Author: The Hub

Looking to brighten someone’s holiday this season?  Consider partnering with Dallas ISD to help others in need. More than a dozen schools across the district are conducting donation drives to benefit our students and families and a range of nonprofit organizations, including North Texas Food Bank, Salvation Army, area food pantries and churches. Whether you want to donate coats and scarves, canned foods or turkeys, visit our list to select someone with whom to share the joy of the season. Thanks. And from our family to yours, best wishes for a joyful holiday season.

At his Nov. 6 alumni reception, NFL Hall of Famer Tim Brown was more than a little surprised to see his Woodrow Hall of Fame plaque. Brown is no stranger to awards: in addition to being in the NFL Hall of Fame, he won the Heisman Trophy, for starters. But this Woodrow award was unlike any other, as its backstory involved a robbery, intense eBay auction, and alumni coming together to do the right thing. It was an early morning in June when Woodrow alum Teresa Gibson got an unusual email alert: the Hall of Fame plaque presented by her…

Beef jerky, magazines, and clothing are heavily sought after items in a military care package, but it’s really all about the letters. Letters have an incomprehensible value to the morale of a soldier, and are the most highly requested item from deployed soldiers. This is why the fifth-grade class at Maple Lawn Elementary School partnered together with Southwest Airlines and A Million Thanks to send their appreciation to the Armed Forces through a letter writing campaign in honor of Veteran’s Day. On Nov. 2, the fifth-grade classrooms received a visit from Southwest Pilot Dan McElroy, retired Commander from the United States Naval Reserve,…

Leading up to Veterans Day 2015, Dallas ISD is saluting district employees who are veterans of military service. Each day, the series will feature a video produced by Dallas Schools Television focusing on a veteran from one of the military’s five branches. Today’s video features U.S. Marine Corps veteran Willie Nimer, who is an instructor at Wilmer-Hutchins High School. Go here to see the third story in the series: Honoring Our Veterans: U.S. Army veteran Edwin Dumas. Go here for the second story in the series: Honoring Our Veterans:  U.S. Coast Guard veteran Ben Dickerson. Go here for the first…

The Bilingual ESL department awarded Title III professional development scholarships to a group of 20 teachers and administrators from Dallas ISD to attend the Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE) conference in El Paso, TX earlier this month. Participants listened to speakers such as Dr. Kathy Escamilla, María Arreguin-Anderson and artists like José Orozco, who presented best instructional practices and research-based strategies for English language learners. Attendees also benefited from visiting schools that currently implement dual language programs both one-way and two-way. The conference whose theme was “Biliteracy, ¡ya es hora!”, is the biggest in the state of Texas for…

Dallas ISD’s Benjamin Franklin Middle School offers its students programs and activities to make them better students now and prepare them for the future. One of the offerings is the school’s first-year participation in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. If approved, Franklin would join J.L. Long Middle School and Harry Stone Montessori and International Academy as IB middle schools. “It’s more rigorous,” said James Bryan, IB coordinator at Franklin. “And it allows for more inquiry-based learning, project-based learning.” Not available at every district middle school, Franklin also offers athletics for sixth-graders, which lets them play a variety of sports.…

In this episode of Ed Talk with Dr. Bob Bravo, listeners can learn more about the leadership development opportunities in Dallas ISD. Dr. Bravo, Dallas ISD Chief of School Leadership, talks with Joe Miniscalco, Executive Director of the Dallas ISD Leadership Academies, about the district’s efforts to develop the leadership skills of administrators and interested teachers. The discussion also goes into a new speaker series that brings policy makers and national education leaders to talk with Dallas ISD staff. Click here to listen to the podcast.

Move over, Romeo and Juliet: Gary Griffith and Jackie Griffith overcame much more impressive star-crossed odds—they fell in love and later married, despite going to rival high schools. It was the ‘60s, and Gary was a Woodrow Wilson football player; Jackie was a Bryan Adams cheerleader. The schools, which are less than six miles from each other, were in the midst of a heated rivalry, each boasting a powerhouse, state-ranked varsity football team. But after seeing Jackie at a cheerleading camp held at SMU, Gary, who had dated several other girls from Bryan Adams, walked over to her and asked…

When Brooke Varner, a biology teacher at Dallas ISD’s Woodrow Wilson High School, noticed some of her students didn’t have enough to eat, she wanted to act. She started buying extra food and giving it to students who needed it. Last year, a parent approached her about starting a food bank for students. The “Woodrow Peace Pantry” fills a need – and students’ stomachs – at the school. See a report from NBC 5 here.

Dallas ISD is creating new Transformation Schools that offer specialized academic programming, similar to Magnet Schools. Unlike Magnet Schools, Transformation Schools do not have any academic entry requirements — they are open enrollment for all students across the entire district, regardless of academic ability.  Transportation will be provided. Dallas ISD employees, parents and the community at large can get answers to these questions and take a close-up look at Dallas ISD Transformation Schools at a series of open house events. The dates and times are listed below. All meetings will have both English and Spanish options available. Solar Preparatory School…