Inside Dallas ISD

“I feel that the ending of our high school experience was taken from us. However, I’m still grateful that I will be able to graduate, as not everyone has the opportunity to receive an education,” says William Alexander Garcia, a senior at H. Grady Spruce High School. Garcia is part of the PeerForward group that was newly introduced to Spruce to help students learn more about the next steps to take after after high school. He’s also part of the varsity soccer team and tennis team. The COVID-19 crisis transformed seniors’ daily lives, Garcia says. “Not being able to see…

Undeterred by a crises that led her to homelessness, Angelina Solis will finish in the top 15 of her graduating class at Bryan Adams High School and attend Texas A&M University on scholarships next Fall. At 15, Solis was a Bryan Adams sophomore, immersed in the Leadership Academy and played in the drumline of the school’s marching band. Unexpectedly, her family got evicted and had to move without a day’s notice to her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. “We were struggling, but my mom never let us see it,” Solis said. “I only had 20 minutes to pack all my…

For the students, teachers and staff of Walnut Hill Elementary School, picking themselves up after facing adversity is not just the right thing to do, it is a matter of pride. Even after a tornado and a pandemic forced them to adapt to three classroom settings this year, the Walnut Hill community has risen to the occasion to support student achievement. “Our teachers are strong, positive, creative, and innovative,” Principal Phillip Potter said. “They continuously strive to make a difference for our students every day.” After the school closures due to the spread of COVID-19, Walnut Hill teachers designed and…

While local and national politicians are responding to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, Dallas ISD secondary debate students applied their researching and writing skills to propose solutions to the crisis in an essay competition sponsored by the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance (DUDA). Student Activities partnered with DUDA to give secondary students in the District debate program the option to participate in two essay contests instead of the live debate tournaments that were canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, said Sharla Hudspeth, director for Dallas ISD Student Activities. “Selecting the COVID-19 essay topic was important because it allowed students to utilize their debating and critical thinking skills to create written arguments about the pandemic that is…