Inside Dallas ISD

As an 8-year-old, John Paul Gonzalez often felt dumb and he would pray for help to be able to read. He used to place a book under his pillow to give God a hint that he needed help to make sense of the letters in the book. His prayers were answered the next year when his new third-grade teacher told his mother that she thought he might be dyslexic. After being evaluated and receiving additional support, Gonzalez figured out the code and was able to read. “If I had not received the services, I could almost guarantee you I would…

Dallas ISD cheer camps began with an exciting warmup to the musical beat of Turbo Hustle: “Whatcha gon do? You can do it too, with the Turbo: 5, 6, 7, 8; Right, right, right; left, left, left; right left, kick, kick, knee, knee, bend down and roll.” Middle school students from across Dallas ISD spent the first two Saturdays in October participating in cheer camps at Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy. During the camps, more than 100 cheerleaders from 10 schools learned dances and cheers while adhering to UIL COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Guidelines, including social distancing, wearing masks and washing…

Last week, the Junior League of Dallas (JLD), along with presenting sponsor Texas Instruments, held a virtual presentation to award 40 Dallas ISD educators with grants of up to $2,500 each through the annual Grants for Innovative Teaching (GFIT) program. Since 1992, this JLD Signature Project has awarded more than $1.9 million to Dallas ISD educators and is designed to encourage excellence in education by funding special projects addressing: reading and literacy enrichment; diversity; special education; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); or arts and culture enrichment across one or more grade levels. This year, more than $85,000 was distributed…

Families who want to switch their student’s learning model–from either distance (online) learning to on-campus learning or from on-campus learning to distance learning– for the second nine-week grade period should contact their child’s campus the week of Oct. 26–30. The school will record that information and get back in contact with the family the week of Nov. 2. While keeping safety as the top priority, the campus will work to accommodate all students requesting on-campus learning. In the event that the school has reached capacity and cannot safely accommodate any more on-campus students, students will have the option of either…