When Silvia Fields started working as a custodian at the new Henry W. Longfellow Career Exploration Academy 14 years ago, the work was a lot different than it is now. “It’s a much larger building, of course,” she said of the school that opened this fall. “But all operations now are computerized and work off of touch screens. There has been a lot of training to learn how to operate the school.” Roles of custodians like Fields in schools across the district are expanding and adjusting to new technologies for air conditioning, heating, mechanical rooms, and other essential operations that…
Author: Gema Guevara
Yolanda Cantu, a third-grade math teacher at Whitney M. Young Jr. Elementary School, was set to retire several times, only to be pulled back to Dallas ISD. When she came back from retirement the last time, she pledged not to make any more attempts until her school earned an A rating from Texas Education Agency. Cantu now plans to retire after 41 years, keeping her promise to Principal Shabranda Mathis that she would not leave until they reached that A rating, which the school received for the 2024-2025 school year. Cantu, a member of the first graduating class at Skyline…
Cuando los estudiantes de John Lewis Social Justice Academy at Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School y de Henry W. Longfellow Career Exploration Academy empezaron clases esta semana, lo hicieron en unos planteles completamente nuevos construidos con propósito. John Lewis Social Justice Academy y Longfellow Career Exploration Academy ahora son edificios de última generación con un costo combinado estimado de $143 millones. Son parte del proyecto de bonos de 2020 del distrito, aprobado por los votantes, que incluye $3200 millones para nuevas escuelas así como reparaciones y actualizaciones de infraestructura a más de 200 de las 228 escuelas del distrito. El…
When students at John Lewis Social Justice Academy at Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School and Henry W. Longfellow Career Exploration Academy begin classes this week, they will do so in brand-new, purpose-built campuses. John Lewis Social Justice Academy and Longfellow Career Exploration Academy are brand new state-of-the-art buildings, totaling an estimated $143 million combined. They are part of the district’s voter-approved 2020 Bond Project, which includes $3.2 billion for new schools as well as infrastructure repairs and upgrades to more than 200 of the district’s 228 schools. Longfellow Principal Michael Tatum said that he’s excited about the district’s innovative work…
For Army Sgt. Maj. Leon Johnson, senior JROTC instructor at Emmett J. Conrad High School, the military promised opportunities he did not imagine having. Now, at Conrad, he sees himself in a lot of the students and wants them to be aware of the opportunities that were available to him. “This is something personal for me,” Johnson said. “When I come to school and I look at these kids, I think, ‘I was sitting in their seat one day. I didn’t have a lot of money; my parents were both working; and college wasn’t even an option.’” A native of…
When Lisa Whitaker is struck by an idea, she jumps right into action. So when she wondered earlier this year why American Sign Language classes weren’t more common in the district, she started working toward creating more opportunities to introduce students to ASL. Her idea: organize the district’s first-ever ASL summer camp for elementary school students. “We have a health and physical education summer camp, but we don’t offer ASL until ninth grade. That gives students only four years to learn it, limiting their proficiency,” said Whitaker, who is the director of Academic Enrichment and Support. “Research tells us that…
Para José Torres, asistente de maestro en W.A. Blair Elementary School, el tema del distrito de 2024–2025, “Hazlo posible”, ha sido más como un lema de vida. Él lo hizo posible su último año de preparatoria cuando suplió al maestro de química, y lo hace posible hoy mientras completa su título de docente. Torres, quien se graduó de Dr. Wright L. Lassiter Jr. Early College High School at El Centro College, ama la química. Fue a través de su pasión por esta materia que se dio cuenta de que también ama enseñar. Cuando el maestro de química se cambió a…
For Jose Torres, a teaching assistant at W.A. Blair Elementary School, the district’s 2024-2025 theme of “Make it Happen” has been more of an approach to life. He made it happen as a senior in high school when he stepped in to teach a chemistry class and is doing it now as he works on his teaching degree. Torres, who graduated from Dr. Wright L. Lassiter Jr. Early College High School at El Centro College, loves chemistry. It was through that passion he learned he also loved teaching. When the chemistry teacher moved to teach physics, the chemistry class was…
Cuando Dallas ISD anunció que se habían adquirido 17 autobuses escolares eléctricos, Ansley Carlos, conductora de autobús para las dos escuelas Solar Preparatory, nunca se imaginó que estaría al volante de uno de ellos. De hecho, de haberle preguntado si estaría dispuesta a hacerlo, se hubiera negado. “Pensaba que no lo entendería”, dijo. “No quería nada que ver con eso”. El distrito, no obstante, tenía otros planes. Este enero, Carlos recibió capacitación en la operación segura de autobuses eléctricos, incluyendo sesiones de manejo y protocolos para cargar el vehículo. “Nuestro equipo completó talleres rigurosos del proveedor para aprender todo lo…
When Dallas ISD announced that it acquired 17 electric school buses, Ansley Carlos, bus driver for both Solar Preparatory Schools, never imagined she would be driving one. In fact, had you asked her if it were something she would be open to, she would have balked at the thought. “I just knew I wasn’t going to understand anything,” Carlos said. “I wanted nothing to do with it.” The district, however, had other plans. Just this past January, Carlos received training in the safe operation of electric buses, including behind-the-wheel instruction and charging procedures. “Our team went through rigorous training by…