Inside Dallas ISD

Dallas ISD has raised the starting pay to $20 an hour for bus drivers with a current commercial driver’s license (CDL) and both the passenger and student endorsements. Anyone with a CDL who is interested in becoming a Dallas ISD bus driver is encouraged to contact the transportation department at 972-925-3451. Gloria Maddox-Powell, the district’s deputy chief of operation services, said the increase in starting pay makes Dallas ISD more competitive with the neighboring school districts. “We value our bus drivers for the crucial role play in getting our students safely to and from school,” Maddox-Powell said. “We strongly encourage…

Thanks to a generous fundraising effort and a $766,000 grant, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts is getting a professional-level recording studio to help students take a major step forward in accomplishing their education and future career goals. The BTWHSPVA Advisory Board led the fundraising effort to make the recording studio a reality. The project, which also will include the ability to retrofit four classrooms/spaces as satellite recording studios, is scheduled to celebrate its grand opening in Fall 2019. “The goal for us is to level the playing field and to ensure every student at Booker…

You could hear the loud screams and chants—coupled with the drumline’s melodic lows— from outside of Dallas ISD’s largest campus. The nation’s first magnet school was pure pandemonium when students received the surprise of a lifetime. Actress America Ferrera, best known for her work in Ugly Betty and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, appeared from behind a curtain alongside two of her friends: singer Alicia Keys and social media sensation Liza Koshy. Massive cheers erupted from the crowd of students. For a moment, the excitement from the 1,200 Skyline High School students, teachers, staff and media drowned out the…

Several Dallas ISD schools have new focuses this year, from becoming Montessori or Personalized Learning schools to seeing their existing choice school expand physically to accommodate a growing enrollment and additional activities. See a rundown below: • Two years after Solar Preparatory School for Girls opened at the former James B. Bonham Elementary School, staff and students celebrated the completion of a 44,000-square-foot addition on Oct. 5. Read the story here. • On Monday, Oct. 15, students, staff, and district and community leaders celebrated the official transition of Onesimo Hernandez Elementary School to the Montessori Academy at Onesimo Hernandez. At the beginning of…