Inside Dallas ISD

Ashley Fortner-Dominguez always had a love for education, but never thought she’d make a career out of it. She was more intrigued by Middle Eastern studies and international relations. While studying abroad in Jordan, she picked up a job teaching English as a foreign language to first-graders at a private school. Though she didn’t fully realize it at the time, that experience would change the course of her life. “When I dipped my feet it, I didn’t want to leave,” she says. “I just forced myself to leave [the classroom]and get my master’s, but there was an unfulfilled part…

Eleven tornados ripped through the Dallas-Fort Worth area just one day after Christmas, tearing some homes down to the studs. The weather devastated one Dallas ISD teacher’s home, but, like his home, he is committed to standing through it all. W.E. Greiner Middle School teacher Steve Thomas was out shopping after-Christmas sales with his family when the tornadoes hit. It wasn’t until he returned home that he discovered just how much damage the tornado caused to his home. “I consider this a life event, and life events happen to all people. It does not discriminate based on age, gender, or…

Principal Michael Jones says Seagoville High School is in a unique spot – a Dallas school that’s out in the country. Its location has in part driven interest in some of the programs offered at the school. “Many people don’t know we have a magnet school here at Seagoville High School for environmental systems, environmental science and agriculture,” he said. In addition, there are 75 or so students enrolled in the school’s Veterinary Technician program. Instructor Barry Jones said the program partners with the Humane Society to receive dogs for students to care for as they learn about veterinary. Students…

Students return on Wednesday, Jan. 6, for the start of the second semester. The final day of classes is June 2. The second semester schedule includes a day off for Presidents Day, which hasn’t been a student/staff holiday for several years. Here are some of the important dates for the second semester. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday: Jan. 18 Presidents Day Holiday: Feb. 15 Spring Break: March 14 – 18 Inclement weather makeup days: March 25, 2016, and April 11 Memorial Day: May 30 Last day of school for students: June 2 Last day of school for teachers: June 3…