During my 90-minute FOX stopdown last night — still having a hard time getting around to Running Wilde, which is a decided fall-season disappointment — there were copious teases for the 9 p.m. news recap of the James Martin High School lip dub featuring everyone at the ginormous school. Alas,…
Speaking of the Dallas Independent School District …This morning, The New York Times — or, more to the point, The Times via its new-found relationship with the Texas Tribune and, in this instance, a partnership with the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University — looks at…
There are countless studies that show children who get a full day of pre-kindergarten fare better than kids who only get partial-day instruction. Take, for instance, this ’06 National Institute for Early Education Research look-see, Is More Better? The Effects of Full-Day vs. Half-Day Preschool on Early School Achievement. (Spoiler…
Earlier this week, Robert wrote about state Rep. Eric Johnson’s October 28 letter to Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, in which Johnson wondered whether the district had exhausted all its options for building a new O.M. Roberts Elementary. Johnson also wondered, by the way, whether the DISD wouldn’t…
On November 20, 2008, only weeks after it came to light the Dallas Independent School District had come up with a sudden shortfall of $64 million, the district hired Austin ISD’s chief financial officer, Larry Throm, as its new moneyman in charge. Said DISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa in a press…
Exactly two months ago, it appeared as though the Dallas Independent School District was backing off its intentions to seize via eminent domain houses in Jubilee Park to make way for a new-and-improved O.M. Roberts Elementary. On August 12, the district informed Pat Berry, owner of Vickery Wholesale Greenhouse, that…
Maybe you’ve heard: Tomorrow the Dallas Independent School District’s board of trustees will vote on a proposal that will allow district higher-ups — which is to say, employees at the executive director level or higher — to live outside DISD’s boundaries. And, yes, that would even include the superintendent. Per…
Speaking of the Bush Institute …Its new director for education reform, Kerri Briggs, has been on the job for about two weeks now, after abruptly leaving her old job as D.C.’s state superintendent of education — jumping ship from lame-duck mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration almost a month before school chancellor…
I was looking for something entirely unrelated on Flickr yesterday when I stumbled across a cache of illustrations by the great Justin Claus Harder, who counts among his clients Disney, Cartoon Network, The Fray and, once upon a time, something called the Dallas Observer. As it turned out, the artwork’s…
A handful of Dallas Independent School District gatheredn the old board room at 3700 Ross this morning to poke at a question with big implications: How can the district get the most of its new partnerships charter schools, possibly even next school year? Born out of April’s West Dallas “School…
D.C.-based Afterschool Allliance wondered: What are America’s kids doing after the 3 p.m. school bell rings? Survey says: Only 15 percent of students nationwide are involved in some kind of afterschool program. That’s a small number. And Dallas comes in below the national average:Only 30,000 children in Dallas (14 percent)…
Photos by Danny FulgencioAt Kimball Friday afternoon, a pep rally with Common, at right, turned into a improved dance, dance revolution.On Friday, our own Danny Fulgencio was at Justin Kimball High School for what he reports was: Best. Pep. Rally. Ever. The reason: The Knights received a surprise visit from…
For the last three years, David and Shannon Croft have tried to excise the phrase “one state under God” from the Texas Pledge of Allegiance, four words added in the summer of ’07. The couple had kids at Rosemeade Elementary School in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, and the self-proclaimed “humanists”…
Yesterday we spoke with Dallas Independent School District trustee Edwin Flores about a proposed policy before the board tomorrow: “Freedom from Bullying.” Which is great news, says the Resource Center Dallas. But the center’s higher-ups believe the bullying policy doesn’t go far enough, especially when it comes to protecting gay,…
While we’re on the subject, perhaps some required reading?On Thursday, the Dallas Independent School District’s board of trustees will take a closer look at a proposed policy: “Freedom from Bullying.” District officials say this morning it was an idea proposed, separately, by trustees Edwin Flores and Bernadette Nutall; Flores tells…
As the education policy call-to-arms doc Waiting for Superman has been released across the country, educators and would-be reformers everywhere have been doing the thing you do when a Davis Guggenheim documentary (or a Mel Gibson film in the original Aramaic) comes out: special screenings and post-movie panel talks to…
Photos by Andrea GrimesTexas Governor Rick Perry grins it up for the UNT Dallas crowd.Governor Rick Perry visited the new University of North Texas at Dallas campus today off Camp Wisdom Road in South Dallas to mark the school’s first-ever Founders Day. This afternoon marked the opening of the first…
Photos by Andrea GrimesLaura Bush poses with Girl Scout Troop 92, who painted the library in Bryan’s House and organized the books.Late yesterday afternoon, Laura Bush joined former Dallas Cowboy Daryl Johnston and members of the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee to celebrate a project completed through SLANT 45,…
Dallas Independent School DistrictRound about this time yesterday, Michael Hinojosa thought he just might be leaving for Las Vegas.No doubt you’ve heard: Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s staying. Not because he wanted to; not necessarily. The entirety of the Clark County School District’s board, save for one trustee,…
Courtesy Todd Overman/Dallas Independent School DistrictJade Esquivel, a North Dallas High School teacher and 7-year DISD vet, with Laura Bush following her announcement this morningBy now, perhaps, you’ve heard: Laura Bush was at North Dallas High School this morning to debut the George W. Bush Institute’s first significant initiative, aimed…
A good Friend of Unfair Park (OK, my next-door-neighbor and fellow DISD parent) directs our attention to yesterday’s announcement heralding the launch of this website, which allows you to see how the Dallas Independent School District’s doling out the $1.35 billion approved for the 2008 bond program. Says the man…
The great Chris Howell promises to share with us later in the day a photo from Marc Ribot’s breathtaking Saturday-night show-and-tell at the Kessler — truly a once-in-a-lifetime event, since the guitarist has played Texas but once (last night) in his storied career. In the meantime: A good Friend of…
