Inside Dallas ISD

Want to know more about what’s going on at Dallas ISD’s two new choice schools? Your chance to visit and check them out is just around the corner. The Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship (IDEA) Academy at James W. Fannin and the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) Middle School at D.A. Hulcy will hold formal opening ceremonies this month. The Office of Transformation and Innovation invites the community and district staff to attend the IDEA school ribbon-cutting from 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 4800 Ross Ave. The event will feature Principal Sarah Ritsema discussing the opening weeks…

The Walnut Hill Neighborhood Association hosted a modern fundraiser over the weekend to benefit Walnut Hill Elementary. Modern Mile Dallas spotlighted mid-century and architecturally significant modern homes in the neighborhood. All proceeds from the event will go to Walnut Hill Elementary to help improve front landscaping and build a sensory butterfly garden. Proceeds from the event are expected to surpass original expectations of $15,000. Click here to learn more about Modern Mile Dallas, which plans to hold similar fundraisers for the school in the future. Walnut Hill Elementary celebrates its 100-year anniversary this school year.

Most of the teachers chose spots near the window when it came to where to sit and enjoy their special meal. Students in the culinary arts program and new hospitality course at Wilmer-Hutchins High School ensured the special guests felt like royalty – at least during the lunch period. The free gourmet meal and special treatment was in celebration of World Teachers Day on Monday, Oct. 5. On the menu was a fresh, leafy green salad with homemade balsamic dressing, delicious garlic bread, savory chicken pasta in a cream sauce, tangy beef pasta in a tomato sauce and crisp warm…

It took a few years to accomplish, but the installation of a Real School Garden at San Jacinto Elementary School will soon be a dream come true for Librarian Laurie Koppang, her colleagues and students. Koppang and fifth-grade science teacher Ricardo Ponte led a previous effort to apply for a learning garden for the southeast Dallas campus. That first application didn’t quite make the grade. “We were number nine in the ranking, and the cutoff was eight,” said Koppang, Disappointed, but determined, she and Ponte waited a couple of years, worked on their application and re-submitted last year, and were approved…