Dallas ISD will launch a record number of choice programs and schools in the 2020–2021 school year, significantly increasing the education choices in families’ backyards.
Representatives from the Dallas ISD Office of Transformation and Innovation surprised schools with the great news on Friday, Feb. 21. OTI identified and selected the schools as part of the Public School Choice 6.o process, where educators create high-quality, best-fit options for Dallas ISD students to realize their full academic potential.
The selected schools fall into one of these categories:
Transformation; new start-up, open-enrollment schools that offer specialized academic programming without entry requirements.
Innovation; existing neighborhood schools that want to implement a new academic model but stay in their existing facility and keep traditional attendance boundaries.
Innovation Pilot; existing neighborhood schools receive support and funding to more fully explore and develop a proposal that could become a successful innovation school model.
The announced Transformation Schools are:
- West Dallas STEM School PreK-8; A new STEM-focused school in West Dallas co-designed in partnership with SMU, Toyota USA Foundation and the West Dallas community that will open to seventh- and eighth-graders in Fall 2021.
- Midtown STEAM Academy; a new pre- K through 12 International STEAM school co-designed in partnership with North Dallas Chamber of Commerce and Texas A&M University-Commerce. Location and opening date are pending.
The announced Innovation Schools are:
- John Ireland Elementary School will launch an expeditionary learning model, connecting students’ learning with the outside world;
- Lenore Kirk Hall Elementary School will launch a personalized learning model, educating every student based on their interests, talents and goals;
- James S. Hogg Elementary School will launch a New Tech model, setting students on the path toward college and career readiness;
- Thomas L. Marsalis Elementary School will launch a STEAM model, focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics;
- Maria Moreno Elementary School will launch a STEAM model;
- John F. Peeler Elementary School will launch an International Baccalaureate model, encouraging scholars to think globally, be knowledgeable, caring and prepared to succeed in a 21st-century world;
- Thelma Elizabeth Page Richardson Elementary School will launch a personalized learning model;
- Raul Quintanilla Sr. Middle School will launch a STEAM model.
The announced Innovation Pilot Schools are:
- North Dallas High School will pilot a design thinking model, prioritizing empathy and prototyping solutions to challenging questions.
- James Bowie Elementary School will pilot a global service learning model, focusing on service learning and how to better the community;
- Robert T. Hill Middle School will pilot an international studies and global leadership model.
- Alex W. Spence Middle School and TAG Academy will pilot a College and Career Preparatory Program
The Office of Transformation and Innovation will provide programmatic support to all PSC 6.0 school teams to ensure successful implementation of the approved Choice School models.
