News Briefs

African Americans have had immeasurable impact and contributed to the quality, progress and access of education to all races and creeds within the Dallas Independent School District and community. Read about some of our schools’ namesakes and their historical contributions to Dallas ISD. Booker T. Washington: Booker T. Washington taught himself to read after long days of working in a coal mine and salt furnace in West Virginia. A graduate of Hampton Institute in West Virginia, Washington would later return to his alma mater to teach classes there.  In 1881, he created the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Before he…

Students at Dallas ISD’s John Leslie Patton Jr. Academic Center who cannot afford uniforms will benefit from a recent donation to the school. In January, Soccorro Dinsmore, who owns several Levine’s department stores, donated $600 worth of uniform shirts and pants. The gift was coordinated by the district’s Volunteer and Partnership Services. The Patton Academic Center serves 132 students who arrive as over-age and lacking in school credits in comparison to their grade-level peers. Through a high-quality, customized educational experience, students take accelerated courses to catch up and complete their diplomas.

Robert Folsom, a Sunset High School graduate who went on to be mayor of Dallas and have a tremendous impact on the city, died last month. The Dallas Morning News ran an in-depth obituary on Folsom that notes his many accomplishments, including helping bring the NBA and NHL to Dallas. Go here to read the full DMN obituary on Folsom.

Dallas ISD is the only school district in Texas to win a 2017 National Safety Council Our Driving Concern Texas Employer Traffic Safety Award for emphasizing traffic safety. The district’s Risk Management Services is one of 15 Texas employers to be recognized this year, and it is being awarded an Exemplary award for its commitment to protecting employees on the road. Employee education, training and other activities centered on traffic safety were considered in determining the award recipients. The Exemplary award is the top one in the program, and Dallas ISD is one of only four entities, among cities and companies,…