Beginning this fall, the newly-christened Eduardo Mata Montessori Elementary School will welcome its inaugural class of more than 300 students to the district’s newest choice school program. The school will attract east Dallas families seeking an alternative to the popular Lakewood Elementary School. “The Montessori program here is allowing for more diversity in our student body,” said Principal Claudia Vega. “What’s exciting is our school is becoming a neighborhood school that mirrors the east Dallas community.” The introduction of the Montessori program at Mata Montessori is the result of a plan approved by the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees designed…
Author: News and Information
News and Information
News and Information provides local, state and national media with accurate and timely information about the Dallas Independent School District.
For the second straight day, the Dallas Independent School District has set a record for back-to-school attendance. Attendance on the second day of school in Dallas ISD is 151,800 students, up 8,248 students from the first day of classes on Aug. 25. This school year’s second-day total is the second-highest tally since the 2003-2004 school year. “We made it a priority during the summer to communicate the importance of students attending school the first week,” said Superintendent Mike Miles. “By reaching out to parents, sending information through releases and working with the school principals, we were able to make sure…
As Superintendent Mike Miles entered Thomas L. Marsalis Elementary School the morning of Aug. 25, the scene was similar to that taking place at 223 other schools on the first day of classes in the Dallas Independent School District. As the clock reached 7:50 a.m., a steady stream of smiling children and focused family members entered the building and headed to their appointed classrooms or other locations. Outside, a handful of the more than 793 school buses in use across the district safely delivered smiling boys and girls to the southern Dallas school. Miles and Deputy Superintendent Ann Smisko chose Marsalis…
El Dallas ISD adquirió 50 vehículos de pasajeros para transportar a los casi 3000 alumnos de rutas que no requieren autobuses de tamaño regular. Los nuevos vehículos se usaron desde el primer día de clases. Los vehículos nuevos permiten una transportación más eficiente en las rutas con menos estudiantes para este año escolar. “Simplemente es una mejor manera de transportar a los niños,” dijo Wanda Paul, jefa de operaciones de Dallas ISD. “Queremos asegurarnos que transportamos a los alumnos con seguridad y eficiencia. Después de los retos a los que nos enfrentamos el año pasado, nos comprometimos a encontrar una…
Dora Rivas of the Dallas Independent School District’s Food and Child Nutrition Services will detail the benefits of the Breakfast in Schools program during testimony to the Texas Senate Education Committee at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26, at the state capitol building in Austin. As executive director of the district’s nutrition program, Rivas has led the charge in the implementation of breakfast in schools. Most notably, Dallas ISD is providing a healthy morning meal through its Breakfast in the Classroom program, an effort where culinary staff prepares meals that are delivered and eaten in the classroom. Dallas ISD will be…
The Dallas Independent School District continues to meet all four of the state’s accountability standards according to results released today by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). In all four categories—student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and postsecondary readiness—Dallas ISD outperformed thresholds set by the state. The district’s official rating for 2014 from TEA is “Met Standard.” One hundred eighty four Dallas ISD schools, more than 80 percent of the total number in the school district, met all required performance standards. All totaled, 125 Dallas ISD elementary schools met the performance standards, as well as 31 middle schools and 28…
The Dallas ISD purchased 50 multi-passenger vehicles to transport nearly 3,000 students on routes that do not require full-size school buses for use beginning the first day of school, Monday, Aug. 25. The new vehicles allow more efficient transportation routes with fewer students in the upcoming school year. “This is just a better option to transport children,” said Wanda Paul, chief operating officer of the Dallas ISD. “We want to make sure we transport students safely and efficiently. After the challenges we experienced last year, we were committed to coming up with a better way to service our students. The…
In preparation for the 2014-2015 school year, the Dallas Independent School District has filled more than 99 percent of its teaching positions, its lowest percentage ever prior to a school year. As of August 23, Dallas ISD had only 25 open teaching positions available in its 224 schools, which amounts to less than one percent of its more than 10,000 member teacher workforce. In comparison, there were approximately 860 teacher vacancies at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year and more than 300 vacancies at this time last year. To break the cycle of having far too many vacancies on…
En preparación para el año escolar 2014-2015, el Distrito Escolar Independiente de Dallas ha cubierto más del 99% de los puestos vacantes para docentes, el porcentaje más alto de su historia antes del primer día de clases. Al día de hoy, Dallas ISD solo tiene 60 vacantes para docente disponibles en sus 224 escuelas, lo que representa menos del 1% de su fuerza laboral de más de 10,000 docentes. En comparación al comienzo del año 2011-2012, cuando había 860 vacantes, y más de 300 el año pasado para estas mismas fechas. Para romper el ciclo de tener demasiadas vacantes el…
The Dallas Independent School District has received a top award for its financial reporting for the 2013 fiscal year, earning the Certificate of Excellence from the Association of School Business Officials International. The award, the only of its type specifically designed for school district financial reporting, is based on Dallas ISD’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, or CAFR, for that year. The CAFR is important because it provides a clear analysis of how well the district handles, controls and protects its financial resources. “Dallas ISD is pleased to receive this honor because it is the result of the hard work and…