Inside Dallas ISD

Lights On Afterschool is one of the best and brightest moments in afterschool that is celebrated the third Thursday in October nationwide by afterschool providers. This is a time for students to shine and share the amazing things they are involved in every day after the school bell rings.  It is a day that was launched by The Afterschool Alliance in October 2000 with celebrations in 1,200 communities and to date more than 8,000 events are held on this national day. The Dallas ISD Extended Learning Opportunities Department prides itself to offer programs that are engaging, enriching, and empowering to students…

For the fifth consecutive year, JCPenney is donating new uniforms and books to Dallas ISD students in partnership with Pat & Emmitt Smith Charities. The donation has become an annual tradition that in normal years includes a fashion show complete with school supplies and other goodies for students from the receiving schools. This year, due to the need to protect students and staff during the pandemic, the charity is delivering the uniforms and  books donated by KPMG to the campuses with little fanfare. Still, the donation is an impressive example of corporate citizenship, said Dallas ISD Acting Chief of Communications…

On the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 20 tornado that destroyed his campus, causing the relocation of the school to Tom Field Elementary, Walnut Hill Elementary Principal Phillip Potter recounts how his staff was fundamental in rebuilding trust during the transition period to their temporary campus. What do you celebrate on this anniversary? I celebrate that we have a great school culture and that we have great people in Walnut Hill Elementary, and that’s really what’s made this work.  We definitely feel like we’ve been through a lot of challenges, but the process has gone well. Our teachers and staff…

Tornadoes destroyed three Northwest Dallas schools on Oct. 20, 2019. In a matter of days, the students and staff from the displaced campuses were reassigned to existing Dallas ISD buildings. Walnut Hill Elementary moved operations to Tom Field Elementary School. Students from Cary Middle School were split into Franklin and Medrano middle schools. And Thomas Jefferson High took over the Thomas Edison Learning Center complex. In January, the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved a plan to renovate Thomas Jefferson High School and build a new consolidated pre-K through eighth-grade campus to replace Walnut Hill Elementary School and Cary…