Author: The Hub

Two Dallas Independent School District campuses are among the nation’s 500 best high school schools for college readiness, according to Newsweek. The School for the Talented and Gifted was ranked No. 36, while the School of Science and Engineering was listed as No. 229. Both campuses, housed at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, earned high marks for the percentage of students that demonstrate college readiness, as well as graduation rate and the percentage of students that are college bound. According to the magazine, Newsweek “evaluates schools on a broad range of criteria in order to identify schools that excel…

The Dallas ISD Athletics Department this school year is utilizing technology more than ever to connect fans to district sporting events. Are you looking for a schedule of your school’s football or volleyball games? How about help locating a field house or stadium? Did you miss a game and really want to know the score? This information, and much more, is now all available online. The district this year is using RankOneSport, a team management and scheduling system that lets fans find athletic competitions, access maps to sports venues, and sign up to receive alerts and postgame scores. Athletics is also doing more to communicate…

At 3:30 a.m. on the morning of the first day of school, Ben Dickerson, principal of Edward H. Cary Middle School, filmed some of his, um, enthusiastic dance moves all over the school. Dickerson made the video as his way to wish every teacher’s room good luck. Really, the above video needs no further explanation.

The N.W. Harllee School first began serving the Dallas community in 1928. As a cost saving measure in 2012, the school closed for what seemed to be the final time. But this year, the N.W. Harllee Early Childhood Center opened on the first day of school to classes full of three- and four-year-olds, and loads of community support. Since its opening 87 years ago, the school has educated students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Many of those former students still live in the South Dallas community where Harllee is located, as new Principal Onjaleke Brown soon discovered. During a…

Walking the halls of W.H. Adamson High School with Community Liaison Maria Garcia, it’s unusual to encounter anyone who doesn’t know her even in the early days of a new school year. A mainstay at the Oak Cliff campus for 18 years, Garcia is still excited about her job connecting the school with parents and community resources. Since 1993 when she transitioned from an Adamson parent and PTA officer to a paid staff member, Garcia has touched the lives of thousands of families. You might say she’s a legend. Recently, she was officially presented that title by Ford Motor Company,…

On a weekday morning in a cold district warehouse, Dora Rivas makes a walkthrough inspection for the last time. After serving a decade as Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services executive director, winning numerous achievement awards, and propelling the district to its healthiest standards, Rivas is packing up her lunchbox and moving on. For the last 10 years, Rivas has worked hard to implement changes that would impact Dallas ISD students even beyond their school years. Under her leadership, the district moved to completely free breakfast and lunch for all students and rolled out the Breakfast in the Classroom initiative in…

Dallas ISD high school football kicks off this week with competitive games all over the city. For those interested in following the action, here are the schedules for this year’s football games: Click here for the varsity football schedule; Click here for the junior varsity football schedule; Click here for the ninth-grade football schedule. Games are subject to change, and any such changes will be posted to the Dallas ISD Athletics page calendar.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, Aug. 27, the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees recognized two men who lead the district’s JROTC program and a former trustee. Major Morris Shepherd is retiring and was awarded the Congressional Record and presented with a U.S. flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol in his honor. Shepherd currently serves as the Deputy Director of Army Instruction for the school district, based at Roosevelt High School, where he oversees the activities of all Leadership Cadet Corps programs. Lt. Col. Robert Davis, Director of Army Instruction for the district’s JROTC program, was selected Director…

Dallas ISD interim Superintendent Michael Hinojosa told trustees on Thursday what he learned from his listening tour that saw him ask 100 Dallas ISD stakeholders 10 open-ended questions about the state of the district. The 100 stakeholders Hinojosa interviewed included approximately 70 Dallas ISD staff members at various levels throughout the district, 20 community members, and the nine trustees. The listening tour was part of Hinojosa’s goal to reenter the district in an organized way that also helped him gather valuable input. The questions that Hinojosa asked stakeholders included: If you were in my shoes as superintendent, what would you focus…

With its total adopted property tax rate of $1.282 per $100 valuation, the Dallas Independent School District continues to have one of the lowest tax rates among school districts in Dallas County. The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees approved the 2015 tax rate during its meeting on Aug. 27. The property tax rate, a combination of its maintenance and operations levy and its debt service levy, is unchanged from the previous year. Only Highland Park ISD and Garland ISD have lower tax rates among school districts in Dallas County. “I just want to thank Board members for running an incredibly…