Author: The Hub

W.H. Adamson High School head drum major David Reynoso was about to help lead a marching band performance last year when his marimba literally fell apart seconds before he was scheduled to perform. Reynoso barely put the marimba back together in time for the performance, which he then spent worrying whether his instrument would fall apart again. But now, thanks to the $100,000 Farmers Insurance Thank America’s Teachers grant the Adamson band received yesterday, broken instruments will be a problem of the past. And for students such as Reynoso, new instruments for the school band means focusing on what matters…

Corporations and civic organizations collaborated to provide on-the-job learning last summer to more than 300 Dallas students as part of the Mayor’s Intern Fellows Program. Thanks to a $175,000 donation from JPMorgan Chase & Co., at least 50 additional opportunities will be available this summer. A host of dignitaries, along with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, participated in a special kick-off event on Nov. 30 at North Dallas High School. The goal of the event was to encourage qualified students to register for the 2016 edition of the Mayor’s Intern Fellows Program. Hinojosa, in a…

In addition to recognizing the nominees and finalists for 2015 Teacher of the Year at a recent ceremony, the district honored the Top 100 Dallas ISD teachers who help students succeed every day in the classroom. Below is a list of the Top 100 teachers (technically 102 teachers) recognized and honored by the district.

The week before Thanksgiving, more than 200 students took home backpacks full of donated food for their families. The distribution was just one of the types of projects the Peace Pantry at Woodrow Wilson High School does during the school year. The Church of the Incarnation Academy in Uptown Dallas donated the backpacks, and families took them home and returned them full of food. Some of the bags were filled from stock at the Peace Pantry. In just its second year, the pantry’s reach is growing through work by parents and students who have gotten involved. Brooke Varner, a science…

The Dallas Morning News reports on a new pilot program in five Dallas ISD schools that rethinks how to discipline students. The restorative discipline program is designed to proactively address disciplinary and behavioral issues before they escalate. Click here to read the story from the Dallas Morning News. Photo courtesy Dallas Morning News.

The 51 teachers at Dallas ISD’s E.D. Walker Middle School must challenge the school’s more than 700 students because most of them perform at such a high level. To aid in that goal, teachers attended Kagan professional development training to implement cooperative learning strategies. “Kagan is really just kind of a strategy for keeping students involved and working with each other,” said sociology teacher Robert Ramsey. “It tells them, ‘OK, you have 30 seconds, talk about this.’ And so their brains have to really focus really quickly and then it gives them a focus strategy to use to be able…

This week is an important time for Dallas ISD eighth-graders: they are in the middle of selecting a career endorsement that will guide the courses they take in grades 9-12 and, possibly, where they attend high school. The Pick Your Path process began on Monday with middle schools staffs escorting eighth-graders to visit exhibits and talk with high school representatives to help students choose one of five career endorsements. Legislation known as HB 5 requires students entering ninth grade to select an endorsement in Arts and Humanities; Business and Industry; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM); Multidisciplinary Studies; or Public Services. Students’…

The Dallas Morning News reports that Dallas ISD’s annual financial audit shows no major material weaknesses, according to the district’s chief financial officer. Click here for the full story.

Dallas ISD is hosting another two community meetings this week to discuss proposed attendance boundary changes that could impact two sets of schools. A meeting is scheduled on Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 6–7 p.m. at William Hawley Atwell Middle School, 1303 Reynoldston Lane, regarding proposed feeder pattern changes for Birdie Alexander and Ronald E. McNair elementary schools. Meanwhile, the district is also hosting a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 2, from 6–7 p.m. at Oran Roberts Elementary School, 4919 Grand Ave., to discuss proposed attendance boundary changes of the school’s feeder pattern, which includes Roberts Elementary, Billy Earl Dade Middle School, J.L.…

Solidarity was on display as men from the community arrived at Dade Middle School for its first annual Empowered Men in Black March Against Bullying. The men and community leaders participated in the event as a way to say “not on our watch” when it comes to bullying within Dallas ISD schools. “Bullying is a problem at all schools, and we want our parents, our community, our students, and our friends to all come together so our students know we stand behind them,” said Ellyn Favors, community liaison at Dade Middle School. Dade Middle School Principal Tracie Washington said she…