Inside Dallas ISD

For the Willis family, Dallas ISD is home, as a total of five of their immediate family members work for the district and all share a long history with the district. Carla and Christopher Willis Sr. met in 1977 when they were both students at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Carla was a freshman and Christopher Sr. was a sophomore. Christopher was a fulltime student, studying music, and Carla was in the dance cluster, while also attending South Oak Cliff High School. They have been married 38 years. Their daughter, ChrisSharrah Yancy, is an…

A passion for communicating with others in different languages set Nourddine Boufekrane, a teacher of French language and culture at Bryan Adams High School Leadership Academy, on a journey that led him to dedicate his life to teaching. Arabic, one of Boufefrane’s native languages, is among the top five languages in the district, with over 300 students who come from homes where the first language is Arabic. Other languages that he speaks include Berber, French, Hebrew, Spanish, English, and Swahili. He can also communicate in Urdu and Hindi, among other languages. Boufekrane believes that months, such as Arab American Heritage…

More than 20 Dallas ISD principals have been awarded the Master Principal designation for the 2022-2023 school year, and Dan D. Rogers Elementary School principal Marissa Limon is proud to be among them. Limon was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, but spent nearly every summer of her life in Dallas. She said she always knew that as soon as she graduated from high school, she would move to Dallas. When her oldest child began school, she was inspired to complete her degree and become a teacher. She decided to make Dallas ISD her home, starting out as a…

Dallas ISD offers programs that promote girls entering the fields of science, math, and technology, and Rebecca Sanchez, director of IT Business Services for the district, hopes they will empower more and more women to pursue careers in these fields. “It’s remarkable how it’s changing every year, but there needs to be more women in the technical and scientific community, and I love to see it grow,” she said. “With the district having programs like STEAM and STEM, it’s very encouraging and inspiring to see students interested and hopefully working in these fields in the future.” Her advice for women…