Opened in August 2005 and officially dedicated on Oct. 9, 2005, Lee A. McShan Jr. Elementary School near Fair Oaks Park in North Dallas is a 91,000-square-foot facility capable of accommodating 800 students in 33 core classrooms. The school also boasts three special education classrooms, an alternative classroom, an art classroom, a science classroom, a performing hall, an instructional technology classroom, and a media center.
Biography of Lee A. McShan Jr.
The school is named for White Rock-area community leader Lee A. McShan Jr., who was a former president of the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees. McShan was born in Houston and graduated from North Dallas High School. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he moved to California and entered the floral business, becoming manager of California Flower Shippers Wholesale Florist.
He soon returned to Texas and with his wife, Velma, bought a small florist shop and nursery in northeast Dallas in 1948, establishing the business that would make McShan Florist a household name. Still at its original location on Garland Road, McShan Florist became one of the largest retail florists in the United States.
McShan was elected to the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees in 1962, and served as its president from 1966 to 1968. In 1966, he also was president of the League for Educational Advancement. A man of vision in education as well as in his profession, McShan led the Dallas ISD during an important time of growth. During his board presidency, voters passed a major bond program and moved to include kindergarten in the schools. McShan also was instrumental in developing Skyline High School, Dallas' first magnet school.
Dallas civic leader Stanley Marcus, founder of Neiman-Marcus retail stores, once complimented McShan by saying, "You have followed the time-honored practice of merchants throughout history of helping to build a better city."
McShan's community involvement was extensive. As a civic leader, he was active in the United Way, the East Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Dallas Crime Commission and the Dallas Council for Retarded Children. A 33rd-Degree Mason, he also was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of White Rock, on the board of the White Rock YMCA, and a member of the Texas Congress of the Parent Teachers Association.
Biography of Lee A. McShan Jr.