News Briefs

Texas Department of Agriculture representatives joined officials from Australia on July 23 in touring the Dallas Independent School District’s successful summer meals program. The Australian delegation is touring five states in search of program initiatives that are successfully implemented and maintained. The group included the Honorable James Chown, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Transport; Paul Miles, state member for Wanneroo; and Angela Olige of the Texas Department of Agriculture Commission. While in Dallas, the group visited the Maria Luna Food Service Facility to view the central kitchen and food service preparation. Afterwards, the delegates traveled to Jack Lowe Sr.…

The Jazz Singers from Dallas ISD’s Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts are no foreigners to the stage, but on Thursday, July 23, they will sing one of jukebox hero Foreigner’s most famous songs alongside the band. Foreigner and the Grammy Foundation have partnered to help raise money for high school music programs across the country, an urgent need. At every concert, a local high school choir is chosen to sing “I Want To Know What Love Is” live with members of the rock band. Booker T’s Jazz Singers, led by Kent Ellingson, will perform…

In just four short years, Adan Gonzalez has journeyed a long way from the halls of W.H. Adamson High School, where he served as president of his senior class and the Dallas ISD Teen Board. When AlumNow, a Hub feature that checks in with district alumni to see where they are now, caught up with him, Gonzalez was traveling to Washington, D.C. to receive the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, which is just one of the many accomplishments he’s racked up over the years. A short time later, he was dining with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. While he has traveled many miles along…

About 67,000 Dallas ISD students are designated as English Language Learners, those who do not natively speak English. That represents more than 40 percent of the district’s total student population of 160,000 students. This week, Dallas ISD English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers are taking time out from summer break to better prepare for the coming school year. For the first time, a special training designed to address challenges unique to their classrooms. The training, conducted at Sam Tasby Middle School, included guest experts who presented information to attendees. Tuesday morning’s first session focused on how social-emotional learning affects…