Declaring that “it’s a new day in Dallas ISD,” Superintendent Michael Hinojosa Thursday announced a major expansion of school choice options for next school year.
In making the recommendation to trustees, Hinojosa said the district has to act aggressively and think differently to make Dallas ISD the district of choice for Dallas families.
Next year’s new choice programs will be launched on new and existing district campuses. The programs proposed for the 2016–2017 school year include:
- 12 two-way elementary dual language programs that provide both Spanish and English instruction to students in the same classroom developing bilingual and biliterate students
- Seven high school collegiate academies that are on the path to becoming Early College High Schools that will offer students the opportunity to earn up to two years of college as part of their high school curriculum
- Expanded Career and Tech Education (CTE) programs at seven high schools to equip students with skills leading to high-wage, high-demand careers
- Three new single-gender schools offering instruction in environments that research shows improve achievement levels as compared with co-ed schools.
Trustee Edwin Flores proposed the district consider grouping neighboring schools within a feeder pattern into clusters and offering choice options in at least one of the schools in each cluster. Flores said this strategy would help families avoid having to travel across town for their student to attend a choice school.
Hinojosa provided trustees the choice school update at Thursday’s board briefing as a follow up to last month’s adoption of six new student achievement goals, one of which called for making Dallas ISD schools the primary choice for families in the district. Trustees and Hinojosa developed the goals in multiple board workshops where they reviewed district achievement results and other data.
