the stock market collapsed in late 1929. For this reason, Woodrow’s classic architecture represents the end of an era. It would be many years before another high school was built in Dallas. Six Dallas high schools were in existence before Woodrow became the seventh in 1928. Those six were:
- Dallas – 1910 (later, Bryan St. and Crozier Tech);
- Oak Cliff – 1916 (later, Adamson);
- Forest Avenue – 1917 (later, Madison);
- North Dallas – 1921,
- Booker T. Washington – 1923 (later, Arts); and
- Sunset – 1925.
Not only is Woodrow on the register of Dallas' Historical Landmarks, it also was formally designated as a “Texas Historic Landmark” by the State Historical Commission in 1989. That bronze plaque reads:
"Built in 1927-28 to serve the growing population in East Dallas, this was the seventh high school in the city. An important example of the period revivals which characterized architecture of the 1920s, this structure reflects the Jacobean Revival style. Outstanding features include prominent entry bays and stone detailing. Many of the school’s graduates have enjoyed successful careers in business, politics, science, sports, and the arts."
Dallas’ dramatic growth in the early twentieth century had created a need for more schools. The Dallas Board of Education recognized this need and committed to build this new high school. The Board readily accepted the name of Woodrow Wilson, which was suggested by Board Vice-President A. Spence. In 1924, seven acres of land were purchased for $21,000 from the heirs of the W.G. Randall estate and Architects Roscoe P. DeWitt and Mark Lemmon began planning for the building's construction. Architects for the school were . The DeWitt and Lemmon architectural partnership lasted from 1918 to 1927, during which they were commissioned to design several significant buildings in Dallas, including Sunset High School, Highland Park Methodist Church, and many of the buildings at Southern Methodist University. After their partnership, Lemmon went on to design the Cotton Bowl and the buildings for the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park. DeWitt worked in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for the Library of Congress, the east front expansion of the Capitol, and the James Madison Memorial.
1953 ADDITION of a BOY’S GYM
In 1953, after years of boys and girls sharing just the one gym in the original building, Woodrow’s first major addition to the school was completed, comprising a separate boy’s gym, locker area, and athletic offices on the northeast side of the school. That Boy's Gym served Woodrow until 2019, when that 1953 addition was razed and replaced by the current, much larger, "state of the art" gym facility, as desceibed below.
1971 AIR CONDITIONING
In 1971, air conditioning was added to the whole school. Accomplishing that required a minor addition to the rear of the school next to the boy’s gym, as well as significant modifications to the school’s central plant that was located in the basement.
1979 ADDITION of a NEW SINGLE STORY WING
In 1979, just in time for the school’s 50th Anniversary, a single story wing was added to connect the 1953 boy’s gym to the northeast side of the original building, then looping around to connect back to the south-east side of the original building, thereby connecting all areas of the school together. This addition cost just over $1,000,000 and included a new choir hall, band hall, drama class room, as well as new wood & metal shops, and other rooms. It also created a center courtyard that today is classified as the “Senior Courtyard”.
2013 ADDITION of the SCIENCE & PERFORMING ARTS WING
In 2013, the third major addition at Woodrow was a new wing constructed to ease the rapid growth of student enrollment resulting from the area's success in attracting families to stay in the neighborhood public school system. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new science/performing arts wing at Woodrow was held on May 23, 2011 and its construction was completed in January 2013 for $14 million. It's three stories added 40,000-square-feet to the school and it houses part of Woodrow's Performing Arts Academy and three state-of-the-art laboratories for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Academy. These new Academies were created as part of the school’s "redesign program". which has resulted in Woodrow having four college prep academies and its new International Baccalaureate Degree program, which began implementation in the fall of 2010.
This new structure was designed by Brown Reynolds Watford Architects of Dallas, with Craig Reynolds as its Principal Architect. At the time, Reynolds was also a Woodrow parent. The wing features two-story separate choir and drama rooms. The choir room has practice rooms and the drama room features a black-box theater, costume shop and prop facilities. A large dance rehearsal studio is on the first floor and houses the Woodrow Dance Company and the Woodrow Sweethearts. Three large science labs are on its third floor, along with additional classrooms and new restroom facilities. This replaced part of the 1979 wing that had included the former wood and metal shops, which were supplanted in favor of the school’s new college-prep curriculum. At that time, the rest of the 1979 addition was remodeled into a larger band hall and athletic facilities, including a new varsity locker room and extensive weight training facilities; all of which later would be replaced by newer facilities in the 2019 fourth addition.
Also included in that 2013 addition project were some much-needed restorations to the original historic building. Woodrow’s main 1928 building had its original windows restored and HVAC system replaced, including new air exchangers in the auditorium courtyards. The front first-floor hallway ceiling was restored to its original height and light fixtures similar to the originals were installed. Outdoor ornamental lanterns and porch fixtures originally fashioned by Potter Metal Art in 1927 and 1928 were restored by the same company at a cost of $100,000 and under the supervision of the grandson of Potter Metal Art's founder. The historic marble and wood in the first-floor restrooms were restored and the second and third level restroom facilities were gutted and replaced with modern fixtures. Electrical fixtures and computer lines throughout the campus were brought up to current standards. Drainage and landscaping were included in the construction, along with resurfacing of the parking lots and the Davey O’Brien-Tim Brown Track.
The cafeteria also received its first complete remodel since opening in September of 1928, including new food stations offering healthier choices and quicker transactions, a spot for students to purchase food and leave the cafeteria quickly, all new tables, chairs, counter seating, and booths that better accommodate the lifestyle of today’s students. A new color scheme and graphics detailing the history of the school now adorn the cafeteria's interior, including Wildcat logos and the traditional “Keep Thy Heart” school shield. When the cafeteria opened, The Dallas Morning News proclaimed it “the largest eating place in Dallas.”
Built with Roaring 20s money, the original lunchroom featured multiple skylights, fans, Italian terrazzo floors, white ceramic tile and Thorne bentwood chairs. It was the first school in Dallas to have a cafeteria on the top (third) floor. Prior school buildings had located dining facilities in their basements. A freight elevator was included, another “first,” which later provided endless fascination for students and started the tradition of selling freshmen false “elevator tickets.” This cafeteria renovation was paid for by DISD food services, funds above and beyond the $14 million spent renovating the Science/Performing Arts wing, which had been funded by 2008 bond money.
2009- 2014 RANDALL PARK / WILLIS WINTERS PARK
Randall Park, established in 1922, was never officially a part of Woodrow, but being immediately across the street, it has always played a substantial part in the life of the school. So the community was excited when Randall Park received a multi-million-dollar face lift from the combined efforts of Dallas Parks Department, DISD, and the family of Will Winters, who was a Woodrow student. "Will’s Place" at Randall Park is a memorial to the young athlete whose life was cut short in 2005 due to surgical complications.
Improvements at Randall Park include new facilities for baseball, soccer, and softball, as well as a new plaza, shade structure, concession stand, restrooms, parking, and a new ornamental Randall Park gate that complements Woodrow’s architecture. Both Wildcat Baseball and Softball play their home games at the park. The Will’s Place pavilion has several personalized architectural features, such as double W’s (for Will Winters and Woodrow Wilson, the school he loved). Woodrow Alums Gary Griffith ’66, Steve Cargile ’82, and Jesse Moreno, Jr. ’04 also contributed to this Randall Park improvement project.
Running next to the park and near the school school, the Santa Fe railroad tracks had been in place since long before the original school was built, so countless Woodrow students had watched train cars rolling in and out of Dallas from the school's windows. Those familiar old tracks have been removed and converted to the Santa Fe Trail that now runs from White Rock Lake, past the school, and on to the Deep Ellum and Downtown areas of Dallas. Woodrow Alum Monty Watson (’83) founded the support organization for that Santa Fe project. Both the Santa Fe Trail and the renewed Randall Park are wonderful assets to the students, families, and the entire Woodrow community.
Willis C. Winters is credited with growing the city’s park system in his role as head of the Dallas Park and Recreation Department and, following his retirement from City Hall, Randall Park was renamed after him in 2019.
2019 ADDITION of NEW THREE STORY WING, ROBOTICS LAB, AND COMPETITION GYM
Woodrow received its fourth major addition in 2019. Costing over $20 million, this newest addition adds nearly 50,000 square feet of classroom and gym space, which has increased the school's total square footage to about 248,053!
Opened in October 2019, it includes a dozen classrooms, new locker rooms, a weight room, and a competition size gymnasium. The new gym has retractable bleachers that allow a variety of sporting events, including -- for the first time in decades -- the capacity for Woodrow to host home basketball games. The added rooms include traditional classrooms, science & engineering labs for the growing robotics program, art and ceramics studios, as well as a new band/orchestra hall. This new wing fully replaces the 1953 and 1979 additions.
At a May 13, 2023 Dedication Ceremony, this competition-grade gym was given the formal name of the "Theo 'Cotton' Miles Gymnasium", in honor of Woodrow's legendary coach and educator during the 1960s.
2025 FRONT LAWN LANDSCAPING PROJECT
After years of over-growth and poor irrigation, it finally was time to update the school's front lawn landscaping. As part of of the 2015 Bond program, Woodrow was scheduled to get a complete landscaping makeover. The plan being implemented by DISD had to endure a lengthy approval process through the Landmark Commission. Winning that approval gave the green light to moving forward.
The design and plans, which Alum Kyle Rains (‘76) had collaborated on years ago with a respected local landscape architect, were thoughtfully developed using historic photos of the campus with original design concepts to ensure the new landscaping honors the school’s rich heritage.
The beautiful historic building will have a fresh look with new bushes, trees, a sprinkler system, and more. We’re thrilled to see this work coming to life. A completion date has not been set, but it will be beautiful and ready for our Centennial Celebration in the fall of 2028!
WWHS ACHIEVES INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE STATUS
The International Baccalaureate (or IB) aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end, the IB organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment. These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences can also be valid. International Baccalaureate is offered in over 4,000 schools in 137 countries.
An IB Diploma automatically earns a student 24 college credit hours in Texas and in many universities in the United States and other countries. Some colleges offer even more credit for this coveted degree. IB requires a capstone course with an extensive Theory of Knowledge essay similar to a dissertation, along with many community service hours.
Woodrow’s journey to becoming an IB World School began with its application to the International Baccalaureate Organization in the Spring 2009, after it had successfully petitioned the DISD board to sanction and support Woodrow becoming the first Dallas school to offer the IB Diploma. It was approved as a candidate school that fall. Rigorous teacher training began shortly afterwards and the IBO in Geneva, Switzerland sent a site inspection committee to the school in the fall of 2010. The school began an intense campaign to ready itself for the visit, including an entire month of cleaning, painting, landscaping, and repairs.
Dallas Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and other top DISD brass were on hand to welcome the committee, along with many Woodrow alums, including former DISD Board President Brad Lapsley (’44), Dallas Asian and Japanese Society official Philip Shinoda (’62), SMU International Religions Professor H. Neill McFarland (’41), former Woodrow parent and head of the SMU French Department Dr. Maurice Elton, and former Woodrow parent, DISD Board member and Texas legislator Dr. Harryette Ehrhardt.
Woodrow passed the site visit with flying colors and was fully accredited as an IB World School in March 2011, after which a flag raising, open house, and dedication ceremony were held on March 30. Woodrow now offers IB, AP, and dual-credit classes. Woodrow's IB students have made trips to China, Spain, Costa Rica, London, and Paris. International speakers have come to the school and WWHS has become an official stop in the US State Department Lecture series.
Since earning certification for the IB Diploma Programme, Woodrow applied and was selected as one of a handful of schools in the country to offer IBCC, or the IB Career Certificate. A student may complete and pass two IB courses and exams in addition to completing the NAF-accredited BEF or STEM academies at the school to earn this Certificate. This opens International Baccalaureate up to a wide spectrum of Woodrow's students.
Since becoming an IB school, Woodrow’s enrollment has increased to levels not seen since the 1950s. It went from the 1,300s to 1,700-plus. Some transfers by application are allowed for IB and the other college prep academies.
WOODROW EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Pictured above is Class of 2027, Mr. Doss Magill, and his beautiful date, Ms. Ella Bessner, Double 2nd Generation Wildcat and eldest daughter of Brian & Betsy (Bauer) Bessner, both Class of 1993.
