Inside Dallas ISD

After 44 years of working at Elisha M. Pease Elementary School, Burea Shelley celebrated her last day at work last week. Shelley, a teacher assistant, was the longest active serving Dallas ISD employee to retire this month. Affectionately known as “Momma Pease,”Shelley has been a positive presence at the school her entire career. “I love working with these kids and the parents, and I love this school,” she said. “Seeing the students come through here, graduate college, have families and then come back to see me has been a blessing.” Shelley is one of the approximately 300 district employees who retired this month.…

Later this week, Susi Parks Grissom will turn off the lights and lock the door of the library at William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted for the last time after 16 years as the school’s librarian. She is retiring on a high note, though, as Dallas ISD’s Librarian of the Year. Grissom’s mission was to support teachers and the curriculum they teach by reinforcing and enhancing those lessons in the library. That included helping with research projects, among other things. At times, the library was simply a place to gather for students, staff and parents. “It…

Students at Madison and Adamson high schools got real-world film and advertising experience—while helping promote a City of Dallas initiative—thanks to a program offered through a partnership from the Marcus Graham Project and the Mayor’s Rising Star Council. Students in the pilot program created 90-second video spots for the city’s GrowSouth initiative, which is a comprehensive strategy to build a foundation for sustainable growth in Southern Dallas. The videos highlighted the communities the students live in and the possibilities inside for potential new residents. One of the videos, which you can watch above, was shown on the big screen at…

Leonardo Santoyo, a senior at Emmett J. Conrad High School, is a 2016 recipient of the Dallas ISD Superintendent’s Scholarship. Born in Denver, Santoyo moved to Mexico with his father when he was 10 years old after his parents separated. His mother eventually joined them in Mexico, but as Sontoyo’s father was a migrant worker, he returned to the U.S. to support the family. Eventually Santoyo began joining him to earn tuition to pay for his schooling, since public school in Mexico is not free. One day while he was near El Paso with his father, they came across some university students.…