The 2018–2019 school year will start for students on Aug. 20, include a full week off for Thanksgiving, and end for students on May 29. Trustees approved the 2018–2019 Dallas ISD calendar during their scheduled meeting on Dec. 14. The calendar incorporates feedback received from employees, parents, students and community members. Important dates for the Dallas ISD calendar include: 171 student instructional days starting Aug. 20 Teachers have 187 contract days, three Professional Development District Mandated Waiver days, seven professional development days, five teacher work days, and will receive one day credit for the two evenings of parent conferences Two…

Pleasant Grove is set to get what could be a first-of-its-kind school: a Two-Way Dual-Language Vanguard/Academy for Gifted and Talented students. Trustees unanimously approved the new school during their Dec. 14 meeting. The school will serve students in grades 4–8 and feature native English and native Spanish speakers learning each others’ languages through a Gifted and Talented curriculum. “We are bringing this proposal to expand opportunities and innovation for students in every sector of our city,” Chief of School Leadership Stephanie Elizalde said. The school will start in the 2018–2019 school year by serving up to 198 students in eight…

Dallas ISD trustees unanimously voted Dec. 14 to approve changing the names of three district campuses named after Confederate generals. Each school established committees made of teachers, parents and administrators to determine the new names for the campuses. The schools that will change their names are: Robert E. Lee Elementary School will become Geneva Heights Elementary School; William L. Cabell Elementary School will become Chapel Hill Preparatory; Stonewall Jackson Elementary School will become Mockingbird Elementary School. Meanwhile, Albert Sidney Johnston Elementary School is set to receive a new name by February. The new names for the schools will go into…

Ask Terry Stotts about his job as the construction and technology teacher at the Multiple Career Magnet High School, and his eyes light up. Stotts could spend hours talking about all the reasons he loves his job teaching practical skills to students with special needs in Dallas ISD. But, by far, his favorite part of the job comes in December when his students give away the rocking horses they spent the first part of the year building by hand. This year was no different, and Stotts smiled widely as his students gave away their rocking horses on Dec. 14 to…