Author: The Hub

Graduate students at the University of Texas at Dallas speech pathology program are helping students at several Dallas ISD schools as part of pilot program aimed at closing the ‘vocabulary gap.’ The vocabulary gap is the “worrisome difference between the language skills of poor kids and their more affluent peers,” reports CBS DFW. Click here to view the CBS DFW story on how this unique partnership is helping  Dallas ISD students.

The Dallas ISD Bilingual ESL department offers model classroom setups to Bilingual and ESL teachers to support effective implementation of the dual-language program. This year, the Bilingual ESL department has assisted more than 25 teachers in creating a conducive learning environment that facilitates teaching for biliteracy. “Working in the model classroom setup project is a team effort,” said Carlos Silva, team lead of the Bilingual ESL Cadre, an extension of the Bilingual ESL department. “Every member shares their expertise with new teachers or teachers that need help implementing the dual-language components in their classroom. It is a great experience to leave the…

One student asked him if he was the president, but Ron Kirk’s reply was that he had once worked for President Obama and also served as the mayor of Dallas. “I can’t believe I’ve seen a real live mayor with my own eyes,” the student gasped. Kirk was touring Dallas ISD’s Robert E. Lee Elementary on Friday, Feb. 19, to get a firsthand look at curriculum in action, brought by Junior Achievement of Dallas. The “JA for a Day” program, which teaches basic concepts of business and economics to students in kindergarten to fifth grade, was facilitated by volunteer Nokia…

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson was a special guest speaker for the Class of 2016 at Dallas ISD’s W.W. Samuell High School. The Dallas Weekly has the full story on Johnson’s appearance here.

More than 250 students from J.L. Long Middle School tonight will provide an in-depth look at an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School education. The program will feature a fine arts presentation, followed by the option for parents to choose two showcases to attend from the school’s core subjects. Students have been hard at work preparing the showcases and getting ready to show off their great projects to the community, according to school leaders. “As our school continues to find a way to align district, state and IB MYP requirements, we have designed this event to bring our stakeholders into the school to experience,…

A Dallas ISD alum recently donated more than $400,000 worth of curriculum that she spent her career developing to help students succeed in school and life. Carla Crutsinger, who graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1958, went on to found Brainworks in 1981, which develops books and curriculum to help children of all ages accelerate their learning. The books are based on extensive research on how students best learn and communicate. As she looked to retire after decades running Brainworks, Crutsinger read an article about an in-house suspension program at a Dallas ISD school. The article made her think…

STAAR is the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, which are tests designed to measure how well students have mastered the knowledge and skills for each grade level. Dallas ISD offers a variety of resources to inform parents about the upcoming tests. The recent STAAR Live Forum, hosted by the district’s Office of Family and Community Engagement, featured detailed  answers to these and other questions: What is STAAR? What skills do STAAR tests measure? Which students are required to take the tests? How can a parent determine how a child performed on STAAR? Parents and staff from across the…

From playing on the basketball court at Bryan Adams High School to negotiating world title fights, Adrian Clark, Class of 2004, has found his niche inside the world of professional boxing. This young entrepreneur wasted no time jabbing his way to a successful career as a sports agent, and today, he has scored fights on HBO, Showtime, Fox Sports, ESPN and NBC Sports. AlumNow, The Hub feature that profiles Dallas ISD alumni, caught up with Clark just days before his February 27 book signing at Barnes and Nobles to promote A Guide for Young Entrepreneurs, the book he recently authored.…

African Americans have had immeasurable impact and contributed to the quality, progress and access of education to all races and creeds within the Dallas Independent School District and community. Read about some of our schools’ namesakes and their historical contributions to Dallas ISD. Paul L. Dunbar: Having served as his high school’s newspaper editor and writer of the school song, Paul Lawrence Dunbar was his school’s only African American in his graduating class. A published poet of two major collections, Dunbar was also an acclaimed “poet laureate” of the African-American race prior to his death.

Dr. Janice Lombardi, principal of Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School, was named a finalist for the  H-E-B Excellence in Education Award on Tuesday, Feb. 16. She was surprised with a check for $1,000, while her school received $2,500. “This is a way to say we see you, we recognize what you’re doing, we want to thank you for what you’re doing,” said Jill Reynolds, public affairs manager for H-E-B. “Not only recognizing them, but putting a monetary award in their pocket and encouraging them to keep doing what they’re doing.” “It’s really hard to make an old principal cry,…