Inside Dallas ISD

On May 27, Dallas ISD’s Board of Trustees recognized Kamila Vargas, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School, as the 2021 recipient of the Council of Great City Schools’ Green-Garner Scholarship, based on her high academic performance and strong character. The scholarship accompanied CGS’ recognition of Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa as its 2021 Superintendent of the Year. “I feel so lucky to be chosen,” Kamila said. “When I got the news that I had won the scholarship, I felt really happy that they had read my story and that I was being seen.” Kamila’s parents came from Mexico when…

More than 140 Dallas ISD schools were damaged during February’s winter storm due to historic freezing temperatures and flooding caused by broken pipes. Recognizing the financial and program impact of replacing the equipment, Reliant presented a $115,000 donation to the Dallas Education Foundation on May 27, 2021, at E.D. Walker Middle School. This donation will help provide campuses that sustained significant losses to their performing arts departments with new musical instruments, speakers, instrument cases, uniforms, sheet music and more. The Dallas Education Foundation, the nonprofit and philanthropic partner of Dallas ISD, accepted the donation on behalf of the school district.…

After experiencing virtual learning for almost an entire school year, fifth graders got to argue the pros and cons of online learning in the Dallas ISD Virtual Elementary Debate Tournament recently. Participating in teams, 129 students from 19 schools debated the resolution: Online learning is better than in-person learning. Sudie L. Williams Talented & Gifted Academy and William B. Travis Academy for the Academically Talented & Gifted tied for first place overall in the debate tournament. Rounding off the top six elementary schools were Withers, Weiss, Gill, and Sanger placing second, third, fourth, and fifth respectively. Each team had to…

Stefany Santos, a Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet senior and future University of Pennsylvania alumni, became the second recipient of the Liza Farrow-Gillespie Intrepid Young Women Scholarship award. Mita Havlick, executive director of the Dallas Education Foundation (DEF), surprised Santos with a big $10,000 check and a public recognition in front of her peers while she was in class last Friday. “It took a lot of work these past four years. I really wanted to make sure that I was doing my best, and to see it pay off means so much,” Santos said. “I’ve learned how to come out…