Inside Dallas ISD

Dallas ISD is off and running for year two of its reading academies, after a first year in which 99.3 percent of  participants completed the training successfully. The academies, required by the Texas Legislature, are designed to equip kindergarten through third-grade teachers with evidence-based methods and practices, grounded in the science of teaching reading, that support student literacy development. Dallas ISD also provides the training to assistant principals, district and campus instructional coaches, and librarians. More than 1,200 people were successfully trained last year, with 1,354 slated for this year. “We had a great launch last year, and in year…

Courses in Italian will be available to many more Dallas ISD students beginning this fall, says World Languages Department Director Amy Anderton, who describes the language as a logical addition to the district’s curriculum. “Italian is a wonderful language for so many of our students who are already proficient in Spanish,” Anderton said. “Many already have a jump on the language, due to the similarities between the two romance languages.” As of last school year, the district’s only school offering Italian was Skyline High School, where teacher Alessio Giudice instructs the only dual credit course in the North Texas area,…

It’s the last day of the school year, and Boude Storey Middle School Principal Jaqueline Rivers is teary as she thinks about why her heart is still in education after 28 years of working in Dallas ISD. “I’ve always worked in schools that had high needs,” Rivers said. “I’ve had students who are homeless, who are in foster care, who are coming from no resources. And to see them beat the odds and overcome challenges and go on to live productive lives, there is no other feeling like it in the world.” But Rivers has one word to describe this…

The Dallas Mavericks and Kristaps Porzingis, in partnership with Whataburger, hosted a #KrisStops Campaign Celebration on July 13 that included a $10,000 donation to the Dallas Education Foundation, the nonprofit, philanthropic arm of Dallas ISD. Dallas Mavericks representatives presented a $10,000 check to the Dallas Education Foundation and four other local organizations dedicated to fighting childhood hunger in North Texas. “We are incredibly appreciative to Mr. Porzingas, Whataburger, and the Mavs Foundation for putting the spotlight on hunger in our city,” said Mita Havlick, executive director of the Dallas Education Foundation. “This generous gift to Dallas Education Foundation supports our…