Inside Dallas ISD

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…

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and this year’s message of The End of Bullying Begins with Me opens the anti-bullying conversation to the impact everyone can make on this harmful behavior. Bullying often leads to a host of negative short- and long-term consequences that affect a victim’s education, health and safety. With almost constant access to the internet and the advent of cyberbullying, bullying has expanded beyond the schoolyard and into spaces where children traditionally feel safe. Fortunately, in recent years bullying has come to the forefront of the nation’s attention, and an abundance of resources now exist to…

In briefing more than 40 community leaders participating in the district’s upcoming Principal for a Day event on Oct. 13, Angela Farley, senior vice president of education for the Dallas Regional Chamber, noted the similarities between running a business and leading a school campus. Both the leader of a small business and school campus deal with facility needs, HR issues, and employees reporting to them. Farley told the community leaders at Wednesday’s Principal for a Day training held at Adamson High School to bring their insight from the professional world into the schools. “Think about your business expertise and how…