Author: The Hub

As families across Dallas prepare for the first day of school, parents that are sending their little ones off to kindergarten often face an emotional roller coaster—joy, anxiety, excitement, apprehension—and it’s all completely normal, according to multiple Dallas ISD teachers. The Hub talked with three Dallas ISD teachers to get tips that could help parents and their students transition into “big kid school,” beginning before class even starts. Before the First Day Vaccinate: Remember to get your child all the necessary vaccinations for the first day of school. All schools require updated vaccination and health records for every students. You can find…

Results are back from the state’s 2016 STAAR 3-8 and STAAR End of Course (EOC) exams. Transformation Schools and Innovation Schools, which are under the district’s Public School Choice (PSC) initiative, showed overall positive gains in student achievement. These positive results are an early sign that the district’s PSC initiative is helping to improve student outcomes by offering an array of high-quality, specialized academic models which tap into individual student interests, learning styles, and aspirations. The full achievement report, which can be found here, includes several analyses that “slice” the data in different ways. Each analysis shows numerous examples of…

As students prepare to return to class on Monday, Aug. 22, Dallas ISD cafeterias will be hard at work to create recipes for success when it comes to school meals. “We are looking forward to welcoming students back to school to savor new and favorite flavors at breakfast, lunch and supper this year,” said Margaret Lopez, Executive Director of Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services. Once again, all students receive full meals at no charge under the Community Eligibility Provision. And those meals begin with Breakfast in the Classroom. Food Services personnel deliver meals to elementary and middle classrooms,…

In preparation for the start of school on Monday, Aug. 22, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa shared some words with parents of Dallas ISD students. See what Hinojosa had to say in the above video.

Eight Dallas Independent School District campuses are among 500 high schools nationwide honored by Newsweek for preparing students at an economic disadvantage for college. According to the magazine, Newsweek “evaluates schools on a broad range of criteria in order to identify schools that excel at preparing students for college and overcome the obstacles posed by socioeconomic inequality.” The following Dallas ISD campuses were recognized for “Beating The Odds,” along with their respective rankings: School of Science and Engineering – No. 5 Irma L. Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School – No. 10 School for the Talented and Gifted – No. 23 Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early…

Data released today by the Texas Education Agency shows that 210 (91 percent) of Dallas Independent School District campuses met state standards, up from 190 schools in 2015 and 184 schools in 2014. In all four categories calculated by the TEA—student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and postsecondary readiness—Dallas ISD outperformed thresholds set by the state. The district’s official rating for 2016 from TEA is “Met Standard. Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said the accountability results are more evidence that the district is headed in the right direction. “Our teachers, principals, and staff can take pride in the work they…

Woodrow Wilson High School’s librarian, Valerie Tagoe, is pushing for library excellence. Tagoe was awarded the S. Janice Key Continuing Education Award from the Texas Woman’s University School of Library and Information Science this past April. The $500 award encourages professionals to continue education and development. The award helped Tagoe attend two state and national level librarian conferences as a presenter. She also had the pleasure of being selected to attend the first ever Texas Library Association Executive Leadership Program in Austin this August. Participants were selected to attend the Leadership Program through an application process that centered on a focus…

The Volunteer Department at Dallas ISD recently announced changes and enhancements to the overall volunteer experience. As of August 15, Dallas ISD Volunteer Services starts using a new volunteer management system called “VOLY.”  This system is widely used in organizations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and familiar to many of volunteers already in our system. Some of the great advantages of VOLY are: Easy campus check-in Browse and sign-up for opportunities from anywhere Self-Manage your own volunteer profile, including changing your school of choice or adding a school No more printing out the “You Are Cleared” letter for the school office Online…

About a dozen dads whose daughters will attend the new Solar Preparatory School for Girls this fall worked on a few projects around the school on Friday, Aug. 12. One of the projects was repurposing an old chalkboard into a hanging Lego wall in what will be the school’s art room (formerly the library) on the second floor. Green Lego squares were being glued to the surface to create a vertical building surface. Downstairs, and learning materials were being sorted to clear office space that was being painted Friday afternoon. The school, which will open with grades kindergarten through second grade,…

More than 125 incoming H. Grady Spruce High School freshmen got their first taste of Timberwolf spirit at the school’s ‘Fish Camp’ held on Tuesday, Aug. 9. More than a dozen local organizations including CiCi’s Pizza and the Southeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce joined the beginning of year momentum by providing pizza and Class of 2020 t-shirts for every incoming freshman, complete with a design by Robert Cooper, Spruce art teacher. Spruce staff and community welcomed the ninth-graders with open arms and immediately ushered them into the auditorium. There, a pep rally kicked off the half day of rotating sessions, which included…