Inside Dallas ISD

Dozens of people showed up Thursday night for the opening of a special student-led photography exhibit featuring amazing shots of Dallas. The reception at Polk-Wisdom Library honored the fifth-grade students from T.L. Marsalis Elementary School who took part “Our Community” project. Students were responsible for capturing an aspect of their community in a photo, and art teacher Jihan Mitchell had the photos professionally developed for the students at no cost. The best photos were selected for the exhibit. “By photographing their community, the students get to see the beauty that is around them every day that they might otherwise not…

Dallas ISD’s Arlington Park Early Childhood Center may be the district’s smallest campus, but that’s OK because its students are also among the smallest. The school is the only one in the district to serve pre-kindergarten students exclusively. It opened in August and currently accommodates 103 pint-sized 3- and 4-year-old students in its all-day program. On Tuesday, Nov. 6, staff, students, parents and community members officially dedicated the new facility. Principal Enrique Escobedo, who also leads nearby Obadiah Knight Elementary School, said it takes a special kind of teacher to spend the day with 3-year-olds: someone who is patient, humane…

The School for the Talented and Gifted in Pleasant Grove breaks new ground in many ways, the most prominent that it’s the first such school in Pleasant Grove and the district’s first Dual-Language TAG campus. On Nov. 2, the new school celebrated its official dedication. Just like the school’s curriculum, speakers gave remarks in both English and Spanish. Principal Ruby Ramirez said the school develops a strong pride for bilingual education that goes further than programs in traditional school settings. “The energy behind our program is what pushes us to not only challenge the status quo, but create buy-in from…

When Paul L. Dunbar Learning Center Principal Alpher Garrett-Jones started setting up for the school year’s first Parent Teacher Association meeting, she fielded questions on why they should set up so many chairs. After all, only three people signed in for the PTA meeting the previous school year. But Garrett-Jones, who previously served as the longtime principal at Charles Rice Elementary School—which many consider one of the best schools in Dallas—made parental involvement a top priority after taking over the campus this year. And by the time the PTA meeting kicked off with giveaways, student performances and a special talk…