{"id":453051,"date":"2026-10-01T09:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/453051\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T09:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:58:09","slug":"opening-remarks-a-look-into-the-people-and-decisions-shaping-local-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/453051\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Remarks: A look into the people and decisions shaping local education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear readers, <\/p>\n

This issue is one of my favorites, where I have the opportunity to focus on one of the most significant topics in our neighborhood: education.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Preston Hollow schools are one of its biggest bragging points. The Hockaday School and St. Mark\u2019s School of Texas were some of the top private schools in the state for producing National Merit Semifinalists. W.T. White, Thomas Jefferson and Hillcrest High School all received a B in the recent state accountability ratings.<\/p>\n

But rankings and ratings only tell part of the story. <\/p>\n

This issue looks at some of the people and decisions shaping local education right now. At Thomas Jefferson High School, longtime principal Ben Jones is stepping into a new role as executive director of the Conrad feeder pattern, while Philip Meaker leaves Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy to take his place. At Hockaday, one student takes us inside the school\u2019s decision not to participate in Texas\u2019 new private school voucher program.<\/p>\n

An education issue doesn\u2019t have to feel like homework. So we also ventured beyond the classroom to take a look at what\u2019s ahead for the Preston Royal development and stop by Fortune House, which recently brought its soup dumplings and Shanghainese dishes to Preston Hollow Village.<\/p>\n

Whether you have children in a Preston Hollow school, graduated from one yourself or simply pass one on your morning commute, these campuses help shape the community we share.<\/p>\n

I hope you enjoy the stories in this issue, and maybe you\u2019ll even learn something. <\/p>\n

Thanks for reading,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alyssa High<\/p>\n

\t\tShare This Story, Choose Your Platform!<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlyssa High is an editor of the Preston Hollow Advocate and Plano Magazine. Before joining the Advocate, she worked at as an Editorial Writer for the Dallas Morning News and a Food Reporter for the Dallas Observer. High is a doting dog and cat mom who enjoys hiking, reading and getting to know her neighbors. She can be reached at ahigh@advocatemag.com or on Twitter @alyssahigh13.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dear readers, This issue is one of my favorites, where I have the opportunity to focus on one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-453051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}