Author: The Hub

Solar Preparatory School for Girls at James B. Bonham has been named a recipient of a $100,000 grant from NewSchools Venture Fund, an organization committed to supporting innovation in education. Solar Prep is a Transformation School launching under Dallas ISD’s Public School Choice initiative. In the summer of 2015, NewSchools Venture Fund launched NewSchools Catapult, the first endeavor of their Innovative Schools strategy.  Its purpose is to create a bellwether for innovation in PreK-12 education by supporting promising school teams from around the country in creating the kinds of incredible, inspiring schools that all students deserve. Solar Prep was one of 14…

Dallas ISD’s César Chávez Learning Center celebrates Halloween with the annual “Once Upon A Time” event. Faculty and staff dress up as storybook characters and read to classes throughout the morning – which they did Friday, Oct. 30. The event culminates in a costume contest that awards the most creative, funniest, most elaborate, character most similar to the book and best all around. The winners each win a pumpkin full of candy to share. These great photos were submitted by the campus.

This year, many Dallas ISD elementary schools encouraged students to dress up as storybook characters on Friday – the day before Halloween. At Dan D. Rogers Elementary, students also dressed in business attire for career day and as famous inventors. Some of the teachers also got into the act, dressing like a matador, or The Cat in the Hat. Students in prekindergarten-first grade dressed as their favorite storybook characters, but second-graders dressed as inventors and brought homemade depictions of their chosen person’s creation. Students in grades 3-5, went to school dressed in smaller-scale business attire and listened to career presentations from community…

The rainy weather we’re having Friday is expected to be gone by the time Halloween trick-or-treaters hit the streets Saturday evening. Along with the usual safety tips, be aware that the chance for slick streets, wet grass and standing water could add to hazards your little ghosts and goblins might encounter. Safe Kids offers tips to help ensure a safe Halloween experience, including: Cross streets at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks Adults should accompany children under 12 Choose light-colored costumes if possible, and add reflective tape or stickers Use face paint and makeup when possible instead of masks, which…

A variety of studies on the topic conclude that students that enter kindergarten able to read and learn on grade level are more equipped for success and less likely to fall behind their peers. The district’s proposed $1.6 billion bond program, to be considered by voters on Nov. 3, includes plans for additional prekindergarten classroom space. At this time, such plans include four new campuses that will include additional prekindergarten classroom areas along with more preK classrooms at a minimum of three other campuses. More specifically, those proposed spaces would be built in neighborhoods where the need is greatest among…

Earlier this month, Arthur Kramer Elementary fourth-graders worked with volunteers from the United Way to build outdoor vegetable gardens with the goal of encouraging healthy eating habits, environmental awareness and responsibility. Two other Dallas ISD schools – Robert T. Hill Middle School and Victor H. Hexter Elementary School – were also part of the Day of Caring effort. The event was one of several included in the United Way’s sixth-annual PepsiCo Day of Caring—the largest corporate United Way volunteer event planned in North Texas. Through the effort, 1,000 volunteers will contribute more than 4,000 hours of service including painting and…

Ann Richards Middle School played host to a recent magnet fair at which students and families gathered to learn about opportunities and programs available at district magnet schools. The event helped prepare students for Dallas ISD’s magnet registration period, which opens in January. Fourteen magnet schools went to Richards to inform parents and students about the range of district educational options available to students. The following schools participated in the event: F. Kimball Math and Science Magnet Lincoln Humanities and Communications Magnet Barack Obama Male Leadership G. Pinkston Law Magnet Seagoville Environmental Science Magnet Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing…

In this episode of Ed Talk with Bob Bravo, Dr. Bravo, Dallas ISD Chief of School Leadership, speaks with Brian Lusk, the Executive Director of the H. Grady Spruce High School feeder pattern, and John Quincy Adams Elementary Principal Nancy Bernardino. The conversation explains how Learning Objectives (LOs) aim to focus a class on what a teacher wants students to learn in a lesson, while Demonstrations of Learning (DOLs) help teachers check if students understand the lesson. The podcast also talks about how a teacher can determine if they have written an appropriate LO and DOL and explains the resources available…

The Keys to Success/Las Llaves del Exito is a free one-day college fair for families presented by DCCCD, Dallas ISD and Mountain View College. The event will provide students with the keys they need to succeed in higher education, including information about how to navigate the system so that they can attend a college or university. The event focuses on students in grades 6–12 and their parents. A screening of the documentary “First Generation” will be shown at 10:30 am at the Performance Hall. The award-winning documentary, narrated by Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood, tells the story of four high school students…

Ernie Banks was honored on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at Dallas ISD’s Booker T. Washington High School, where he graduated in 1950. Three years later, Banks would begin playing baseball for the Chicago Cubs, starting a highly successful 19-year career in the game. Banks passed away Jan. 23, 2015, at age 83. Members of the Banks family and the Booker T. Washington Alumni Association attended the ceremony, along with Trustee Bernadette Nutall, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, state Rep. Eric Johnson– who hosted the event – and state Rep. Morgan Meyer. Johnson presented a memorial resolution honoring Banks from the Texas House of…