Inside Dallas ISD

Trustees will consider a proposal at their March 23 board meeting to lower the cost of tuition and expand to 19 the number of campuses offering full-day tuition-based prekindergarten classes next school year.  Early Learning administrators made the proposal to board members at Thursday’s briefing based on the success of the current pilot program at four schools. The tuition option is available to families whose children are not eligible to attend the district’s free pre-K classes. If approved by trustees, the cost of tuition would be reduced from the $700 per month charged this year to a monthly cost of $525…

Something special is growing in the Promise of Peace Garden at Bayles Elementary School, and the result aims to help feed the minds, bellies and spirits of the 500 families with children at the campus. Elizabeth Dry, a retired Dallas ISD educator, started the nonprofit Promise of Peace to replace empty lots in underserved areas in Dallas with food-growing gardens. The plot behind Bayles is the fourth one planted by the organization. But the effort isn’t only about putting plants in the ground; the “seed to soul” initiative aims to cover a lot of ground. Dry conducts cooking classes for parents…

Move over, Picasso: about 800 talented elementary students showed off their work last night at the African American History Museum as part of Youth Art Month. Each elementary school art teacher picked his or her favorite piece of art from each grade level to show at the exhibit. At the exhibit, proud parents admired the students’ colorful creations. Dallas ISD has hosted Youth Art Month in March for the past 40 years, and the African American Museum has hosted the student art exhibits for the past 15 years. Monica Hayslip, Dallas ISD Director of Visual Arts, said she was not…

On Tuesday, March 7, A. Maceo Smith New Tech High School officially became the first Dallas ISD high school to be named an AVID National Demonstration School. AVID – Advancement Via Individual Determination – is a nonprofit organization that provides students with real-world strategies to accelerate their academic performance and succeed in college or in their careers. AVID is offered at more than 5,600 campuses across the country, but fewer than 3 percent of the participating schools earn the distinction of being a Demonstration School. Tuesday’s celebration included a performance by the Zumwalt Middle School drum line and words from…