The Office of Transformation and Innovation (OTI) is excited to formally announce the release of the Public School Choice (PSC) Competitive Proposal Process, Version 5.0.
Through this process, educators have the opportunity to create high-quality, best-fit options for Dallas ISD students to realize their full academic potential. The past Public School Choice competitive proposal processes have ushered in a total of 24 new Choice schools ranging from those that anchor teaching and learning under a Leadership model to Personalized Learning schools to schools driven by a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) framework.
Future Choice Schools could include a variety of instructional approaches and content/themes, such as Montessori, International Baccalaureate (IB), Single Gender, Virtual, academies for Visual and Performing Arts, Business/Entrepreneurship, Government/World Affairs, Health, Humanities, and Communications. Additionally, through Choice Schools, the district would continue to expand socioeconomic diversity pilot schools and programs.
There are three (3) types of proposals for 5.0:
• Innovation Schools are existing neighborhood schools that want to implement a new academic model, but stay in their existing facility and keep their traditional attendance boundaries. Existing neighborhood school leadership teams can apply for their current schools to become an Innovation School. Botello ES, Chapel Hill (formerly Cabell) ES, Lorenzo De Zavala ES, L. O. Donald ES, Frederick Douglass ES (pilot), Geneva Heights (formerly Lee) ES, Lipscomb ES, Preston Hollow ES, John Reagan ES, Kramer ES, Thelma Richardson ES (pilot), Rogers ES, Martin Weiss ES, Franklin MS, Marsh MS, and Bryan Adams HS are the district’s current Innovation Schools and Innovation Pilot Schools.
• Transformation Schools are brand new, start-up, open enrollment schools. Applicant Teams are not required to have a proposed principal as part of their team in order to be eligible to submit a proposal. Downtown Montessori (location pending), Mata ES, Montessori Academy at Hernandez, Personalized Learning Prep at Sam Houston, Solar Prep for Girls, Hulcy STEAM MS, Ignite MS , IDEA HS, and CityLab HS are the district’s Transformation Schools.
• Transformation Replication Schools will be new, start-up, open enrollment schools where teams will replicate an existing successful model, such as a single gender campus for boys modeled after Solar Prep, or a Leadership Academy modeled after Weiss ES. The intent of this option is to focus on replication and teams applying for this model will be vetted, selected, and then paired with existing schools to help coach them through planning and implementation. Solar Prep for Boys is the district’s first Transformation Replication School and the first all-boys elementary school.
The application opened on Thursday, June 28. The deadline for Letters of Intent is at 11:59 p.m. Friday, Sept 14, 2018. The final proposal is due by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Jan 8, 2019.
The process and any relevant information related to PSC 5.0 (templates, resources, due dates, etc.) can be found here by clicking on “Design and Launch a Choice School.”
The OTI looks forward to meeting and supporting all interested applicants. Individuals may contact Shakeatha Butler, Director, Transformation and Innovation, at shakbutler@dallasisd.org or (972) 925-3306.
