Inside Dallas ISD

In this video, writer and poet Joaquín Zihuatanejo shares his experience about being a poetry writer. He offers some advice to help students become good readers and extraordinary writers. Joaquín credits his grandfather as his main influence in writing. Joaquín lived in East Dallas during his childhood and graduated from Dallas ISD. Joaquín was the winner of the 2008 Individual World Poetry Slam Championship besting 77 poets representing cities all over North America, France, Japan, and Australia. Due in part to this victory, Joaquín received a book deal with Wordsmith Press. Because of that victory, Joaquín was the poet chosen to represent the…

Gone are the days when learning at Maple Lawn Elementary School meant virtually all students sat in classrooms dreaming about going outside for recess. Today, many of the school’s 500-plus students spend part of their school day learning in an outdoor classroom equipped with plants, murals, structures for shade and wildlife habitats, water features, a compost station, and barrels that collect rainwater. The installation of its year-old school garden has transformed the learning landscape at Maple Lawn. Outside is no longer just a place for recess. Thanks to to REAL School Gardens, at Maple Lawn and more than 20 other…

Editor’s note: During the Thanksgiving holiday, The Hub will take a look back at some of the best and most popular stories from our first semester. This story was originally published on Sept. 12, 2014. The 2014 – 2015 school year started off with a bang. Our first-day enrollment was the highest on record since 2000, by more than 300 hundred students. Three weeks into the start of year, we are just shy of 160,000 students. This year we caught up with some of those students, staff and parents on the first day of school to capture special moments, while looking ahead for the…

Editor’s note: During the Thanksgiving holiday, The Hub will take a look back at some of the best and most popular stories from our first semester. This story was originally published on Sept. 11, 2014. The opening day at the John Leslie Patton Jr. Academic Center’s Drop-In Center started early. A resource for homeless students to pick up food, hygiene items, diapers and milk, the drop-in center also offers a bit of encouragement to help the students push through another day. Patton Community Liaison Saundra Staton-Dillon and several of her colleagues are busy moving about the room, focused on counting inventory, organizing stock and…