Inside Dallas ISD

Thanks to a coalition of concerned citizens—individuals, organizations and alumni, including the Zan Holmes Community Outreach Center, Cornerstone Baptist Church, James Madison Alumni, and volunteers Mary Morgan and Diane Johnson–112 Madison High School seniors were showered with a variety of gifts just before graduation. The students received swag baskets with hygiene items, backpacks, products for their dorm rooms, gift cards, snacks and home-baked goods to say congratulations, job well done!

Despite a global pandemic, Dallas ISD competitive Robotics continues to excel at the highest levels. Three all-girl teams won awards at the VEX Robotics World Championship competing against over 200 teams from all over the world! The LadyBots of Casa View Elementary won the Online Challenge STEM Research Project Award. GirlPower from Winnetka Elementary won the Energy Award and the RoboBeasts of Robert T. Hill Middle School won the Innovate Award. Competitive robotics helps to promote interest and awareness in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

Karen Citlalli Chavarria, a senior at H. Grady Spruce High School, was born in Dallas and raised in Mexico City. In 2018, she returned to her hometown to attend high school, where she excelled academically. At Spruce, Chavarria was part of the Peer Forward group and also participated in dance, choir and photography. “Dance helped me to obtain more confidence, and I had the opportunity to join the drill team. I love to sing, so being in choir helped me to connect with the music. Photography brought me many opportunities, such as being recognized with the State VASE Gold Seal…

One of the goals of the Dallas ISD Bilingual/ESL Department is to provide parents/guardians, the foundations, skills and tools to develop their confidence in the English language and to support their children academically at home. For that reason, the department offers English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to parents who have recently arrived in the United States and enrolled their children in Dallas ISD. Parents who have joined the ESL virtual classes have seen results and benefits that will undoubtedly help them in their daily lives. “I’m learning English for my sons, to be able to communicate better and…