Author: News and Information

Students at Harry Stone Montessori Academy took top honors as the best overall team at the district’s Seventh-Grade Academic Pentathlon competition held Feb. 7. Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School placed first in the eighth-grade level competition. Seventh- and eighth-grade students from 16 district middle schools spent the day competing, individually, in five subjects: Literature, Math, Science, Social Science, and Fine Arts. The competition culminated with the Super Quiz where students from each school compete as a team. The individual and team scores are added together to determine each schools’ overall performance. Other winners in the overall team category…

The next Open Mike meeting of the year will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, at David W. Carter High School, 1819 W. Wheatland Road. The meeting will take place in the school’s library and will focus on Early Childhood Education led by Superintendent Mike Miles and Early Childhood Education Executive Director Alan Cohen. Open Mike meetings provide opportunities to engage with district chiefs and the superintendent in discussion about the direction of Dallas ISD and to pose questions to district leadership. For more information, visit https://www.dallasisd.org/openmike.

The Dallas Independent School District’s fourth annual STAAR Live Forum, in which academic content area and testing experts will answer call-in and e-mail questions from parents, will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015. Parents will be able to call in to (972) 925-3123 or e-mail their questions to STAAR@dallasisd.org during the forum to have them answered live by the panel of experts. The forum will be broadcast live from the Dallas Schools Television studio and can be seen by tuning in to the Dallas ISD Cable Channel 98 on Time Warner Cable System or Dallas…

A host of Dallas ISD teachers and staff gathered at the main administration building for a discussion on the compensation levels included in the Teacher Excellence Initiative.

Tax season is upon us. Are you looking for a place to file…for free? Dallas ISD students at Woodrow Wilson High School can now prepare your filings for members of the community. Learn how the group of students recently received their certification to prepare your taxes at no cost in the story below. LINK: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/white-rock-east-dallas/headlines/20150206-woodrow-wilson-students-receive-certification-to-help-with-irs-filing.ece

The walls that were once covered with music notes and faces of composers were bare. Various trophies and accolades collected over the last four and a half decades were boxed. The dry erase board is how students would learn the notes Do, Re and Me, but at the end of this day it was permanently erased. Betty J. Bush took one last look at her classroom before her last day of her career. Looking back over her empty classroom, tears began to fill her eyes. “I think I’ll mostly miss the children,” Bush said days into her retirement. A few…

Thanks to their visionary work and knack for visual storytelling, the bright lights of recognition are shining on nearly 60 students in the film program at Lincoln High School. Fresh off a third-place finish in the Irving Black Arts Council Holiday Film Fest in December 2014, the students are looking to take center stage with two entries in the 2015 Dallas International Film Festival. Tony Boone, film teacher at Lincoln High, termed the students’ participation as a winning proposition for his young cinematographers. “It’s great publicity for our program. It’s also great for the students to be in a competitive…

Increased vigilance and systemic changes will lead to approximately $17.9 million in E-Rate funding being returned to classrooms in the Dallas Independent School District. Dallas ISD is slated to receive the federal funds regarding technology purchases as a reimbursement within 30 days due to its increased compliance in the E-Rate program. Jim Terry, Dallas ISD chief financial officer, has been notified that approximately $17.9 million in E-Rate reimbursements have just been released to district vendors. Combined with the $18.3 million received in the previous fiscal year, the total amount received in E-Rate funding since the compliance agreement began will be…

The W.T. White feeder pattern is exchanging one experienced leader for another. Melody Paschall will bring 25 years of experience in education when she formally begins her duties as the new executive director of the feeder pattern on Feb. 11.   Paschall will continue to build on the foundation of excellence set by outgoing executive director Anita Hardwick, who retired after a successful career in the Dallas Independent School District. “We are very pleased that Melody is joining our district team,” said Stephanie Elizalde, assistant superintendent for Schools Division 2. “She has proven time and time again in her career…

Dallas ISD teachers of 5th grade students have an opportunity to access a series of videos donated to the school district to help their students begin exploring careers. The videos feature several Dallas professionals talking to 5th grade students at San Jacinto Elementary School about how they overcame obstacles in their lives to choose their individual career paths. “The most interesting thing is how 5th grade students who listen to these speakers respond in end of the year surveys about the series,” said Dallas business leader and district alum Tom Dunning who spearheaded the project. “Many students say that they…