Author: News and Information

The Dallas Independent School District has been awarded a $100,000 Farm to School grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The grant will help support continued efforts to encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, add more school gardens, and increase working with the farming community to provide more locally grown products. Under the grant, the district will expand and build upon our existing Harvest of the Month promotional activities, taste tests, distribution of fresh produce at schools and other activities which promote the benefits of locally grown products. The grant also outlines specifics on integrating farm to…

The Dallas Independent School District continues to impress the nation’s top bond rating agencies. Fitch Ratings recently upgraded the district’s underlying bond rating to AA+, while upgrading the district’s overall rating outlook from positive to stable. According to Fitch, the ratings reflect the district’s commitment to effective fiscal management. “This steady improvement in the district’s financial performance (which was notably achieved in the face of state funding cuts) was largely attributable to staffing-related expenditure reductions and conservative budgeting practices,” according to a press release from Fitch on businessnewswire.com. “Maintenance of vacant positions and tighter departmental spending controls allowed operations to…

It’s not uncommon to hear the phrase “dinner and a movie.” However, students and staff at Sudie Williams Elementary recently experienced dinner in a different way as they sat down with parents and community partners to also discuss designing a garden at their school.  The school’s Design and Dine event was organized with the assistance of the nonprofit group REAL Schools Garden with the goal of designing the school’s ideal garden. The garden would serve as an outdoor learning space where students can grow vegetables, make composts, monitor weather conditions and harvest the fruits of their labor. During the dinner,…

The Dallas Independent School District is in final talks with Region 10 Education Service Center (Region 10) to allow the center to assume operation of the adult education program, effective Jan. 1, 2015. Students currently enrolled in this program will continue receiving education instruction through June 30, 2015. In addition, the district and Region 10 are finalizing three facility lease agreements for the use of James. W. Fannin, Old Arcadia Park, and Titche Annex educational facilities. These agreements will allow the district to meet its goal of allowing current students to continue their education with as little disruption as possible.…

A program new to the district this year is aimed at improving literacy in children, so that they are able to read with comprehension by fourth grade. This year 2,000 literacy tutors are working with first, second and third graders. Each week, tutors spend two 30-minutes sessions where they are paired with young students. The Dallas Morning News featured an article on the new tutoring program. Click on the link below to read the full report. LINK: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/headlines/20141201-dallas-isd-seeks-literacy-tutors-to-spare-an-hour-per-week.ece

Solid. Liquid. Gas. Those are some of the basic elements in science. CBS 11 went inside a sixth-grade classroom for a “real science” lesson to explore some of those elements that came to life, and it was caught on camera. To view that video, click the link below. (Click the video for Real Science: Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy) LINK: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/category/watch-listen/real-science/

Dallas ISD’s new system to evaluate teachers has been built through gathering input from the ones who will be evaluated: teachers themselves. “Each level – elementary, middle school and high school – was asked for their input,” said veteran instructor Terri Calvert. Calvert is talking about the Teacher Excellence Initiative, or TEI, which took effect this school year. “Most teachers were concerned about the pay,” Calvert said. “Where they were going to fit along the pay scale, so knowing that they wouldn’t go lower than their current pay scale was comforting to most.” The idea is to identify effective teachers…

Casey Gerald was the valedictorian at South Oak Cliff High School in 2005, then graduated from Yale University, followed by earning a Masters in Business Adminstration from Harvard. What is he doing now? Watch this video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glO0wuSkpJU Here’s another link about Casey from the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/cheryl-hall/20141111-on-the-road-to-success-for-others.ece

Editor’s note: During the Thanksgiving holiday, The Hub will take a look back at some of the best and most popular stories from our first semester. This story was originally published on Aug. 27, 2014. Two of the top 10 performing schools in the nation are in the Dallas Independent School District, according to a recent report released by The Daily Beast, a news reporting and opinion website The School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center ranks No. 3 in the country and the School of Science and Engineering at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center ranks No. 7. “These…

Editor’s note: During the Thanksgiving holiday, The Hub will take a look back at some of the best and most popular stories from our first semester. This story was originally published on Sept. 15, 2014. Superintendent Mike Miles commended principals and teachers on their efforts in the classroom on The Best Day Ever, celebrated Sept. 15. The day was a concentrated push toward the district’s increased focus on student achievement. Below is Miles’ message to school staff. “Yesterday was a great instructional day in Dallas ISD – ‘the Best Day Ever.’ Academic facilitators, executive directors, assistant superintendents, Dr. Ann Smisko and I each visited…