Barksdale Elementary School

Achievements

Texas State Exemplary school; State Geography Awareness poster winner, District and National PTA Reflections winners; District Science Fair winners; Continental Mathematics League winners; "Just for the Kids" High Performing school; National School of Academic Excellence; Destination ImagiNation Regional winner, Destination ImagiNation State winner.

Campus Programs

Multisensory Program; portfolio assessment (kindergarten - second grade); Continental Math; Bronco Press; Plano Academic Creative Education (PACE) for identified gifted and talented students; English as a Second Language (ESL); Collin County Adventure Camp (fifth-grade); family math/science night; Student Support Team; science fair; PASAR (after-school childcare); and student council.

Parent Involvement Opportunities

Barksdale Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) provides volunteer and financial support for our instructional programs including: parent education, materials and supplies. 100 percent of Barksdale staff members are members of PTA. Other parent opportunities include volunteers for our: School-based Improvement Committee (SBIC), library, office, field day, publishing center, classrooms, practical parenting workshops, yearbook, special projects (i.e., Texas Day, cultural arts, book fair, etc.), landscape beautification and study buddies (tutoring program).

History of Barksdale 

Barksdale takes the name of the school built in the White Rock Creek area (Midway and Plano Parkway) in 1860, just southwest of the current Brinker Elementary. It moved several times before closing in 1940 and even longtime Plano residents cannot remember the original source of the name. When the school closed, alumnus Clifton Haggard bought the structure and preserved its architectural elements. Plano ISD's new, technologically up-to-date Barksdale Elementary opened in 1996, built to the same floor plan as Gulledge, Haggar and several others.