Inside Dallas ISD

Harry Monroe, a science teacher at Dallas ISD’s Environmental Education Center, has always had a passion for teaching students about the natural world that surrounds them. One of the ways he is able to do this is through his classroom aquarium, something he will be sharing with elementary teachers across the district thanks to a Junior League of Dallas Grant for Innovative Teaching. With 48 years of teaching experience and 31 years in Dallas ISD, Monroe has seen students alight with curiosity and wonder time and time again when interacting with living creatures like guppies, goldfish, Gambusia (or mosquitofish), and…

Twice a year, every year, certain days are designated to give teachers the opportunity to meet with parents and discuss their students’ progress. This year, parent conferences will be a little different. More flexibility is being built around parent conferences by designating a parent conferences week and counting the parent conference time as one full teacher work day each semester, which is seven hours and 45 minutes per DK (LOCAL). This fall, the conferences are to be scheduled and conducted to meet the needs of the parents and teachers during the week of Oct. 23. Teachers will put in a…

When Claudio Urbina, athletic coordinator, and head football coach at W.H. Adamson High School, first learned about being named the new athletic coordinator for his alma mater, it was a powerful moment for him. Dallas ISD is celebrating coaches like him on National Coaches Day on Oct. 6 and throughout the month. “Even now when I drive into work, it’s still somewhat surreal,” Urbina said. “I can’t believe this is what I do for a living. I really enjoy what I do, and I know what we’re doing has a direct impact on the kids in this community.” For Urbina,…

Roberto Gonzalez, principal at Biomedical Preparatory at UT Southwestern, did not set out to become an educator, but he said in many ways, teaching was all around him as he was growing up in Cartagena, Colombia. His mother worked as a math teacher and then as a principal in Colombia, inspiring Gonzalez to pursue a life of service—one that started out in the medical field. “I always liked to help,” Gonzalez said. “My mind was helping people, so I went into the medical field and became a family practitioner working with underserved communities.” Due to violence that made it increasingly…