Inside Dallas ISD

Student teams from 20 Dallas ISD schools got their marching orders on Thursday, Jan. 31, to make a positive impact on their communities through the 2019 Aspen Challenge. The teams will choose one of five challenges to develop solutions for, culminating in the Dallas competition in late March. The Dallas winner will compete in the final round in Aspen. They are challenged to tailor strategies to fit their individual communities. The challenge is an eight-week competition sponsored and coordinated by the Aspen Institute. “We aren’t asking you to change the world in eight weeks,” said Zachary Epps, Program Manager for…

Through a partnership with entrepreneur Roland G. Parrish and the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance, four Dallas ISD students competed in a public debate on Tuesday at James Madison High School. The topic of the public debate was RESOLVED: The United States should abolish the Electoral College and elect the U.S. President by popular vote. The four students qualified to compete in the Roland Parrish Scholarship Debate by taking top honors at the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance Fall City Championship in December 2018. The winning students of that competition were from The Science and Engineering Magnet and Irma Lerma Rangel Young…

It’s a Tuesday afternoon at Wilmer-Hutchins Elementary School, and eight fifth-graders are meticulously crocheting hats and scarves. Charlotte Geisler, the Wilmer-Hutchins Elementary Campus Teacher of the Year, leads the club that meets after lunch. Geisler makes monthly trips to a homeless shelter to donate the hats and scarves made by the students. “This not only teaches students a skill they can use for life, but it teaches them to give back,” Geisler said. For fifth-grader Daranisha, the club is a chance to have quiet time to reflect. “If I’m in a bad mood or having a bad day, this helps…

Parents looking for a school for their gifted child now have two additional options available in Oak Cliff. The district will open Roger Q. Mills School for the Talented and Gifted and Mark Twain School for the Talented and Gifted in August 2019. Both will cater to gifted students who need a challenging academic environment to reach their full potential. Admission is based on academic achievement, and applications are required. Mills is accepting applications for incoming first- through sixth-graders, and will eventually expand to eighth grade. Twain is accepting applications for students entering grades one through five. Applications will be…