Inside Dallas ISD

Umphrey Lee Elementary students and staff put on their aprons, transformed their campus into the U Lee Pizzeria, and cooked up a whole day of interactive learning. Principal Stephanie McCloud and Umphrey Lee teachers organized this day-long activity to reinforce learning in areas of improvement in an exciting, engaging way. “The transformation idea really sparked during one of our professional learning community meetings,” McCloud said. “We looked at our standards and we determined what skills the students needed to be engaged in. We saw that it was going to be fractions, and we said: ‘What better way to really learn…

Navigating the magnet school application process can sometimes be intimidating for students and families. This is why the Magnet Mentors program works to assign mentors to qualified in-district students who wish to apply to any Dallas ISD magnet program. “Our desire is to help students succeed academically,” said Keisha Crowder-Davis, executive director of Centralized Enrollment and Magnet Programs in the Dallas ISD Office of Transformation and Innovation. “We are convinced that magnet programs are a gateway to that success. Magnet Mentors helps students take advantage of available programs by assisting with awareness, application, acceptance, and enrollment.” Magnet Mentors, formally known…

Like any parent, Itzel Davis wants the absolute best education possible for her children. Her son, Landon, is a kind four-year-old boy with a love for learning, and a special interest in tornadoes. When Davis and her husband noticed delayed speech development in Landon, they knew that their son might have learning differences.  The Davis family sought private speech therapy to help Landon, and while they certainly saw growth in Landon through that therapy, the most noticeable growth has come from his time at Lida Hooe Elementary School. Landon’s school counselor, Ms. Passmore, recommended that the Davis family have Landon…

Before he began shaping lives in Dallas ISD as an educator, Robert Gonzalez was a family doctor in Colombia who made sure kids were healthy. Gonzalez left Colombia for Texas as his home country grew increasingly dangerous. He felt called to become a teacher and joined Dallas ISD through the alternative certification program. “Serving students and serving patients as a doctor are very similar: You get to make a positive difference in a child’s life,” Gonzalez said. Gonzalez went on to become an instructional coach, assistant principal and, most recently, principal of Stevens Park Elementary. He jumped at the opportunity…