Inside Dallas ISD

In the five years Ashley Marshall has been managing her small team in the Homeless Education Program, she has seen countless examples of students’ lives being transformed for the better by the program. During the 2022-2023 school year, Marshall said about 4,300 Dallas ISD students were coded as homeless, which could mean they were sleeping in hotels, cars, or shelters. The HEP team not only works alongside those students to ensure they have uniforms, hygiene supplies, and backpacks, but they also reach out to the students’ families to provide them with education and additional support. Marshall said her favorite memories…

As a first-generation college student from a multiethnic family, Felecia Resendez understands the importance of prioritizing a college- and career-ready education. The specialist in Postsecondary Partnerships And Programs said she remembers being in high school and not knowing she was going to college until her senior year. “It was never something that was a goal or that was ingrained in me, and I didn’t have any resources,” Resendez said. “It was a struggle because I didn’t know how to enroll. I didn’t know how to fill out my FAFSA. I didn’t know how to manage loans. I didn’t know anything.”…

Students at Lakewood Elementary School and Henry B. Gonzalez Personalized Learning Academy have expanded their communication skills in Spanish as well as their cultural knowledge, thanks to a collaboration between the schools through an international exchange program through the University of Barcelona. Gloria Prieto Puentes, a bilingual teacher at Lakewood Elementary, and her son, Sergi Calavia, an art teacher at Henry B Gonzalez, have brought this international exchange program into their classrooms the last two years. Prieto Puentes, who is originally from Barcelona and graduated from the university, first heard about the program from one of her colleagues, who shared…

Hailey Rangel, a prekindergarten teacher at Jill Stone Elementary School, is on a mission to bring “field trips” to her students, which includes interactive activities to not only engage them, but also make learning more meaningful. During the COVID-19 pandemic, field trips were restricted and schools had limited visitors. The expense of busing students to field trip locations even without the pandemic restrictions was also an obstacle. So putting two and two together, Rangel decided to bring the learning opportunities of field trips to her school, instead. At the beginning of last school year, she did research for free on-campus…