Inside Dallas ISD

“When the universe talks, you should listen!” This statement is one of the themes from this year’s Newbery Award winning book, “Hello Universe,” by Erin Entrada Kelly. Rebecca McKee, librarian at Herbert Marcus Elementary School, followed the story’s advice, and now some lucky fifth-grade students at Marcus will have the chance for some personal face-to-face time with the author. “When I read ‘Hello Universe’ over the summer, I immediately fell in love with Valencia, one of the characters in the story who is deaf,” McKee said. “Then, I landed the library job at Marcus and learned that many of the…

The oldest Dallas ISD facility to be continuously used as a school celebrated its 21st-century outlook with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 17. Sam Houston Public School opened in 1909 and most recently was a traditional elementary school. This year, it has changed to Personalized Learning Preparatory at Sam Houston, continuing to serve elementary grades. The learning is personalized because students are empowered within the curriculum’s parameters to explore and direct their own studies. Students delivered the welcome, led the Pledge of Allegiance and Texas Pledge, and shared what Personalized Learning means to them. Principal Raymie Venable thanked special…

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 this school year, the campus opened by serving students in pre-K and kindergarten using the Montessori Method of instruction. Students in Montessori schools are often placed in mixed-age classrooms. Students choose the activities they want to perform from an available range, and learning is often achieved through discovery by the student rather than direct instruction. Montessori, which was developed more than 100 years ago, is one of the earliest…

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. Funded through the 2015 Bond Program, the new wing adds 15 classrooms; a cafetorium/storm shelter; music, art and maker spaces; a new administrative space; adds outdoor learning space with access from maker space and science labs; and removes portable classrooms. The Oct. 5 ribbon-cutting ceremony included student performances, guest speakers and tours of the new wing. Solar Prep for Girls is on track to be the largest all-girls elementary school in the country,…