Expanding Dallas Independent School District’s two-way dual-language offerings has been a top priority of the district. And while Dallas ISD facilitates one of the largest dual-language programs in the country, the Bilingual/ESL department is working to add 28 additional two-way dual language programs by the start of the 2016-2017 school year. Why the emphasis on two-way dual language in Dallas ISD? Cloris Rangel, the district’s director of Bilingual Programs, said the two-way dual-language program brings many benefits. “Being bilingual and bi-literate gives students a huge leg up not just in school, but in their lives well beyond graduation,” Rangel said. “For these students and…

Telling trustees that the district “must do something differently” to close the student achievement gap, Dallas ISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa recently recommended that the district sunset the Imagine 2020 program and replace it with an alternate effort to bolster achievement in struggling schools. The Imagine 2020 program was launched in 2013 at 33 schools and offered in-school tutoring, extended school hours and extra staff, including urban specialists, social workers and psychologists. At the trustees’ March board briefing, the superintendent presented data showing the program had not performed nearly as well as the more recently created Accelerating Campus Excellence, or ACE program. Like…

“Comeback kids” aptly describes the Lincoln Tigers weekend in San Antonio earlier this month at the 2016 UIL State Basketball Championship. The team came from behind to win both games on their way to claiming a state title. In their Friday night game against La Marque, the Tigers found themselves down nine at halftime. The Tigers came back to win the game 62-59, which advanced them to the state championship game the following day against Silsbee. Then, against Silsbee, the Tigers came back from a 15-point deficit to win the 2016 4A title. Lincoln Head Boys Basketball Coach Cedric Patterson says his team’s “refuse-to-lose” attitude is…

Trustees and Dallas ISD leadership say the seven district collegiate academies and P-TECH opening in August won’t just be a game changer for the schools and surrounding community. The program could have a noticeable positive impact on the entire city. The collegiate academies, which will apply to become early college high schools in December, will allow high school students, at no cost to them, to earn up to 60 hours of college credit or an associate’s degree. The collegiate academies will be “schools within schools,” meaning they will be a separate program inside existing high schools. “This will have a profoundly…