News Briefs

Twelve Dallas ISD students have been named among 16,000 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, with a chance to become one of the 7,500 Finalists who will take home scholarships worth a combined $32 million. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to reach the finals, with half of the Finalists winning a National Merit Scholarship. According to a Sept. 13 news release from the National Merit Scholarship Corp., Dallas ISD’s Semifinalists are: Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet  Michael D. Gao School for the Talented and Gifted Adelle Jia Solvay Linde Julia M. McAulay  Jeremiah D. Reilly Jessica H. Wang School…

Each third-, fourth- and fifth-grader received a Kindle tablet to use at school Monday at Dallas ISD’s Tom C. Gooch Elementary School, thanks to the Jiv Dya Foundation. Last year, the Foundation provided tablets to schools in the Bryan Adams feeder pattern, but this year is expanding to distribute the devices to students in other feeder patterns, including W.T. White. To date, the Jiv Dya Foundation has provided 14,000 devices to district schools for student use. Gooch students received their tablets after a surprise pep rally in the school’s auditorium.

Spend the next 98 seconds catching up on many of the great things that happened across the district this week! Watch the above video, or read below, to learn more! 12 days in… Can you believe it’s already been about 12 days/288 hours/17,280 minutes/1,036,800 seconds since school started? Here are some great first day photos, and here’s a video diary of a Dallas ISD dad dropping off his daughters. Donations, donations, donations There have already been generous donations this school year. Here’s a roundup: The Dallas Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban will donate school supplies and a Mavs game voucher to every Dallas…

Sometimes it’s more important to help a stranger than run your hardest – a time when good sportsmanship overcomes the desire to win. That was the case during the Sept. 2 Marcus I Invitational cross country meet for Katie Shaw, a member of the Sunset High School team. She saw a fellow runner on another team – Sydnee Olive of Keller High School – struggling to keep moving forward. Katie slowed to encourage Sydnee, and both crossed the finish line together. “I was dying out there, this is my first race,” Olive told Texas Mile Split. “I didn’t think I…