Author: The Hub

Dallas ISD has benefited this school year from the support of more than 26,000 volunteers and $8.4 million in documented donations. April is Volunteer Appreciation Month, a time set aside to thank volunteers and recognize them for their service. Dallas ISD will recognize some of its outstanding volunteers at the 2016-2017 Volunteers and Partners Awards Reception on April 20. This year’s finalists are: Volunteer Impact Award for Student Support Arnulfo Aleman: Rosemont Schools Melanie Arrona: John H. Reagan Elementary Robert Bailey: Young Men’s Leadership Academy at Florence Rickey Cheatham: Billy Earl Dade Middle School John Conners III: John F. Peeler Elementary…

Registration opens Monday, April 3, for children to attend free and tuition-based pre-K in Dallas ISD during the 2017-2018 school year. Pre-K classes offer a safe environment that includes daily, structured academic lessons. Studies have shown that children who attend prekindergarten are more likely to succeed in school, more likely to graduate and more likely to go to college. Free pre-K is available to children who will be 3 or 4 years old by Sept. 1 and meet at least one of these requirements: The child is eligible to take part in the national free or reduced-price school lunch program. To…

In today’s environment of the 24-hour news cycle, rampant social media, and information overload,  few would dispute that knowledge is power. It can sometimes seem that no matter how much you know, it’s never enough. Being in the know is an ongoing challenge for businesses seeking to establish their brands and position themselves in an ever-changing and highly competitive marketplace. Businesses new and seasoned who are seeking information and contacts to grow their bottom line are invited to the Saturday, May 6, Knowledge is Power – Blueprint for Business Excellence Conference.  The agenda includes networking opportunities, business resources, and workshops to…

Spend the next two minutes seconds catching up on many of the great things that happened across the district this week! Going digital  A Cirque du Soleil performer visited deaf and hearing-impaired students at Marcus Elementary to show how hands can be used to communicate beyond sign language. (See photos) Art project to remember Art students at Thomas Jefferson High School drew portraits of 60 Bolivian orphans as part of the Memory Project. (Learn more) Graduation schedule Dallas ISD released the schedule for commencement ceremonies for each high school. (See the schedule) Fun with financial literacy Dee-1, a rapper who went viral…

Crowds are descending on the American Airlines Center for this weekend’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, but first, Dallas ISD students visited Tourney Town, an NCAA fan exhibit, where students were recognized for top finishes in a five-month-long reading competition. Third-graders at the top four district schools participating in the NCAA’s Read to the Final Four program attended a celebration Friday, March 31, at Tourney Town. The overall top-reading school and individual winners were recognized. T.G. Terry Elementary School won the competition with 61 students who read an average of 1,841 minutes each. The school will receive $2,000 toward a school library…

Five members of the Thomas Jefferson High School family were honored on Friday, March 31, at the TJ Alumni Association’s annual awards ceremony. Four of the honorees are distinguished graduates: H. Russell “Rusty” Brutsche; Michael Carter; Craig Melde and Audrey Pinkerton. Another honoree is longtime staff member and parent volunteer Annette Elliott. Brutsche, Class of 1963, founded a company that changed the face and sound of live rock-and-roll concerts. Interested in building things but also having a love of music, he started his career as an engineer designing laser systems at Texas Instruments. Later, he devoted his professional efforts to…

Dr. Ben Carson, the new U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, visited Dallas and Fort Worth this week as part of his listening tour to research housing issues across the country. On Thursday, he stopped by the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy at the Mercy Street Athletic Complex to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before a youth baseball game. He also met and posed for photos with the Pinkston and Wilmer-Hutchins high school baseball teams, which were slated to play a game at the complex as well.

It’s not every day that an elephant shows up at your school. But that’s exactly what happened on Thursday, March 30, at Dallas ISD’s Dan D. Rogers Elementary School. Well, sort of. Ellie the Elephant is a realistic-looking, animatronic robot elephant that talks. Ellie tells a story about being captured in the wild, abused and forced to work in the circus. The program aims to teach empathy to schoolchildren about how animals are sometimes treated in captivity. Her story ends happily, as she is rescued and sent to live in an animal sanctuary. This year, Ellie has spoken to 25,000…

A little help can go a long way in making a significant difference in a student’s life. That was the message at the March 29 kickoff event for the Stars on the Rise Scholarship Program, which is organized by the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GDHCC) and helps make college possible for deserving students. The kickoff event emphasized how Dallas ISD employees and outside community members can donate a small amount to the scholarship fund and still make a significant impact on a recipient’s life. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa recalled at the kickoff event how, as a student at Sunset…

LOVE in Motion delivered treats to all staff at 15 schools this month. The goal of LOVE in motion is to remind district employees on a continual basis that there are many people in the community who highly appreciate and value the ongoing work of educators. Appreciation gifts that were distributed included a bag with a full-size candy bar, a scratch off lottery ticket and a handwritten note thanking staff for the arduous work with Dallas students. These appreciation efforts have proven to help lift staff morale, which overflows to school campuses excelling on different levels – proof that a touch…