Author: The Hub

There are lots of exciting things going in the Dallas ISD Summer Achievers Academy, a tuition-free, full-day summer enrichment camp for district students. Students are spending their days in two parts—the morning is dedicated to classroom instruction, which also doubles as a training ground for new teachers entering the district through Teach for America and Dallas ISD’s Alternative Certification Program, Compass. Afternoons are dedicated to social emotional enrichment facilitated by Big Thought, a Dallas-area non-profit. Teachers and students spend the day engaged in high-energy, interactive activities aimed at helping Dallas ISD campers grow as students and people. Dallas ISD’s Summer…

Seventy Dallas ISD seniors are receiving special assistance selecting, applying for and securing financial aid for college thanks to a collective of organizations that have formed the Texas Higher Education Initiative. St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church, 12 Texas colleges and universities, and four area school districts created the initiative to streamline the college admissions process for first-generation students interested in attending Texas colleges. On a recent Saturday morning, the initiative partners invited ninety area high school students to talk with college admissions officers, learn how to write winning college essays and to get help navigating the higher education financial aid system.…

Dallas ISD will reduce the number of semester exams, otherwise known as Assessments of Course Performance (ACPs), by more than 30 percent in the upcoming school year. The majority of the cuts in testing will happen in elementary schools, where all second semester ACPs have been eliminated and first semester exams are limited to Reading and Math plus Grade 5 Science and Grade 4 Language Arts. “Reducing the number of assessments will allow for more valuable time for teaching and learning inside the classroom,” said Stephanie Elizalde, chief of school leadership. For example, a third-grader last year took ACPs for language…

Dallas ISD trustee Dan Micciche has earned the designation of Master Trustee upon completion of Leadership TASB, a program sponsored by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). During the fifth session, June 30-July 1, school board members in the 2015–16 Leadership TASB class made presentations of their team’s findings following year-long research. Class participants selected topics related to public school boards facing change and selected narrowed research fields for in-depth study. Their research focused on topics that included strategies to deal with employee retention, understanding statewide accountability, successful early childhood education programs, focused community engagement, the role of the…

The Dallas Morning News featured Brighter Bites, a Dallas ISD partner that offers fresh produce while teaching healthful diet and nutrition. The story catches Brighter Bites in action at Jack Lowe Sr. Elementary School. Go here for the full story.

Eduardo Mata Montessori se convirtió en la primera escuela Montessori School of Choice para el Distrito Escolar Independiente de Dallas.Cuenta con 400 estudiantes de las edades de 3 años hasta kinder, y de los grados 1o a 3o de primaria. Las clases en Montessori son de aprendizaje activo y con un proceso significativo. La filosofía principal se enfoca en la creencia de que los niños están enfocados en aprender; sólo necesitan las herramientas y una guía para lograrlo.

Staff from Vizient reached out to the Dallas ISD Volunteer and Partnership Services team to offer support. In the meantime, DeGolyer Elementary School had asked for help with some painting and their school garden – so the match was made. On Friday, July 22, 16 Vizient interns participated in a day of service, including more than $5,000 of donated landscaping and playground and gym supplies. Principal Tara Mays expressed gratitude for the company’s support and willingness to serve the students, teachers, and families of DeGolyer Elementary. Vizient, Inc., based in Irving is the largest member-driven health care performance improvement company in the country,…

The Mayor’s Intern Fellows Program gives Dallas ISD high school juniors and seniors real world experience in a professional field. The Hub is spotlighting some of these Dallas ISD students participating in the program. Today, meet Devany Morales, a student at Hillcrest High School who is an intern with Dallas ISD’s Career Education and Workforce Partnerships. What is your role as an intern? My role as an intern is basically to help out others and learn new things as I go. My role has ranged from creating field trip forms and calendars to simply cleaning out cabinets. What do you hope to accomplish through…

WFAA ran a great story on the Solar Preparatory School for Girls, a single-gender choice school opening this year. The school will be a socioeconomic and racially-diverse school campus, said Mike Koprowski, chief of transformation and innovation. Led by Principal Nancy Bernardino, the campus will open in August to nearly 200 female scholars in grades K-2 and will add one grade level, each year through eighth-grade. Go here for the full story.

The Dallas Independent School District has appointed Scott Layne as the district’s new chief operations officer. Layne, who will join Dallas ISD in mid-August, brings 34 years of public education experience to Dallas ISD, most of it served as assistant superintendent for School Support Services for the Irving Independent School District, where he managed more than 700 employees. His responsibilities included maintenance, grounds, custodial, energy management, warehouse, transportation, safety and security, construction, food service, technology services, risk management, fixed assets/surplus, records management, health services, and athletics. During Layne’s 25-year tenure with Irving ISD, he also managed the district’s 1997, 2001…