Inside Dallas ISD

When the touring show “Beatles vs. Stones – A Musical Shoot Out” comes to the Arlington Music Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts String Quartet will join the professional musicians on stage to add some orchestral texture to the evening. The show pits Rolling Stones tribute band Jumping Jack Flash against rival Brit boys Abbey Road in an all-out musical showdown for rock dominance. The string quartet will perform seven songs with the bands. Booker T. Washington High students Messiah Ahmed (Violin I), Diana Zavala (Violin II), Damian Garcia…

Two Dallas ISD elementary schools, Martin Weiss School of Leadership and Jack Lowe Elementary School, have been selected from hundreds of schools across the country to receive a grant from Leader.org. The grant, which awarded both schools with more than $42,000 each, will enable Weiss and Lowe in implementing The Leader in Me whole-school transformation process for developing 21st century leadership skills in K-12 students. This unique opportunity will teach students the leadership habits they will need to be successful in college, careers, and daily life. “We are so proud to be implementing The Leader in Me process in our…

There are lots of exciting things going in the Dallas ISD Summer Achievers Academy, a tuition-free, full-day summer enrichment camp for district students. Students are spending their days in two parts—the morning is dedicated to classroom instruction, which also doubles as a training ground for new teachers entering the district through Teach for America and Dallas ISD’s Alternative Certification Program, Compass. Afternoons are dedicated to social emotional enrichment facilitated by Big Thought, a Dallas-area non-profit. Teachers and students spend the day engaged in high-energy, interactive activities aimed at helping Dallas ISD campers grow as students and people. Dallas ISD’s Summer…

Seventy Dallas ISD seniors are receiving special assistance selecting, applying for and securing financial aid for college thanks to a collective of organizations that have formed the Texas Higher Education Initiative. St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church, 12 Texas colleges and universities, and four area school districts created the initiative to streamline the college admissions process for first-generation students interested in attending Texas colleges. On a recent Saturday morning, the initiative partners invited ninety area high school students to talk with college admissions officers, learn how to write winning college essays and to get help navigating the higher education financial aid system.…