Inside Dallas ISD

Dallas ISD has benefited this school year from the support of more than 26,000 volunteers and $8.4 million in documented donations. April is Volunteer Appreciation Month, a time set aside to thank volunteers and recognize them for their service. Dallas ISD will recognize some of its outstanding volunteers at the 2016-2017 Volunteers and Partners Awards Reception on April 20. This year’s finalists are: Volunteer Impact Award for Student Support Arnulfo Aleman: Rosemont Schools Melanie Arrona: John H. Reagan Elementary Robert Bailey: Young Men’s Leadership Academy at Florence Rickey Cheatham: Billy Earl Dade Middle School John Conners III: John F. Peeler Elementary…

Five members of the Thomas Jefferson High School family were honored on Friday, March 31, at the TJ Alumni Association’s annual awards ceremony. Four of the honorees are distinguished graduates: H. Russell “Rusty” Brutsche; Michael Carter; Craig Melde and Audrey Pinkerton. Another honoree is longtime staff member and parent volunteer Annette Elliott. Brutsche, Class of 1963, founded a company that changed the face and sound of live rock-and-roll concerts. Interested in building things but also having a love of music, he started his career as an engineer designing laser systems at Texas Instruments. Later, he devoted his professional efforts to…

It’s not every day that an elephant shows up at your school. But that’s exactly what happened on Thursday, March 30, at Dallas ISD’s Dan D. Rogers Elementary School. Well, sort of. Ellie the Elephant is a realistic-looking, animatronic robot elephant that talks. Ellie tells a story about being captured in the wild, abused and forced to work in the circus. The program aims to teach empathy to schoolchildren about how animals are sometimes treated in captivity. Her story ends happily, as she is rescued and sent to live in an animal sanctuary. This year, Ellie has spoken to 25,000…

Dr. Shelia Brown is the 2016-2017 Magnet/School Choice Principal of the Year. She is the principal of the Rosie M. Collins Sorrells School of Education and Social Services at Townview Center. Brown grew up living in project housing in Arkansas, but would walk every day to her grandparents’ house in a middle-class African-American neighborhood. “I virtually lived in two worlds,” Brown said. “But each world taught me to do your very best, regardless of the situation. And I think that’s what made me impact the lives of so many children.” In her early career, as a teacher and later assistant principal,…