Inside Dallas ISD

Underwater robot competition. Those three words pretty much sum up the Dallas SeaPerch Regional Competition happening this Saturday at Loos Natatorium, 3815 Spring Valley Road. The regional competition will feature 67 teams—19 of which come from Dallas ISD—competing for a chance to move on to the SeaPerch National Challenge happening in May in Baton Rouge. The teams, which each built their robots, are grouped into middle school and high school divisions. The regional challenge will consist of two portions: in the obstacle challenge, the teams will navigate their robots through hoops at various underwater depths. The teams will be aiming…

Lindsey Hudman’s job teaching pre-K at Thelma Elizabeth Page Richardson Elementary School is anything but child’s play. She stays up every night going over the next day’s curriculum and thinking about what worked—and didn’t—in the classroom that day. Hudman often talks with her assigned pre-K specialist about best teaching practices, and she always attends the six-week training available to all Dallas ISD pre-K teachers. Given her dedication to her job, Hudman tries not to get frustrated when she hears from someone who thinks pre-K is basically just daycare where young children goof around all day. “Since 90 percent of a…

Due to the generosity of school adopter Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, every student at Lee A. McShan Elementary School received high school shirts last week. Senior leaders from Conrad High School personally delivered the shirts to students and described the high school experience. The “I will graduate” schools shirt program has the goal of reaching all 80,000 elementary students in Dallas ISD. Approximately 30,000 students have received shirts thus far for at least one grade level at 150 campuses. This small gesture is intended to make a lasting impression by giving elementary students a shirt representing their high school on the front with colleges…

Camp M&M Reloaded – no, that’s not the name of a teen movie sequel. That’s the recently completed spring break extravaganza between Marsh Preparatory Academy and Medrano Middle School. The two schools got together to enjoy a four-day Metroplex excursion that took 60 students, all part of Big Thought’s Thriving Minds program, to a variety of destinations that provided a perfect combo of learning and fun. The camp included four parent volunteers as well as our own Shianne Patrick, Thriving Minds Program Manager at Marsh Preparatory Academy. Social media was always part of the plan – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram…