Staff News

Now more than ever it is important to stay vigilant when it comes to cybersecurity, so Dallas ISD’s security team is sharing tips on how to protect your account and data:  

• Keep your personal information private. Avoid sharing your name, address, telephone number and school name when using the internet or any apps.
• Use strong passwords with a minimum of eight characters or more that combine numbers, letters and symbols.
• Don’t share your passwords with anyone—Dallas ISD’s Information Technology department will never request this from you.
• Think before you click. Don’t open emails from strangers, links from unfamiliar sites and advertisements.
• Be wary of messages that implore you to act immediately as well as offers and browser extensions. These are tricks designed to get you to give up personal information or click on links to install malware or spyware automatically.

If you’ve ever been to a Dallas ISD community event at a school or throughout the city, chances are you’ve seen Sgt. Simon Tapia, one of the faces of the Dallas ISD Police Department’s UNIDOS program.

He, along with fellow officer Lt. Juan Cedillo, co-founded the Dallas ISD chapter of UNIDOS, an outreach program that provides assistance and information to the district’s Spanish-speaking community, with a focus on parents and students.

“UNIDOS is a collaboration with multiple police organizations and the purpose of the program is to connect our Spanish-speaking community with resources and to address areas of need that directly impact the community,” Tapia said.

Tapia, who has worked as a police officer for 27 years—22 of them years with the district, has worked in different areas such as campus services in West Dallas.

“I’ve had the opportunity to do a little of everything, and have really gotten to know the district well, as I’ve worked with multiple Dallas ISD leaders and community leaders,” Tapia said. He’s also worked in areas such as the Criminal Investigation Division, gang unit, and is currently working night patrol.

The UNIDOS chapter at Dallas ISD began when Sgt. Robert Muñoz of the Community Affairs Department of the Dallas Police Department reached out to Tapia and Cedillo after he was inundated with requests for not only community outreach throughout the city, but specifically in Dallas ISD. Muñoz suggested that Tapia and Cedillo start their own chapter in the district.

“He brought us into this program and he showed it to us,” Tapia said. “In November 2017, we did our own presentation with DPD at Arcadia Park Elementary as our own unit. Sgt. Muñoz was doing important work bridging the communication gap with our community, as well as connecting them with resources, and we wanted to continue this work in the district.”

While it’s not always easy having to keep up with a demanding work schedule, plus volunteering at community events, Tapia said he is happy to do this important and impactful work. He was once asked by a colleague about where the return on their investment was.

“It was a valid question but it really resonated with me,” he said. “I said that he and I would never see a return on our investment. We are investing in the kids, in their future. When we give a toy to a little kid or a sticker that looks like our badges, we are creating a long lasting memory for the student. You never know what kind of impact it may have on their future.”

He recalls a moment when he took a picture a few years ago at Celestino Mauricio Soto Jr. Elementary School in front of his squad car with seven or eight students all dressed as police officers as a costume.

“I took the picture for my unit, and I sent it to them, and I jokingly said, ‘I’m replacing all of y’all.’ That’s the return on our investment,” Tapia said. “They had a blast seeing us, seeing our cars, getting a sticker, and I hope that out of those seven or eight, maybe one or two will decide to become police officers. The investment will never be seen, because by the time these students graduate and begin working as an officer, I’ll likely not be around.”

Although they might not always get to see the impact their work has on the community, Tapia says that a couple of times he has had the opportunity to work with officers who recall seeing him at their schools when they were students.

“We have some officers that remember seeing me when they were in elementary school or high school, and now, they’re working for us. They say, ‘Ah I remember you. You used to come to our school with the K-9 unit,’” Tapia said.

Tapia, Cedillo and the 15 or so volunteers from UNIDOS have worked and volunteered in many community meetings, health fairs, toy drives, school career days, and their signature “Conchas con Chotas” meetings at schools. One of the groups UNIDOS collaborates with often is Comadres Unidas de Dallas, a community based organization whose mission is to empower, inform and connect the Spanish speaking community with resources.

“The first meeting we worked on together was at [Thomas C.] Marsh Middle School because I was the PTA president,” said Mirna Mendez, founder of Comadres Unidas de Dallas. “Sgt. Tapia has always been accessible and he is always willing to help and to serve. We have worked together on several occasions, including a toy drive this past December. We had run into some challenges because we needed a bigger location for the toy drive, and by the next day, he had found us a place. Sgt. Tapia is all about community. He is a problem solver, a go-getter, and is just an all around good person who is always willing to help and to serve the community.”

If you would like more information about UNIDOS, contact Tapia via email at stapia@dallasisd.org or unidos@dallasisd.org. You can also find UNIDOS on twitter @DISDPD_UNIDOS or here, on the district’s website.

It was just another day at Kleberg Elementary School—a student headed to the office to be picked up because she was not feeling well. The day took a turn to the unusual when Loren Carcamo arrived to pick up her daughter and her water broke. 

Kleberg’s nurse, Tylar Krause, was called, and while she did not have any experience delivering a child, she knew who did: fifth-grade bilingual teacher Maria Perez Caraballo.

After hearing her name over the school’s speaker system, Perez Caraballo rushed to the nurse’s office, where she found Krause helping Carcamo through her contractions. Perez Caraballo was a doctor in an obstetrics and gynecology department in Venezuela—where she is from—for three years before she relocated first to Costa Rica and then to the United States to become a teacher in Dallas ISD. She did not hesitate to get to work. 

She performed an exam, and it became clear that Carcamo was not going to make it to the hospital in time. Paramedics were called, and Krause and Perez Caraballo stayed by Carcamo’s side, helping her push through the contractions until the baby, Leire Carcamo, was delivered right there in the nurse’s office. 

“The baby was born, and about 10 seconds later, she started to cry really loudly,” Perez Caraballo said. “It was really nice. I’m glad that it is a happy story.” 

The umbilical cord was wrapped around Leire, so Perez Caraballo and the paramedics worked together to untangle the newborn. They awaited the delivery of the placenta before the paramedics brought Carcamo and her new daughter to the hospital. 

“I appreciate the excellent service that our nurse provides to our students, staff and community,” Principal Amy Zbylut said. “Nurse Krause’s teamwork, depth of knowledge, reliability and genuine caring-spirit continued to shine during this amazing event. She knew that teamwork would be required and requested that administration get her assistance. Administration immediately stepped in and got Ms. Perez. I am extremely grateful for the teamwork and community service that occurs at Kleberg. I am especially grateful of the teamwork that was exhibited by Ms. Perez and Nurse Krause during this amazing event.”

Carcamo and her newborn were released from the hospital a day after the birth at the school and headed home just in time for the holidays in December. By January, they were happy to return to Kleberg to reunite with Perez Caraballo and take a photo together.

“I’m going to treasure this,” Perez Caraballo said. “I came to this country, and I studied a lot to become a teacher, so it was like I said goodbye to those days in medicine. It was really amazing. I feel really happy to have had one more experience in this science area that I worked a lot in.” 

The Kleberg community is celebrating Perez Caraballo’s quick action in the face of this medical emergency. Zbylut said she is thankful for every hat Perez Caraballo wears, whether it is labor and delivery or her more typical responsibilities as a teacher. 

“Ms. Perez goes beyond her classroom to support campus-wide initiatives and the community,” Zbylut said. “As our debate team sponsor, she trains our students in public speaking, grace under pressure and critical thinking. She assists our campus with our diabetic students when the nurse is off campus, she assists with translating during parent meetings to create an inclusive environment and she participates in campus-wide community engagement events that strengthen school-community relationships.”

Perez Caraballo is not looking for praise. Ultimately, she said she is glad everything went so smoothly, especially with such an unexpected and what she called a “very natural” delivery process. 

“Ms. Carcamo is very grateful to us that we did the best we could with what we had in the nurse’s office,” Perez Caraballo. “It was a really unique experience, and I think it made Kleberg more special.”

Ana Casas Sanmartín, a geometry teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School, was sitting in her classroom recently when a former student, Aaron Castro, came up to her and made her day. The senior told her, “Last year was the first time I understood math. I really was struggling. I never figured it out until your class.” And then he added, “I love angles now.” 

For Casas, that is what teaching is all about: helping students feel successful and proud of what they can achieve. Her passion shines through to her fellow teachers and students alike. 

“Mrs. Casas’ dedication to her students is undeniable, and her intentionality has resulted in a classroom culture where students feel comfortable and engaged,” Woodrow Wilson teacher cluster lead Anne Marie Light said. “Many students feel like math is unachievable for them and they have low confidence in their math skills, but Mrs. Casas breaks it down so they understand. I can confidently say she knows all of her students and what they need personally to be successful.”

Those student connections did not always come easily to Casas. She first started teaching in 2010 in Spain, where she was born and raised. It was not until 2012 that she came to Texas through a program called Visiting Teachers. She said her first year in the United States was “pretty rough” as she worked through cultural differences to get to know her students and to understand how to create a safe, engaging learning environment for them, but she has carried those lessons with her ever since.

“I want them to know that they are the protagonists of this school year,” Casas said. “They are the ones who are going to learn and have those aha moments, and they are going to struggle and learn from their mistakes. It’s tough because they have to really put in some effort, but they also feel that reward when they get it by themselves. It’s so rewarding at the end of the day.” 

Some of the strategies she uses to build a successful classroom environment include creating clear expectations, establishing consistent routines and emphasizing communication so she knows how to help her students. She also incorporates small group activities where students can learn from each other while mastering their independent practice. 

From the beginning of each school year, Casas shows up with a plan. She still remembers the teachers she had growing up who remembered her name and connected with her, so she always challenges herself to learn every student’s name within the first two weeks of the year. She develops those connections by giving her students additional space to share about their lives in the projects they do every nine weeks.

Having a child of her own has only increased Casas’ passion for empowering her students. Her daughter was born in 2021 with spina bifida, and Casas has loved watching her grow and accomplish milestones despite the obstacles in her path.

“It’s something that I see in my students as well,” she said. “Having my baby has made me also think about how important it is to support my students, especially the ones who struggle. I want them to know they have the capacity and they can make it if they put in the effort. That’s one thing we have to tell them: They are so worth it.”

Writing down one’s thoughts can often be cathartic and help resolve inner conflict. That is why journaling is commonly recommended for people who are looking to improve their overall mental health and well-being. But does it really help? 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the practice comes with many health benefits. Not only has it been shown to boost creativity and improve memory, but it can also help with tangible concerns like managing diabetes. This is because stress can trigger increases in blood sugar, so people can work to balance their stress levels through journaling and other positive habits. 

Additional benefits to journaling include: 

• Individual problem solving 
• Celebrating success
• Practicing gratitude
• Decreasing information overload 
• Understanding personal strengths and challenges  
• Pinpointing stressors and other concerns 

While journaling is a beneficial habit, it is not always easy to acquire. Start by setting a few minutes aside each day at a certain time, and make journaling easy by keeping a physical journal nearby or using an app on your phone. There are no rules to journaling, so write whatever makes the most sense or feels the most fulfilling or clarifying to you. 

If you find yourself feeling depressed, anxious, sad or worried on a regular basis, reach out for additional support. Contact your physician or a mental health professional, and take advantage of Dallas ISD’s Employee Assistance Program by LifeWorks. 

The confidential, secure platform has countless resources available online for free, including on-call counselors who are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Contact LifeWorks at (972) 925-4000, or visit www.dallasisd.org/benefits and click on Benefits Resources to access online EAP information. 

Source: CDC 

Families can transform their students’ success by supporting them physically, emotionally and academically, but first they may need some support of their own. When survey results revealed that Dallas ISD parents were searching for help to better assist their children at home—especially following the learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic—the Family and Community Engagement Department created the Academic Partnering Activities to intervene. 

With a three-year allocation of $156,000 from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund, the Family and Community Engagement Department launched a series of virtual and in-person events to give families the support they needed. 

Virginia Greene, manager of Family and Community Engagement, said her team is using the ESSER funds to provide technical support, hire teachers to develop and record lessons and purchase activity resources to help support families at home. 

Greene’s team provides Facebook Live webinars with an emphasis on math and reading so parents can easily access the sessions. They also record and post teacher-created lessons on the department’s website, and they have a FROG Bus that provides “family resources on the go” by making stops at various campuses to connect with families. 

“It goes back to what the parents are asking,” Greene said. “We always say parents are the first teachers, but they don’t always have the tools they need for academic lessons. We wanted to guide parents with skills that would give them an opportunity to see how they can help their children be academically successful. That’s our ultimate goal: the success of our students.”

The Academic Partnering Activities kicked off in January 2022, and they have already partnered with approximately 300 families. While the Family and Community Engagement Department has been focused primarily on developing the initiative, they plan to make the lessons more manageable and accessible by using materials that families already have at home in addition to the educational resources that parents can request. This will help weave the academic support into parents’ everyday routines, leading them to confidently engage with their children as they are learning at home. 

“We are helping the students continue to learn what they are learning in the classroom,” Greene said. “The Academic Partnering Activities are meant to practice, develop and enhance those skills.”

Visit https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/80405 or https://www.facebook.com/DallasISDParent/ to find additional resources and check out the webinars, and remember to spread the word to help our Dallas ISD families succeed. 

For those who have never visited Seagoville High School, Principal Janie Carballo describes its layout as similar to a college with several different buildings spaced out across campus. With 230 team members, Carballo knows it can be difficult for her team to get to know each other outside of meetings and training sessions. 

When she first arrived at Seagoville High School during the 2021-2022 school year, she needed time to get to know her large team and create the culture and climate she envisioned. So she got creative to not only bring her team together, but to also give them a space to share their talents, practice social and emotional learning and enjoy the resources Seagoville has to offer. 

That is how the Wow Wednesdays program came to be. Once a month after school, Carballo invites her team to come out for an evening of stress-free fellowship. From fishing in the campus pond to arranging flowers or doing yoga in the gym, teachers can volunteer to lead a Wednesday activity inspired by their hobbies and passions, with Carballo providing any materials they need.

“We have teachers who can dance but are not dance teachers, and teachers who can draw but are not art teachers. The talent is there, so we can really showcase each other and just enjoy each other,” Carballo said. “Sometimes we get so busy focusing on data and tests that we forget that we are humans, and we have other likes besides school.”

Visual arts teacher Robbie Messerschmitt helped co-lead their “Painting with a Twist” week alongside visual arts teacher Marcus Ruffin. Ruffin provided inspiration with four kinds of drawings, and then the attendees got to choose a canvas and paint as Messerschmitt and Ruffin walked around offering support. 

“They actually stayed a lot longer because they were having such a good time,” Messerschmitt said. “And we have some teachers who had budding talents they didn’t know, like Ms. Mendoza, who kept saying she didn’t know how to paint and made an absolutely gorgeous painting. She has it in her office now.” 

Carballo said she has been pleased with the results of the program and is excited to see it continue through the rest of the school year. Teachers have gotten to know peers outside of their departments, and as word has spread about the great activities available, attendance has increased. 

“I really do feel that if you love and enjoy what you do, then the students will find joy,” Carballo said. “As a community, we have to engage and connect, especially when we are dealing with so much. Even beyond the pandemic, we have team members whose family passed away or whose parents are sick. We have to really enjoy each other, realize that we are in this together and show grace, understanding and empathy.”

The NCAA, Women’s Final Four and Dallas Local Organizing Committee have teamed up to provide a reading program aimed at creating a lifelong love and interest in reading for third graders in Dallas. 

The Read to the Final Four literacy challenge is an eight-week competition that tips off on Jan. 23, 2023, and concludes on March 19, 2023. During that time, schools, teachers and students can win prizes and compete for a grand prize of books worth $5,000 for their school library.

To get started, register your school and third grade classrooms to participate at https://www.helperhelper.com/read-dallas/. Students can then read both physical and online books and record their minutes in a Read to the Final Four Reading Log. The top four schools with the most minutes read on average will be awarded a field trip to crown the winning school in a special award ceremony during the week of the Women’s Final Four.

To learn more and register for the Read to the Final Four literacy challenge, visit https://www.helperhelper.com/read-dallas/. 

Ashley Toole, the principal at E.D. Walker Middle School and Prestonwood Montessori at E.D. Walker, understands the power of mentorship. She started out as a special education teacher in Dallas ISD in 2011, where her first mentor—Executive Director Danielle Petters—changed her life and empowered her to start her journey toward school leadership. So when Toole had the opportunity to become a principal mentor as part of Dallas ISD’s Principal Residency Program, she dove right in. 

“I was thrilled when I first got the call,” Toole said. “This experience has been totally invaluable, and now while I’m excited for [my mentee] to get a principal position, I’ll also miss her when she leaves.”

Toole was paired with Principal Resident Maria Hernandez, who first entered education as a bilingual teacher in 2002. Hernandez went on to spend 13 years as a counselor before she became an assistant principal at Harry Stone Montessori Academy and applied for the Future Principals Institute through the district’s Leader Excellence, Advancement and Development (LEAD) department. She was later nominated as a principal resident in the Principal Residency Program. 

The Principal Residency Program is a yearlong professional development program that was designed to advance leaders. The ideal candidates are current, high-performing assistant principals who are ready to step into the principalship. The 2022-2023 cohort of nine participants has the unique opportunity to shadow principals across Dallas ISD and learn to guide school culture and prioritize instructional leadership, while receiving coaching and developing principal readiness competencies to be fully prepared for taking on a principal role. 

Hernandez and Toole had never spoken before they were introduced through the Principal Residency Program, but Hernandez said they quickly realized how well their experiences aligned and developed the “team chemistry” that made their partnership such an extraordinary experience.

They started each morning reviewing their schedule. Whether they were managing staff, reviewing the budget, walking through various classes, attending principal meetings or planning for future projects, Hernandez had the opportunity to ask Toole questions and deepen her understanding of key strategies she could use at her own future campus. 

“It has been an eye-opening experience,” Hernandez said. “As an assistant principal, I understood the big picture and my ‘whys,’ but it was different. I had to run out the door and go do it. In this program, I have been able to get a bird’s eye view, reflect and see how the puzzle comes together.” 

Hernandez and the other principal residents could be called in to interview for a principal position at any time during their residency, and Hernandez recently became an interim elementary school principal. She said she is “grateful for the opportunity” to have continued learning and developing her leadership skills, while Toole is thankful to have had Hernandez on the E.D. Walker team. 

“I am so glad that the district is investing in programs like this,” Toole said. “The result is that leaders feel more prepared, so the job itself becomes more sustainable and more people will stay for longer amounts of time. We all benefit from that—most importantly, our students.” 

Words can have a lasting effect on people, something that Wilmer Hutchins Elementary School physical education teacher Earnest Sims learned in 1983 as he was preparing to graduate from his high school in Arkansas. 

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Sims said. “I went into the counselor’s office, and the counselor told me, ‘You’re not smart enough to be successful in college.’ That stayed with me. So many things in life I refused to do because I was afraid I was going to fail, just because of what one person said.” 

Even so, Sims worked hard and graduated from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark., thrived in the U.S. Army and the National Guard and eventually joined Dallas ISD as a teacher through the alternative certification program. Now, after 26 years of striving for excellence first as a special education teacher and then as a PE teacher, Sims has earned the distinction of being one of Dallas ISD’s 23 master teachers. 

He achieved this goal by focusing not just on academic success but also on caring for his students every day. Sims keeps in touch with students years after they have left his class, whether he is attending their middle school basketball games or their graduation ceremonies. He even invited one former student to be in his wedding when he married Wanda Sims, whom he calls “my best friend and the love of my life,” in 2019. 

Sims understands that supporting students goes beyond emotional connections and academic support to physical needs. Growing up in a single parent household, Sims said he did not realize how impoverished his family was until he got older thanks to his mother and siblings’ love. Yet, they did not have a bathroom, running water or heat at home, and he started working in cotton fields over the summers as early as 13 to afford clothes for school. 

As a result, Sims has made it his mission to ensure none of his students go without food or proper clothing. He runs his own “shoe store” on campus and helps students without hesitation when they come to school with torn shoes. 

His students clearly see and appreciate Sims’ efforts—he has received a 97 percent positive response on the student survey—which has contributed to his designation as a master teacher. Sims has been working toward being a master teacher for years, so when he heard the news, he said his world stopped.

“Everything came together,” Sims said. “Those negative thoughts that I had all my life when people were telling me that I wouldn’t be successful, it was like everything stopped at that moment. It was one of the most important days of my life.” 

Moving forward, Sims said he hopes to continue sharing his story to inspire his students and help them overcome whatever obstacles they may be facing. 

“I want everyone to know that where you are doesn’t matter—it’s where you want to go,” Sims said. “Do not allow words to hold you down as words held me down for so many years. As long as you put in the hard work, you’re going to be successful.”