Inside Dallas ISD

Before the serious work of educating their students begins on Monday, Aug. 22, staff members from the schools in the H. Grady Spruce Feeder Pattern joined together for a fun and not-so-serious pep rally on Aug. 17. Spruce Principal Danielle Petters welcomed the other schools, and mentioned that she and her staff had been walking the neighborhood to reach out to more than 300 incoming freshmen earlier in the day. Executive Director Brian Lusk noted that the feeder – among the largest, if not the largest group of schools in Dallas ISD – serves about 10,500 students. With significant academic…

Each year, thousands of North Texas families in need struggle to provide adequate clothing, food, supplies and medical coverage for their children. On Wednesday, Aug. 17, Pat & Emmitt Smith Charities teamed up with Belk and Dallas ISD to provide students of two underserved Dallas ISD schools with brand new uniforms dental and vision screenings, healthy groceries to take home, and much more. The Ellis Davis Field House, located at 9191 South Polk Street, was converted into a “pop-up shop” to provide a special shopping experience for students at John Neely Bryan Elementary School and Boude Storey Middle School. Belk provided more than…

W.W. Samuell High School will welcome its first ever female principal this school year. Samuell High School has not had a female principal since its doors opened in the 1950s. A baton passing ceremony took place to commemorate the historic moment. John Vega, who previously served as Samuell principal for four years before becoming executive director of the L.G. Pinkston feeder pattern, and Israel Cordero, who served as principal before Vega and is now Dallas ISD Deputy Chief of School Leadership, handed off the baton to Jennifer Tecklenburg, who will begin her term as principal this year. “It is an incredible…

Teachers and administrators from the seven Acellerating Campus Excellence (ACE) campuses were back in school a week early to participate in trainings designed to give them new strategies for classroom success. The sessions at Billy Earl Dade Middle School focused on new technologies, new skills to motivate students, and new tools to help close the achievement gap. The increased support for teachers in the Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE) schools is designed to bring the schools, all of which were designated as “Improvement Required” by the Texas Education Agency for several consecutive years prior to the start of the initiative, up to…