Dallas ISD celebrates retiree who started out as teacher, coach at Hillcrest

Gail David Dupree worked in DISD for 40 years. Photo courtesy of DISD.

Dallas ISD is celebrating a man who worked for the district for 40 years.

Gail David Dupree, who’s retiring this year, started at Hillcrest High School in 1981 as a teacher and coach of boys’ football and basketball. Six years after he joined the Hillcrest staff, he led the basketball team to a state championship.

Dupree served as an assistant principal at Thomas Jefferson High School and Hillcrest. He was also the principal of Carter High School.

He told DISD he knew he was making a difference as an educator when he was at Hillcrest and helped kids “blend in.” During that time, students from South Dallas and Oak Cliff were bused to Hillcrest.

“After seeing the football team sitting at different tables based on ethnicity, I made them sit together,” Dupree said. “When I got to Carter, I had the mindset that I was going to change the world.”