Inside Dallas ISD

Focused. Tenacious. Goal-oriented. These are just a few of the words teachers and staff members at L.G. Pinkston High School use to describe Michael Denicola. Throughout childhood, the six-foot-nine-inch “gentle giant” imagined himself as a successful football player, and he was well on his way to achieving that goal — until his sophomore year. That’s when Michael opted to hang up his football cleats to focus on academics and pursue a career in information technology and cybersecurity. This spring, Michael will graduate from Pinkston as part of the P-TECH program, a partnership between Dallas ISD and area community colleges. As…

“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…