Some distinguishing tastes
Private school students follow dress code, 
not uniformity

By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

At first glance, the students at Trinity Christian
High School in Cedar Hill look a uniform group, lining
the halls in their blue and gray plaid skirts, dress
pants and collared shirts embroidered with the school
crest.

But it's the little things – the brightly painted
fingernails, colorful ties, sparkly purses and
carefully chosen socks – that set them apart.

Just a few miles away, Duncanville High School
students struggle to keep shirttails tucked in under a
zero-tolerance dress code policy. There, more than 825
students have been suspended while asserting their
individuality through their choice in apparel.

At Trinity Christian, as at other private and public
schools with uniform policies, students are given no
choice about what to wear. Still, their
self-expression shines through.

"We've been wearing uniforms for so long that we don't
really think about it," said senior Jessica Herbert,
who on Tuesday had wound her dark hair into two buns.
"But we get tired of the bland, and we try to do
different things every day to mix it up."

In Leslie Bukowski's journalism class, students showed
off the fashion statements they get away with. The
girls wear funky hairstyles; colorful belts and
ribbons; leather, chain and beaded necklaces; knee
socks and high-heeled Mary Jane shoes. The boys try
clunky basketball shoes and ties with sports and
Looney Tunes logos.

"The students are asked to be tasteful, and not wear
anything bizarre," Superintendent Kathleen Watts said.
"They look like every other duck in the pond, and they
save up their money for their weekend clothes."

On average days, students wear a combination of khaki
pants and polo shirts. But Tuesday was the school's
first "chapel dress" day of the year, during which
girls wear skirts and boys wear ties and blazers. Ms.
Watts said the day went smoothly except for some
female athletes who complained about the itchy plaid,
and several boys who needed help tying their ties.

"They really looked sharp," Ms. Watts said with
motherly pride.

Sometimes, students admit, they push the envelope too
far.

For a while last year, senior Ashlie Young said,
students tried wearing colored short- and long-sleeve
T-shirts beneath their white dress shirts.
Administrators quickly banned that practice, she said.

Senior Cody Killingsworth said boys cut slits in the
ankles of uniform pants, a trend that is outlawed but
still common.

"We can get in trouble for it, but we cut them so they
fall over our shoes," he said, showing off the frayed
cuffs of his khakis. "They're too tight around the
ankles."

Being out of uniform at Trinity Christian is a Class B
violation. Students can take one hour of after-school
detention or pay $5. The money goes into a schoolwide
kitty that buys an off-campus lunch for students with
no violations at the end of the year.

Students say the most frequent Class B punishments are
for chewing gum in class, wearing sweatshirts other
than the Trinity Christian ones, and wearing shoes
that aren't closed-heel and closed-toe.

At other area private schools, where codes include
uniform footwear, students decorate their shoes with
markers, glitter and wild shoelaces.

Ms. Young, who showed off bright red-decaled
fingernails, said she and other students were
surprised to hear about all the suspensions at
Duncanville High this fall, especially those for
untucked shirts.

"We have uniforms, not just a dress code, and when I
tuck my shirt in in the morning, chances are it won't
come out." she said. "But I still don't think having
your shirttail out warrants suspension."

Danielle Baker, a senior wearing pink eye shadow and a
beaded choker, said she sees Duncanville's code as a
security precaution.

"Duncanville needs a tight dress code so they can tell
who belongs on campus and who doesn't," she said.
"We're a lot smaller than Duncanville, and teachers
know us by name. At Duncanville, they have to have
some order."

Ms. Young, whose shiny black Mary Jane heels matched
many of her peers', said the biggest problem with
uniforms is the cost. She said in the last six years
there have been four uniform changes, meaning that new
styles of pants, skirts and shirts must be purchased
almost annually.

Faculty members say they are in the process of
ordering their own uniforms, out of convenience and
fairness to the students.

"I've started ordering my own clothes with the school
crest, because I'm tired of messing up my good clothes
at school," Ms. Wattssaid. "But I also think the
uniforms are healthy for the student body."

Junior Kelsey Goshorn agrees.

"The best thing about them is that there isn't a
noticeable class difference," she said, leaning over
to pull up a white knee-high. "It's not like you have
some kids wearing Abercrombie and some kids wearing
Kohl's. It's all evened out. We're all wearing the
same brand."

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