Author: The Hub

The traditional valedictory speech by the top student in a high school graduating class gives student leaders a chance to share their thoughts with classmates at a time when they’ve achieved a lifetime milestone. The recently completed Dallas ISD commencement season continued the tradition, providing parents, family members and school staff a glimpse into the minds of these next generation scholars and citizens. You can hear from a few of these youthful bright lights via links to selected commencement videos produced by Dallas Schools Television. Tatian Almendarez – 2015 valedictorian, A. Maceo Smith New Tech High School Kendell Long -…

See It Again is a feature on the Hub that looks back on and reposts noteworthy stories from the past year. During Pre-K Registration Week this past school year, The Hub asked pre-K students at Cesar Chavez Learning Center and Withers Elementary about their favorite part of pre-K. Hear what they said in the above video. Pre-K Registration Week is the district’s effort to encourage parents to enroll their child in pre-K, which studies show set the child on a path of lifelong learning.

Dallas ISD has continued to impress the nation’s top investment ratings firms with its strong financial management, which could lead to millions in potential savings in debt financing costs. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P), Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings collectively cited the district’s strong financial management, conservative budgeting and strong fund balance for this outlook. The ratings are important because it enables Dallas ISD to receive financing at reduced interest rates, saving the district valuable resources when using bonds and other vehicles. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) has increased Dallas ISD’s underlying debt rate to “AA” from “AA-“ and with…

Parents and their children can work together to go green. Showing children how to recycle by separating papers and plastics encourages them to recycle on their own as they get older. A family trip to the nearest recycling center is a great way to learn about the recycling process. Going outside every day with children to learn about insects and plants and the important roles they play for the environment are ways families can spend time together while learning to preserve the earth. These earth-friendly activities are fun ways to spend time together as a family.

Hugo Duran couldn’t contain himself when he got the biggest news of his life. He learned he had just been selected as part of the High School Aerospace Scholars program and would spend a week this summer studying under the guidance of some of the nation’s top engineers and scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “I was in physics class, and I jumped out of my chair screaming,” Duran said. “Everyone was looking at me, and I didn’t even care because it was so much hard work trying to get into the program—something that I really wanted to do.”…

The Dallas ISD board of trustees tonight unanimously approved appointing Dr. Michael Hinojosa as the district’s interim superintendent. Hinojosa will return to the district after serving as the superintendent from 2005–2011. Hinojosa told trustees that he will lead the district for as long as they need and pledged to continue to support recent reforms approved by the board during the tenure of former superintendent Mike Miles. “Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the Dallas Independent School District. This is where I went to school and where I started my career in education,” Hinojosa said. “I am honored…

The Dallas Independent School District will increase teacher salaries on average by approximately $2,300 as part of the $1.38 billion budget for the 2015-2016 school year approved by the Board of Trustees on June 25. The projected average teacher salary in Dallas ISD will increase by 4.3 percent to approximately $55,300 as part of the Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI), a plan approved by trustees last year that is believed to be one of the most innovative evaluation and compensation systems in the country.  Through TEI, Dallas teachers have the potential to earn significantly more in salary than the traditional compensation ladder.…

Dallas ISD Acting Superintendent Dr. Ann Smisko briefed trustees Thursday night on three recent surveys that asked targeted questions to students, parents, and campus staff to gather their feedback on the district. Trustees thanked district staff for compiling the survey results and asked several questions about specific parts of the different surveys. To learn more about the student survey, in which a strong majority of students said their teacher encouraged them to do their best; their teacher set high expectations; and their teacher clearly presented the information they needed to learn, click here. To learn more about the parent survey, in which 81 percent of…

Increasing reserves, manageable debt, a strong local economy and affordable retiree costs are among the reasons Fitch Ratings awarded the Dallas Independent School District a bond rating of AA+ for the second consecutive year. Fitch also again rated the Dallas ISD’s overall rating outlook as “stable.” According to Fitch, the ratings reflect the district’s commitment to effective fiscal management. The rating was made prior to the sale of $75 million in maintenance tax notes during the week of July 6. “The high ‘AA+’ rating reflects the district’s strong financial position and ample flexibility characterized by very sound fund balance and…

Between trustees considering the adoption of the 2015–16 district budget, hearing a draft recommendation to fund district facility improvements that could guide the future of Dallas ISD, and the final appearance by Mike Miles as Dallas ISD superintendent, tonight’s Board of Trustees meeting has a stacked agenda. The board meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Ada L. Williams Auditorium in the Dallas ISD Administration Building, 3700 Ross Ave. The meeting’s agenda is viewable online here. People can view a livestream of the meeting here.