Inside Dallas ISD

For the third year, Dallas ISD has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education.  Now in its 23rd year, the designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. To qualify for the Best Communities designation, Dallas ISD answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by the…

Fourteen outstanding Dallas ISD teachers were recognized May 17 with Texas Instruments’ Innovations in STEM Teaching Awards. The Texas Instruments (TI) Foundation gave the $140,000 grant to the Dallas Education Foundation (DEF), which then provided the award to the teachers. Each honoree receives $10,000, of which $5,000 is directly awarded to the teacher. The other $5,000 is to be used at his or her discretion for professional development or instructional technology. “We know how difficult teaching is, and teaching at the level these professionals do is even more difficult,” said Dallas ISD STEM Executive Director Michael Ruiz.  “Putting a spotlight…

The email caused David W. Carter High School’s Kennedi Grant to scream so loud she momentarily disrupted a baseball game. Kennedi had been praying and constantly refreshing her inbox just for this: The email said she would receive a full scholarship valued at nearly $250,000 to Texas Christian University through the Community Scholars Program. “This is just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” Kennedi said. “We’ve been trying to figure out how to pay for student loans. Being able to go four years with a free education at a school that I love is just an incredible feeling.” Kennedi…

The joy of teaching and an appreciation for Dallas ISD’s diversity turned a temporary teaching assignment in the U.S. into a 28-year tenure in the district for Zoe Nelle.  She currently serves as an ESL instructional specialist within the district’s Dual Language ESL department, where she has the honor of coaching and empowering teachers and staff to make an impact in the lives and academic pursuits of Emergent Bilingual students.   Nelle is an immigrant from the Bicol Region of the southern islands of the Philippines, where she was born and raised. In the early ’90s, at the age of 28,…