Inside Dallas ISD

Four Dallas ISD educators have been selected for the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award, given yearly to educators who shape young minds in meaningful ways—thoughtfully approaching instruction, sharing an infectious love for learning, and caring for students inside and outside the classroom. The Dallas educators are: Cymone Lonon of the School for the Talented and Gifted Anaïs Childress of Hillcrest High School Claudia Simpkins of Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School Nate Smith of Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts This distinguished university award has existed for more than three decades. Each year,…

Students across Dallas ISD are receiving a powerful social and emotional learning (SEL) tool simply through a box.  Dallas ISD’s Social and Emotional Learning Department and Counseling Services Department are proud to partner with Tacky Box to provide students with a tool to help with the skills associated with social and emotional learning like kindness, empathy, compassion, and conflict-resolution that will benefit them in the classroom, home, and their communities.  Tacky Box was invented in January 2013 by Emma Phelps, a kindergartner at Lakewood Elementary, when she uttered a four-letter word to her mom. This ‘tacky’ language led Emma’s mom,…

When the world changed in the spring of 2020—and before mask-wearing became the trend—Girisha Siddappa sprang into action. He redirected his company, Fashion for Globe, Dallas based Fashion Tech Platform working with Fashion brands providing services from Design to manufacturing high-quality textiles and clothing, to immediately pivot and start making high-quality, comfortable cotton face masks, complete with insertable filters. The timing was critical as it was proven that mask-wearing limited the spread of COVID-19. Last week, he and his wife, Preeti, donated 3,500 face masks to Dallas ISD to be distributed to students, with many sized to fit younger kids.…

Step into the Dallas ISD Translation Services Department and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into the United Nations. With interpreters who speak American Sign Language, Arabic, Burmese, Chin, French, Italian, Kirundi, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili, you’ll feel part of a true global experience. The cultural background of the staff is as diverse as the district, and represents El Salvador, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica, Burundi, Puerto Rico and Myanmar. These languages and cultures mirror the student population in Dallas ISD schools. “In a district where Spanish-speaking students make up the majority of the student population, the need for language support…