Inside Dallas ISD

This school year, Robert T. Hill Middle School will feature an Instruments Master Class; students at Maya Angelou High School can explore women’s careers in science through Girls Love Science; and the Mavericks First Lego Robotics Team will launch at Highland Meadows Elementary School. All of these opportunities are possible through Grants for Innovative Teaching, a signature program of the Junior League of Dallas, supported by Texas Instruments and other sponsors. Educators from across the Dallas Independent School District submitted proposals this past spring outlining original projects addressing reading and literacy enrichment, diversity, special education, STEM or arts and culture…

The Health and Physical Education department wants schools to get students up and moving and to increase their awareness and practice of healthy nutrition and physical activity. To make it happen, the department has developed a full year’s calendar of activities as part of its Coordinated School Health Initiative, or the CATCH program. A program to help keep kids healthy isn’t just a good idea, it’s actually mandated by Texas Education Code for grades K-8.  Full details of the program are online. The annual CATCH calendar combines a list of national observances, local events, daily themes, and character education tie-ins.…

Pamela Taylor’s first teaching job was 14 years ago in the L.G. Pinkston High School Reconnect Center. She enjoyed teaching, but struggled with the challenging nature of the program. One evening nearly four years into her role at Pinkston, she saw a ticker across the bottom of her television saying that there was a shortage of school librarians, and she knew what her next step would be. “I immediately began pursuing my certification to become a librarian. I’ve always loved reading and knew this was where I could make a difference,” said Taylor. She and her husband relocated to Louisiana…

Zero teacher vacancies for the start of the 2014-2015 school year was the goal of Dallas ISD’s Human Capital Management department. “To be able to reach that goal, we had to change our mindset, “said Tony Muñoz, executive director of Human Capital Management. The department came incredibly close to reaching its goal as there are currently no bilingual teacher vacancies, and only 17 teacher vacancies districtwide — many of which are in Career and Technology Education (CATE) courses. CATE teachers are required to have experience in specialized fields (such as cosmetology, automotive, etc.) and those positions can be challenging to…