Author: The Hub

On Aug. 21, Dallas ISD trustees voted to place a $1.6 billion bond program for Dallas ISD on the November ballot. The bond program is intended to provide new schools, facility improvements across the district, and support for growing programs. The Hub has compiled a guide to inform people regarding the bond proposal. What would the bond finance? The bond proposal, which is not expected to raise tax rates, includes the following: $465 million for nine new schools $195 million for 326 new classrooms and expanded facilities $233 million for educational adequacy, including new technology, science labs, and gym/locker room enhancements…

The “Through the Lens of Jordan: Integrating Middle Eastern Narratives into North Texas Social Studies Curriculum” project will provide a once in a lifetime opportunity for up to 12 educators in the North Texas area. Organized by the University of North Texas, Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District and the World Affairs Council of Greater Dallas, and made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the project aims to give secondary educators increased knowledge and understanding of Middle East dynamics. Ten secondary teachers and two pre-service teachers will be selected for the project, which will support overseas training and curriculum…

Damien Gonzalez, an automotive student at W.H. Adamson High School, is standing in front of a Lamborghini Diablo, and he really wants the car. Gonzalez was one of about 45 automotive students from Adamson who went to a Mecum Auction held Sept. 17 at the Dallas Convention Center. The Dallas ISD students attended the auction thanks to donated tickets from Mecum Auctions, which bills itself as the world’s largest collector car auction. Timmy Martin, the automotive instructor at Adamson, said the event taught students about the car restoration process and gave them an inside look at a car auction. Students from…

STEM, coding, and robotics—more specifically, a Robotics Smackdown—are the topics of this week’s episode of Ed Talk with Dr. Bravo. Dallas ISD STEM Executive Director Oswaldo Alvarenga, Director of Educational Technology Roland Antoine, and Educational Technology Coordinator Jeff Marx join Dr. Robert Bravo, the Dallas ISD Chief of School Leadership, to talk all things educational technology. The conversation touches on the district’s effort to get students involved with STEM-type activities at an earlier age, and gives a rundown on what a district teacher can do to bring robotics and STEM programing to their school. (Spoiler alert: It’s usually pretty easy…

Seventeen-year-old Alison Geason is a determined young woman who knows where she’s going and isn’t wasting time getting there. Geason, a senior at the School of Health Professions at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, says she’s known since pre-school that she wanted to become a doctor. After serving a traditional internship with a local physician, she decided she was ready for the next level – a more intensive, hands-on medical internship. So she did what any resourceful, technology-savvy young person might do to find that opportunity: she did an Internet search and found a medical internship program halfway around the…

From a published author roaming the halls of Longfellow to a Hillcrest alum gifting a sculpture to his old school, plenty of great things are happening in Dallas ISD. Show and Tell is a feature on The Hub that rounds up some of the news happening across the district into one place. If you have any story ideas for Show and Tell, email thehub@dallasisd.org. Hillcrest alum gifts sculpture to the high school George Tobolowsky, a Hillcrest High School alum (1967), successful attorney and businessman, has turned his skills to sculpture. Tobolowsky has gifted Hillcrest with his latest sculpture, “Surfing the Warehouse.”…

Learn how Dallas ISD’s Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School prepares first-time college students to succeed after graduation. Besides the core classes students take at any district high school, students learn how to fill out applications for college and for scholarships. One particular class, the Early College & Career Seminar, is designed to help students shed their dependency on others as students and become independent adults. Teacher Claudia Simpkins designed the program, which goes through registering with the Selective Service for male students and registers all eligible students to vote. She also helps them project a positive image through their…

We are one Harry Stone, and as one, we all succeed. That’s the motto that guides students and staff at this unique campus south of downtown Dallas. Offering a Montessori prekindergarten through 5 program coupled with the International Baccalaureate MYP (Middle Years Program) 6-8, Harry Stone Montessori Academy provides an exceptional learning environment for each student. To add to the school’s many accomplishments, Stone is a nominee for the 2015 National Blue Ribbon School award sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. This prestigious honor is only bestowed upon schools deemed to be among the best schools in the nation…

Dallas ISD has created a web page to communicate information related to the Nov. 3 bond election. The url for the site is www.dallasisd.org/bond2015.  The page will house the latest information related to the election and will be regularly updated.

As the Teacher Excellence Initiative seeks to reshape the paradigm by which teachers are evaluated and compensated—evolving from tying salary increases to years of service to rewarding teachers based on their effectiveness in the classroom—the Dallas Independent School District has worked to communicate the details of the new evaluation system. However, there have been many questions and, frankly, misinformation regarding TEI. The Hub wanted to set the record straight about five of the biggest misconceptions of TEI. TEI is a way to get rid of veteran teachers. False. TEI defines, supports and rewards excellent teachers. The evaluation system measures teacher…