DALLAS — When Lauren McKinnon heard a new public elementary school was opening close to her home in Dallas, it was good news; but when she learned the school would offer an all-girls education format with a focus on STEM, she was excited, knowing inequities often exist for girls – like her daughters – in math and science.

But something else stood out about the school that attracted McKinnon: its potential for a student body that looked more like Dallas as a whole.

The school, Solar Prep for Girls, opened in 2016 as a “Transformation School”, one of several efforts underway to reverse decades of white flight from the school system. The school district is currently 71 percent Hispanic, 21 percent Black and 5 percent white, and 86 percent of its students are eligible for federally subsidized lunches.

In contrast, the city of Dallas is more evenly divided racially and ethnically: It’s 41 percent Hispanic, about 29 percent white and 24 percent Black.

Solar Prep and other “50/50” schools in Dallas have no attendance boundaries. Students are admitted by lottery, with some seats open to families who live outside of the school district. Half of the students admitted must live in one of Dallas’ socioeconomically disadvantaged census blocks, while the other half are drawn from more affluent areas. The district provides transportation to students within its boundaries.