I used to attend Duncanville High School, a part of the Duncanville Independent School District (DISD). I was an eccentric youth and often found myself in some form of trouble or another. On several occasions, I was sent to an alternative learning center for delinquent youth called, Summit Education Center Alternative School for Duncanville ISD. Summit Education Center is where they send kids who pull a gun on their teacher or get caught selling drugs to fellow students. One rather uppity kindergarten student was at Summit Education Center Alternative School for throwing a computer monitor at his teacher’s head. The student body at Summit Education Center is an angry bunch. How did I fit in with all these ruffians? I was sent by Mike Chrietzberg (Principal), to Summit Education Center because I tried to get a bunch of people to wear shorts to school. Shorts were a big “no-no” at Duncanville High School. Silly dress code.
Written from Summit Education Center, May 2002 by Jon Ray
Summit Education Center Alternative School for Duncanville ISD:
Hour after hour goes by. No sleep, socialization or looking around the room. Like a nazi concentration camp, everyone looks the same; tired, abused, depressed, weak-willed. Occasionally, a new student will come in still full of pride and think he/she is above the rules. But they are quick to realize that everyone is a part of the same pile of shit, here. It’s somewhat ironic, as I sit here and read of America and all its constitutional rights. Yet, here I am, forced to dress alike with everyone else, to avoid conflict.
We are treated like prisoners here. Set bathroom breaks, 15-minute lunches. Hell, even the rabbit they keep as a pet has more freedom than us. For the majority of the day he is allowed to hop around wherever he pleases. Even when he is locked up, his cage is far larger than any of the cubby holes we are forced to reside in. That rabbit sits there, chewing his food as slowly as he wishes and mocks us all. He makes sure we all know that we are inferior to him in this place.
A constant battle to stay awake, one becomes addicted to caffeine tablets. One’s own metabolism is forgotten after about a week and replaced with the jittery hyperness that caffeine on an empty stomach brings. Worksheet after worksheet, no matter how hard you work, there is always more. When the stress overwhelms you, you take an emergency pass to the bathroom and suck in as much nicotine as possible in the ten minutes you are allotted. You can only have two of these a week, though, so careful judgment is needed.
One thing this place does do is make you live life to the fullest on the outside. You aren’t allowed much time for fun, so when you get it, you take it. You might say that The Summit is like hell, only on the weekends you’re allowed to vacation in heaven.
As you can tell, I wasn’t a big fan of the place. But, I do think it would be funny if this post came up when you searched for ‘Summit Education Center’ in Google, making me the ipso facto scholar on that particular learning center. ;)
School Motto
“It’s all about choices”
Summit Education Center
900 S. Cedar Ridge, #300A
Duncanville, Texas 75137
972-708-2570 Office
972-708-2585 Fax
