Inside Dallas ISD

Six Dallas ISD debaters received $18,000 in college scholarships by participating in the Fourth Annual Roland Parrish Scholarship Debate Tournament held at James Madison High School on May 18. Through a partnership with the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance, the Parrish Charitable Foundation has awarded more than $60,000 to Dallas ISD student debaters over the last four years. Debate gives young scholars a platform to engage in civil discourse in a constructive and positive way, said Parrish, who is the CEO of Parrish Restaurants and owns 27 McDonald’s restaurants in the DFW area. “Debating helps with truancy, academic advancement, confidence in…

Dallas ISD’s Special Services Department, in partnership with the Computer Science & Technology Department,  recently hosted the annual Adapted Robotics competition. Participating campuses competed against each other with robots designed by the students. Beyond the STEM benefits, the robotics competition encourages student creativity, communication, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving, among other skills. Each class received an official Vex IQ award for their hard work and accomplishments. Participating Schools Victor H. Hexter Elementary School Ronald Erwin McNair Elementary School Hector P. Garcia Middle School Robert T. Hill Middle School Kennedy-Curry Middle School Harold W. Lang Sr. Middle School J.L. Long Middle School…

Stockard Middle School guitarist Joseyline Umana will have her song, “The Pressure She Carries,” featured at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s 43rd annual Words & Music Night. “My song is about my feelings, being under pressure, and always trying to be my best,” says Joseyline. She is one of 11 students selected to be featured from the United States, Canada, and Australia. Joseyline, a seventh grader, is a member of Stockard’s Modern Band, a class that teaches music standards through popular music and instruments such as guitar, bass, and drums. This year, teacher Beth Poquette Drews teamed up with…

Rosemont Lower hosted a ceremony on May 19th to honor their fifth-grade students who completed four years of the “Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES)” program. Rosemont was the first Dallas ISD school to implement the FLES program, in 2018. Since then, nine campuses have adopted the program, offering language-learning opportunities for one or two languages – including Chinese, German, Korean and Spanish – in each participating school. “When the students are learning any language, it opens those pathways in their brain for language-learning skills,” said Amy Anderton, director of the Dallas ISD Department of World Languages. “Frequently, if…