January 2026

Antonio Verduzco began his leadership journey, and his 24-year career with Dallas ISD, the way many educators do, in the classroom, sharing a love for learning with his students. After his early days as a teacher and more than a decade as a school principal, Verduzco has now stepped into a new role as director of Student Activities, expanding his impact to student experiences across the district.

“As a teacher, I was able to impact the 23 kids in my classroom. As an administrator, that impact reached hundreds of students,” Verduzco said. “Now, I’m in a position where I can potentially impact more than 130,000 students. It’s a full circle moment to be here.”

Verduzco began his career in 2001 as a bilingual teacher at Margaret B. Henderson Elementary School, where he served for five years before transitioning into campus leadership. He went on to be the assistant principal at the Young Men’s Leadership Academy at Fred F. Florence Middle School and Kleberg Elementary School. Later, he became the principal at Julius Dorsey Leadership Academy, followed by B.H. Macon Elementary School.

He credits much of his growth to the mentorship and support of vertical team executive directors who invested in his leadership potential. Today, he is passing on that same encouragement and guidance to his team in student activities.

“I try to be present at every event,” he said. “The former director was the epitome of this program. We saw him at every event, and that’s the commitment I have tried to continue this year.”  

As director of Student Activities, Verduzco leads 12 districtwide student programs alongside six coordinators and three managers. Together, they create opportunities for students across Dallas ISD to discover their interests and talents through activities such as student publications, chess, cheer, academic UIL and debate.

Through these extracurricular competitions, Verduzco is encouraging students to have fun and develop courage in gaining new interests, something he said can positively enhance academics beyond these competitions.

Pulling from his 16 years as a principal, he brings a passion for developing connections and strengthening relationships across campuses to his new role. He is committed to helping schools strengthen their campus activity programs and coordinates complex district competitions throughout the year, especially during the spring semester.

“It all starts with connections,” Verduzco said. “You make connections with your students, then with teachers and staff, and then with parents. We often say, ‘It takes a village,’ and that’s our village—the parents and the community around us. That’s where you build trust and strong bonds needed to make a difference for students.”

Following in the footsteps of longtime director Leonidas Patterson, who retired in August, Verduzco is continuing a hands-on servant leadership style, a personal hallmark that has earned him recognition across the district.

While serving as principal at B.H. Macon Elementary School, Verduzco was named the district’s 2021-2022 Principal of the Year. Earlier in his career, he was a Campus Teacher of the Year. He said the lessons learned, relationships built, and experiences from those years continue to shape the leader he is today.

A Dallas native, Verduzco graduated from Skyline High School and later earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University. His love for family and his growing passion for education ultimately led him back home to Dallas ISD to become a teacher. Since then he has completed a master’s degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio, as well as a master’s in bilingual education and a doctorate in educational leadership from Southern Methodist University.

For Verduzco, every program, competition, and student milestone is a reminder that leadership is most meaningful when it creates opportunities for students. The Student Activities Department has already engaged more than 17,000 students in competitions this fall alone.

“We get to provide opportunities for our Dallas ISD students to participate in any kind of extracurricular or co-curricular activity,” he said. “It’s beautiful to see the impact we make on kids. That’s what matters most. It always comes back to serving the students.”

One of the most important rites of passage in a young person’s life is the ability to do mental math without conscious effort. Children begin training for this process, known as automaticity, in the first grade and continue through elementary school. But as curriculum coordinators visit classrooms throughout the district, they’ve identified a recurring challenge: students lack the immediate recall of basic facts necessary for higher-level problem-solving, according to Aaron Daffern, director of mathematics in Academic Services. 

“It used to be that there was this false dichotomy: you either memorize everything but don’t understand what it is, or you go to the other extreme and just explore, but you aren’t very fast,” he said. “Education tends to swing both ways, but there’s no reason why you can’t have both. Sometimes [exploration] comes at the cost of your facts; we want to be able to do both.”

To balance memorization with conceptual learning, Academic Services introduced Math Magic this past fall—an initiative designed to help students develop automaticity in basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts. Mastery of these facts frees up valuable cognitive resources, enabling students to engage with complex concepts instead of being bogged down by calculating basics. 

“If all of my mental energy is spent trying to remember what eight plus seven is, there isn’t much space left to figure out whether I should even be adding or subtracting,” Daffern said. “We noticed there was an opportunity to increase that fluency through our walks this year.”

Implementing the magic

To tackle this, Math Magic provides a progression of standards-based benchmarks for first through third grades. First graders aim to master addition and subtraction facts up to a sum of 10, second graders within 20, and third graders turn to multiplication facts within 100—each step aligned to TEKS state standards.

Knowing that timed tests can sometimes feel daunting, the district designed Math Magic to be high-structure but low-stress. The program is built on a series of six milestones, following the natural progression of the curriculum—starting with easy zeros and ones before tackling the “boss levels” of sixes, sevens, and eights, Daffern said. To keep energy high, the program uses “gamified” incentives, including immediate feedback, candy, and a T-shirt prize once students have completed all six milestones.

Banners at each campus track classroom accomplishments and create a sense of healthy, inclusive competition.

“Every school has received a progress banner featuring grades first through third with six milestone circles each,” Daffern said. “Once 80% of a grade level masters a specific skill—such as doubles in addition or zeros and ones in multiplication—the school covers that circle with a checkmark, thumbs up, or their school crest.”

Promising results 

Initial feedback from schools, such as Richard Lagow Elementary School, has been promising, underscoring student excitement and ownership. As Daffern noted, “Kids were so excited. They were competing against each other, and they were monitoring their own progress—‘I missed eight last time, but I only missed four this time.’”

Beyond the classroom, one of the most heartening results of Math Magic has been parent engagement. While modern math strategies can sometimes feel “new” or confusing to parents, a math fact sheet is a universal language. These practice sheets—available as Google Docs—can be sent home, empowering parents regardless of their own math confidence. 

“One suggestion we give teachers is to send these Google Docs sheets home. As a parent, I might struggle to help with third-grade math if it’s been a while since I was in school, but I know how to use a practice sheet to help my child memorize facts,” Daffern said. “We wanted to provide a resource that parents can access without needing to teach—they can simply use a timer, quiz their child with flashcards, and provide support at home.”

Teachers have been given not only the tools but also the latitude to fit the initiative into their unique classroom cultures. Most teachers recall timed tests as a familiar format, making Math Magic an “extra resource” that fits seamlessly into daily routines.

“Our goal was to make this as self-explanatory as possible. While new curricula like Eureka or Carnegie require extensive training, these are essentially timed tests—a format most teachers are already comfortable with,” Daffern said.

Teachers sharpen their tools

While students focus on Math Magic, teachers are also sharpening their own tools through the Math Teacher Collaborative. The Math Teacher Collaborative brings educators together to build their content knowledge and instructional practices, ensuring that teachers feel confident teaching both the basics and advanced math concepts.

“Last year, we launched a three-day training for 40 high-priority campuses to deepen teachers’ understanding of math content,” Daffern said. “Since many elementary teachers may specialize in reading or are new to math, we focused on the full progression of skills. We had kindergarten teachers work through fifth-grade math, and fifth-grade teachers explore kindergarten concepts, ensuring everyone understands how the curriculum builds and where their students are headed.”

While the impact will be measured anecdotally this year—tracking T-shirt requests and drawing on teacher and principal feedback—the hope is that the combination of structure, fun, and clear goals will ensure fewer students “fall through the cracks.” 

“Students have struggled with this for a while. It’s very much like reading; if a student is reading on a third-grade level in high school, they can’t access those texts and won’t be able to do any of their coursework in high school English,” Daffern said. “Rather than trying to fix these gaps in middle or high school, we are placing the emphasis where it belongs: in first, second, and third grade.”

While the immediate goal is better scores on standardized tests like the STAAR, the long-term vision is about confidence. By the time these students reach middle school and are allowed to use calculators, they will have the foundational “number sense” to know if a calculator’s answer even makes sense.

“Kids enjoy this because they like being able to test themselves. It provides immediate feedback, and that opportunity for incremental growth is what really helps. You don’t actually have to motivate kids that much—they naturally like learning, and Math Magic provides it in bite-sized pieces,” Daffern said.

For most people, a drop in temperature means grabbing a coat. For Duran Hargest, director of Fleet Services, it also means mobilizing a team of 56 technicians to ensure that over 1,000 vehicles—including nearly 900 school buses and a new fleet of 17 electric buses—are ready to hit the road.

Electric buses

This is the first year the district will experience winter with electric buses, Hargest said. While Texas isn’t known for extreme cold, the unpredictability of the weather means the department must prepare for anything from icy roads to power outages. Hargest noted that while temperatures rarely drop below freezing for extended periods, cold snaps can reduce EV battery range by 5-15%.

“Cold weather can affect our EV buses, particularly with battery performance and heating demands,” Hargest explained. “At 32 degrees, I expect our EV buses to lose about 5 to 15% of battery power.” 

To mitigate battery loss and keep buses on the road, Dallas ISD employs battery thermal management systems.

“Our buses are equipped with a battery thermal management system, which runs coolant through the battery cells to keep them cool in the summer, and that same coolant is used to warm the batteries up during the winter,” Hargest said. “It’s a big help when the real freezing weather arrives.” 

When temperatures dip into the sub-zero ranges, Fleet Services adapt routes or substitute diesel buses as necessary, according to Hargest.

Summer mode vs. winter mode

For the hundreds of diesel and gasoline buses, however, the preparation is less about software and more about chemistry. Every fall, Fleet Services switches to “winter gasoline,” which is designed to ignite more easily for cold starts. Yet even traditional diesel and gasoline fleets demand preparation to be ready for winter.

“All refineries switch from summer to winter fuel,” Hargest explained. “Winter gas helps with cold starts and resists gelling.” 

The department works with vendors to ensure on-site fuel tanks and buses receive anti-gel and water-treatment additives, keeping engines running through all weather conditions.

Hargest pointed out that most people don’t realize school buses don’t have a simple thermostat like a car, which allows them to regulate temperatures in no time at all.

“Every Thanksgiving break, we take our school buses and change them from ‘summer mode’ to ‘winter mode,’” Hargest said. “We actually have to go underneath the hood and turn valves to disable the AC system and enable the heaters. It only does one or the other—we can’t switch from heat to AC at any moment. When spring break rolls around, we switch them all back.”

Mobilizing the team

Winter fuel is only one part of the equation. When an ice storm looms, Hargest is the first to watch the radar. Even if the district is closed to students, his fleet technicians are classified as essential personnel.

“I’ll meet with my team or send a text: ‘The district might be closed, but I need personnel to come in.’ We go to the service centers to de-ice driveways, put out salt for traction, and ensure the centers are ready for when schools open back up,” Hargest said. “On mornings with lighter frost, technicians arrive an hour early to jump-start any buses that might struggle in the freezing air.”

Maintenance is a team effort, and every 5,000 miles, every bus undergoes a comprehensive preventive check—fluids, brakes, lights, even first aid kits. Yet the key behind this team effort is the partnership between drivers and mechanics.

“Drivers rely on us to keep the buses ready, but we also rely on them to report any issues—like low tire pressure—before routes begin. It’s a team effort,” Hargest pointed out.

The challenge of infrastructure

Hargest, a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and an Army veteran with 26 years of mechanical experience, is a fan of the new EV technology—mostly because of the low maintenance. 

“No oil, no fuel to worry about; I just have to put tires and brakes on it,” he said. Yet he is still realistic about the hurdles, especially as they pertain to infrastructure.

While some service centers are fully “future-proofed” with enough high-capacity chargers, others require ground-up electrical upgrades. Expansion is methodical, and each step is evaluated by contractors to ensure the district can meet current and future charging needs. 

The transition to electric is still in its early stages. The drivers are learning the buses, and the buses are learning the drivers, Hargest said. Regenerative braking, route planning, and cold weather driving all affect range and reliability. Extensive staff training and clear communication protocols are integral to adapting to these changes.

A mission for the whole district

Dallas ISD’s fleet operation goes beyond just transporting students. Whether it’s repairing a police cruiser’s flat tire or switching a bus to “winter mode,” Hargest sees his department as the backbone of the district.

“My team supports the whole district—from HVAC and maintenance to IT and the police department,” Hargest said. “We’re a fairly new department, only a few years old, but our aim is exceptional customer service for everyone.”

Central team members who are new to the district, never had a headshot taken, or are simply due for an updated one can now schedule a time to get a professional headshot from the district’s photographer. 

This quarter there will be two separate days available between 8 and 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 13 and 14. Each session will be held at the Linus D. Wright Central Administration Building, 9400 N. Central Expressway, Fifth Floor, Suite 583. Choose the date and time that best suits your schedule. 

Updates to Quarterly Headshots

We’re adapting and improving our process to better serve the district’s growing photography needs. Here’s what’s new:

• Professional headshots will now be offered once per calendar quarter.
• To reduce early morning backups, we’ll offer pre-signups with a larger time window so arrivals are spread out and lines are shorter. 
• There will be a deadline to sign up. For these initial quarterly headshot sessions, please sign up by midnight on Sunday, Jan. 11.
• There will be no walk-ins. To keep the line as orderly as possible, you must sign up for a time spot prior to the scheduled dates.

Who can participate:

• Central team members
• Campus principals (not available for assistant principals)
• Executive directors
• Associate superintendents
• Chiefs and deputy chiefs
• Board of Trustees members

Important Notes:

• The signup system will now include a link after you sign up to add your date and time to your Outlook or Google calendar. 
• Each session lasts about one minute. Multiple shots will be taken for your selection. 
• One image may be selected for retouching, and the selection needs to take place before you leave the session. 

SIGN UP HERE:  CLICK HERE

For questions, email photography@dallasisd.org.

The application window for the $20,000 William H. Cotton Scholarship from the Credit Union of Texas is now open. 

The $20,000 scholarship is awarded to a Dallas ISD professional educator seeking a post-baccalaureate degree or certification to enhance their career in the field of education for the benefit of the Dallas ISD community and students.

The William H. Cotton Scholarship was established by the Credit Union of Texas to honor the legacy of William H. Cotton for his 46 years of dedication and service to the district and the credit union. 

To apply by March 31, you should meet the following criteria:

1. Must be a CUTX member with a checking account or a loan product prior to submitting an application.
2. All accounts at CUTX must be in good standing.
3. Must be a district employee in a professional assignment.
4. Must continue to be employed by Dallas ISD in a professional assignment throughout the course of the scholarship.
5. Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.

These eligibility requirements must be met throughout the term of the scholarship. CUTX employees and their immediate family members, as well as board members and their immediate family members, are not eligible for this scholarship.

Scholarship funds will be paid directly to the educational institution chosen by the applicant. Continued disbursement of scholarship funds requires a grade of a C or better in all graded courses and passing in a pass/fail course. Prior to the beginning of each semester and disbursement of scholarship funds, scholarship recipients must complete the CUTX Scholarship Questionnaire.

Scholarship funds may be disbursed in varied increments each semester as needed, but the total value of the scholarship is not to exceed $20,000. Scholarship funds will be available for a maximum of seven years.

Those interested in the scholarship can find information and apply at https://www.cutx.org/community/cutx-cotton-scholarship by March 31. Or you can download the flyer.