Inside Dallas ISD

When Rose Amezquita was about to begin attending Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School as a freshman, she worried about how her single mother would be able to afford the school uniforms. That’s when she started to look for a job. Amezquita, now a senior, recalled how her mother wouldn’t let her get a job. She also remembered the teacher who gave her a school blazer as a birthday gift, and another teacher who resewed loose buttons on that blazer, no questions asked. She said her younger sister will begin attending Rangel next year as a sixth-grader, and those worries…

And then there were eight. After the 16 semifinalists delivered their speeches this week, the field was narrowed to eight finalists who will vie for the top prize on Jan. 18, 2019, at W.H. Adamson High School. The finalists are: • Kaiya Hudson, fifth grade, Charles Rice Learning Center • Layla James, fifth grade, Ronald E. McNair Elementary • Jasira King, fourth grade, William Brown Miller Elementary • Tynia Matts, fifth grade,  John Neely Bryan Elementary • Presley Rivers, fifth grade, Harry C. Withers Elementary • Tory Robertson Jr., fifth grade, Clara Oliver Elementary • Kimberli Rouwtt, fourth grade, J.P.…

As someone who grew up without much money, Dallas ISD Police Officer Omar Sepulveda knows what it’s like to be a kid in a family that depends on donations for Christmas presents. Sepulveda, who now serves as an officer at Pinkston High School, has a simple motto: “Every kid deserves a present on Christmas.” Sepulveda is in his fourth year of hosting a toy drive to make his mission come true. “When I started this toy drive four Christmases ago, I thought, ‘I’m not rich, but I think I can make a difference,’” Sepulveda said. “I’m trying to give back…

The co-founders of Dallas ISD’s CityLab High School are being honored this week for their vision and creation of the school with an Urban Design Award from the Greater Dallas Planning Council. Peter Goldstein and Lorena Toffer were honored on Dec. 4, 2018. Goldstein is a licensed architect and teaches architecture at CityLab, while Toffer is an architect based in Dallas. CityLab opened for the 2017-2018 school year in the district’s Pegasus Building, a few blocks from the Dallas City Hall and the heart of downtown. The high school literally uses the city as a lab to study urban planning, environmental…