Inside Dallas ISD

The gym at C.F. Carr Elementary School played host to different types of exercises on Wednesday, Feb. 20, when Google took its CS First computer-coding curriculum to the campus. CS First offers a free curriculum for teaching children how to code, even if the teachers themselves have no prior coding experience. CS First uses Scratch, a highly visual coding program that can serve as an accessible introduction to coding. At Carr, facilitators from Google guided the students through a process that helped them create a story. The setting on the high seas let students choose a watercraft and characters, and showed…

Recent celebrations took the Principal of the Year party to the winners’ campuses. Secondary Principal of the Year Dwain Simmons was celebrated on Friday, Feb. 15, with a catered barbecue lunch. The day was a student holiday/staff development day, which Simmons said was on purpose so that staff could relax and enjoy their lunch. “This isn’t just about me,” Simmons told the cafeteria full of Pinkston teachers and staff. “It’s because of everybody in this room.” He specifically recognized fellow campus administrators, teachers, and also custodial and cafeteria staff. Elementary Principal of the Year Damien Stovall was honored earlier with…

Not quite a year ago, Dallas ISD’s Racial Equity Office was established to identify and remove obstacles to creating a level playing field for all students to succeed. The new department is already making a positive impact with an intentional, focused and measurable approach. The first step has been identifying inequities in the district, not only student achievement, but student access to things such as technology, specialized programming and well-maintained facilities. When inequities are found, the office collaborates with relevant departments to come up with solutions. In fact, when the office began its work, staff made an effort to meet…

Three Dallas ISD schools advanced to the State Academic Decathlon Competition by earning top scores in their divisions at the Region XII competition held Feb. 8-9. The School for the Talented and Gifted took first place in the large school division Bryan Adams High School placed first in the medium division L.G. Pinkston High School that took first place in the small school division The three schools will represent the district at the state competitions March 7-10. The large division schools will compete in San Antonio. The medium and small division schools will travel to Frisco for the state competition.…