Inside Dallas ISD

The 21st annual Common Cents: Pennies from the Heart campaign culminated in a check-presentation ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 21, where students met representatives from the nonnprofit organizations they chose to support. This year, 320 students from 30 schools raised nearly $30,000 to support 30 community nonprofits. During the course of its 21-year run, Dallas ISD students have raised more than $900,000 through the Common Cents program. Skyline High School, Dallas Environmental Science Academy and Sidney Lanier Expressive Arts Vanguard were the top money-raisers in their respective grade levels. Skyline senior Juan Gonzalez Puente received the Louise Gartner Scholarship Award valued…

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…