Inside Dallas ISD

Principal Monica Marquez has spent the majority of her career at Louise W. Kahn Elementary School, as a teacher when it opened and then working to become an academic coordinator, assistant principal, and now principal of her home campus. It was during her time as a third-grade teacher that she first met student Selene Ramos—who is now assistant principal at Kahn Elementary. “Selene was very talkative and always came dressed to the nines,” Marquez said. “She was a good student who was always a go-getter wanting to help others, and that really has not changed in the 20 years we’ve…

Closing the gap and making mental and physical healthcare accessible to students in the South Oak Cliff High School feeder pattern is what the district strives to accomplish with the addition of the new T.D. Marshall Youth and Family Center at Clara Oliver. The facility is scheduled to open next month and have an official ribbon cutting on Sept. 26. “The T.D. Marshall Youth and Family Center will fill in a huge gap in the southern sector of town where mental and physical healthcare services are minimal, and we are looking forward to providing these services to our students and…

Dena Dutchover has been with Dallas ISD for almost a decade, and in her current post as coordinator in Risk Management, she is one of the team members who is tasked with  identifying potential risks and mitigating their effects before they occur. Dallas ISD’s Risk Management Department is a part of Financial Services and is responsible for the identification, evaluation, treatment, and monitoring of the district’s operational risks. Dutchover works on such projects as unemployment claims filed with the Texas Workforce Commission, vendor insurance, and driving safety. For the Risk Management team, identifying potential risks and mitigating their effects before…

In the five years Ashley Marshall has been managing her small team in the Homeless Education Program, she has seen countless examples of students’ lives being transformed for the better by the program. During the 2022-2023 school year, Marshall said about 4,300 Dallas ISD students were coded as homeless, which could mean they were sleeping in hotels, cars, or shelters. The HEP team not only works alongside those students to ensure they have uniforms, hygiene supplies, and backpacks, but they also reach out to the students’ families to provide them with education and additional support. Marshall said her favorite memories…