News Briefs

Dallas ISD’s Gabe P. Allen Charter School celebrated the first week of School Attendance Awareness Month with a special celebration on the school’s playground. Principal Sheila Ortiz Espinell congratulated students on their hard work last year. The campus met state testing standards and earned one distinction in science. However, she said, the school came close to earning all possible distinctions but fell just short and just barely because of attendance – even though attendance was high. Dr. Sara Johnson of the district’s Attendance Improvement and Truancy Reduction department presented an award for outstanding attendance compliance in 2017-2018. Brill Garrett, wife…

The Dallas ISD Special Education Department is looking for nominees that demonstrate qualities of a distinguished special education teacher, setting high standards and demonstrating commitment for improving outcomes for students who receive special education services in Dallas ISD. These teachers assume formal and informal leadership roles, mentor and develop others, share new ideas and best practices for serving students with disabilities, and are collaborative, solutions-oriented team members. https://thehub.dallasisd.org/2018/05/16/special-education-teacher-at-hernandez-is-first-to-win-award/ Nominations may be made by Dallas ISD parents, district staff and/or administrators.  One winner will be selected for a cash award of $250 each quarter. The cash award, sponsored by Carter Financial Management, must be used toward materials, resources and supplies for the winner’s special education classroom. Nominations can be…

Dallas ISD School Leadership has developed a new principal pipeline strategy focused on attracting, preparing, developing and retaining the best educators. Coordinating with internal and external partners, the Leader Excellence, Advancement and Development program, or LEAD, will spearhead several key initiatives for the district. LEAD’s first initiative this year is to revise the principal selection process, ensuring the highest quality leaders and best-fit candidates for all schools will be identified and selected. This new process launched on Sept. 1.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has visited Dallas ISD twice in the past month, once to unveil a school safety plan and just last week to gather input from teachers and officials on the best ways to educate children. On Aug. 29, the Dallas Morning News published an op-ed piece Abbott wrote about boosting funding for the state’s public schools. In it, he cites some of the incredible academic news in Dallas ISD. “Texas has already seen substantial student gains from similar reforms in Dallas, which is arguably leading the nation’s greatest urban education turnaround,” Abbott writes. “Five years ago, Dallas…