A third of this year’s Dallas ISD valedictorians and salutatorians are scholar-athletes. Honored for outstanding academic achievement, these students also excelled in golf, football, track, baseball and other sports. Many will attend college on athletic and academic scholarships. Director of Athletics Gil Garza congratulated these academic and athletic stars. Garza said the accomplishments of this year’s scholar-athletes is evidence that the district’s athletic program is growing in the right direction. “We are very excited to announce that 34 percent of the valedictorians and salutatorians from our 22 comprehensive high schools participated in athletics this school year,” he said. “This fact…

Studies show that students can lose up to a full month of instructional growth by not actively reading over the summer. Dallas ISD is working to close the summer reading gap by providing a range of opportunities for students, parents and other members of the community to beat the heat through books. Library Media Services last summer opened 31 school libraries as part of their summer reading effort. This year, Library and Media Services is opening 32 school libraries across the district from 8 a.m.–2:30 p.m. from June 15–July 16. Gay Patrick, director of Library Media Services, said parents, students, and community members checked…

Noting the district’s strong financial position, Dallas ISD Chief of Finance Jim Terry told trustees on Thursday that the district is now projecting to end the year with approximately $330 million in the reserve fund balance. The state recommends a school district have a reserve fund balance, which is basically a school district’s equivalent of a person’s savings fund, to cover two months in expenses; Dallas ISD’s reserve fund balance would cover three months in expenses. Terry noted that the district’s projected $330 million fund balance is significantly higher than just six years ago, when the fund balance was $37…

One mom was so determined to turn in an application for her child to attend one of the district’s two new Transformation Schools opening next year, she dropped off the application in-person while on her way to the hospital with pregnancy-related contractions. Meanwhile, district staff who called other parents to tell them their child could attend one of the Transformation Schools next school year were often greeted with screams of joy. Mike Koprowski, chief of transformation and innovation, shared these stories with trustees on Thursday to describe the excitement surrounding the Transformation Schools. “The response really exceeded our expectations,” he said.…