Inside Dallas ISD

For more than ten years, Somyung Kim worked in the financial industry, excelling at her job and enjoying it. But all the while she knew that something was missing. Kim had grown up in Daegu, South Korea, as older sister to one brother in a large and close extended family. She attended college there, but as a self-described “fearless college student,” she decided after her sophomore year to “come to America to explore.”  An economics major, Kim secured an internship in Florida with a leading hotel chain.  Later, she studied in Georgia on an exchange program before graduating from her…

This school year, 1,943 Dallas ISD students are graduating with a Performance Acknowledgement for Bilingualism and Biliteracy, affectionately known as the “Texas Seal of Biliteracy.” That figure is up by more than 300 students from last year’s 1,608 who earned the honor. Students may earn the seal in one of several ways, including: Taking three or more levels/credits of foreign language, which is at least one credit/class above the minimum graduation requirements (with a grade of 80+). Taking two or more levels/credits of foreign language, with one of those credits at Level 4 or higher (with a grade of 80+)…

Texas Health and Human Services is partnering with the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas Education Agency to provide school year 2021-2022 Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) benefits to eligible children. However, P-EBT benefits are much narrower in scope than last year. This school year’s P-EBT is for families with children (K-12) who are certified for free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and who temporarily lost access to free or reduced-price school meals during the school year due to COVID-19. This applies to students who were out because they were sick this school year…

First-year teacher and native Korean speaker, Soo Mee Park shares her culture while teaching Korean to kindergarten through second grade at Preston Hollow Elementary School and sixth through eighth grade at Jesus Moroles Expressive Arts Vanguard. Although it has been a challenging experience, Park says it is also a rewarding feeling and a privilege for her to be able to teach Korean. “I was pleasantly surprised at the interest and, for a few students, the familiarity they had with the Korean culture and language. So it makes me proud to be able to teach my culture and language to non-Koreans,”…