Help salute excellence; nominate a Core 4 colleague

Core 4 Friday is back! The district is eager to highlight district employees who do an outstanding job providing great customer service to external and internal publics. The search is on for those who go above and beyond to exemplify the Core 4: Focused on student achievement; Fast and Flexible in the delivery of services or products to every customer; and Friendly—no matter the answer.

Help celebrate these dedicated employees for their commitment to serving others by nominating them for Core 4 recogition. Each month, nominees are recognized on the Core 4 website, and their names are entered in a random drawing for one of four $25 gift cards courtesy of the organization Love in Motion that seeks to make Dallas a city where love is the change agent for positive growth and direction. Gift card winners will be announced on the last Friday of each month on Core 4 Friday.

No self-nominations, please. All nominees will be vetted with supervisors from their service areas. Go here to nominate, or visit the Core 4 webpage.

Why I Teach: Lauren Closner at Arthur Kramer Elementary School

“I teach so I can see that spark in my students when they read that word or sentence for the first time. It’s the best feeling for them, and it’s the best feeling for me”

Lauren Closner is a first-grade teacher at Arthur Kramer Elementary School, and she has taught in Dallas ISD for two years.

Why I Teach asks teachers across Dallas ISD why they love being an educator.

 

Health/PE Department taps new name to reflect broader duties

The Dallas ISD Health and Physical Education Department has a new name to reflect its additional role to provide districtwide support for the physical, social and emotional well-being of students, families and staff.

Now called the Urban School Wellness Department, it will continue to provide curriculum, assessment and professional development for health and physical education for grades K-12.

The department has become responsible for supporting district compliance with many local, state and federal mandates related to the overall health and wellness of the school community. That means it has to help build an infrastructure to support activities to achieve those goals.

One way it accomplishes such a broad mission is to provide a coordinated wellness message across classroom content areas and departments using the “Connecting Wellness Calendar.” Each six weeks, highlights include theme days, national observances, Dallas-based events, district initiatives and staff wellness programs.

As the department’s role has expanded, so have the district’s recognitions because of its work. Some of the recent awards include a USDA Healthier US School Challenge Award for all elementary and middle schools; Texas Catch (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) Champion Award; It’s Time Texas, Health Advisory Council Award and more.

Urban School Wellness Department director Barbara Johnson credits the Board of Trustees and Superintendent Michael Hinojosa with their support of health programs for students.

“Academic achievement will improve with healthier students,” Johnson said. “Quality instruction includes educating the whole child. All students can achieve if they are in a healthy and supportive school environment.”

Wanted: Staff to work varsity football games

The Athletics Department invites you to enjoy best seat in the house this football season! The department is looking for energetic district employees available to work the chain crew for varsity football games at any of our nine central athletic facilities. This is a supplemental assignment that requires dedication to the entire football season.

To lear more, email the department at NotifyAthletics@Dallasisd.org with your area of interest and experience.  

Four district teachers travel to Honduras for library project

This summer, four Dallas ISD teachers traveled to Honduras for a professional development and supply donation for a library/computer lab project in San Rafael, Choluteca.

Richard Lagow Elmentary teacher Jenny Gutierrez Le organized the trip, and took along fellow teachers Joseph Ellis (special education), Merarí Garcia (mathematics) and Samantha White (science).

“I was very proud to represent our school Richard Lagow in Honduras,” Le said. “And I was blessed to have taken with me such as terrific team of teachers: Ms. White, Ms. Garcia, and Mr. Ellis.”

Teachers enjoy personalized professional development (video)

Teachers over the summer participated in professional development that was tailored to their individual needs.

The sessions provided an engaging environment for educators to learn from the best content-based instructors. Teachers could also explore new technology and practices, delve into content areas, discover the benefits of Social and Emotional Learning, and much more.

Watch the above video for an inside look into the sessions.

Dallas ISD is excited to announce the LearnStorm challenge from Khan Academy

Dallas ISD has partnered with Khan Academy, the popular nonprofit online learning site, to give teachers access to Khan Academy’s LearnStorm six-week national learning challenge. Teachers can sign up to share the free learning challenge with their students in grades three through 12 anywhere in the country. LearnStorm combines Khan Academy’s thousands of free, standards-aligned exercises with new, limited-time-only incentives to engage, celebrate and reward every student, no matter their level.

The window for teachers to sign up for the challenge is now open, and the challenge runs from September 12 to October 20. The  link to more information about the six-week learning challenge is available at https://clever.com/in/dallasisd. Teachers can go here to view the Khan Academy video explaining the challenge.

Teachers and staff bring district to the doorstep during Neighborhood Walk

Rosemont Elementary students Idaliz and Ozandro Rios were having a typical summer morning—sleeping in, watching “Lab Rats” on Disney, eating cereal—when they heard a knock on the door.

They looked out the window and saw a most unusual sight: Mrs. Rachel Moon, their school principal, and several teachers standing in their front yard. After their mom opened the door, Moon and the teachers explained they were visiting their students’ houses to say hello and give a friendly reminder that school starts Aug. 28.

“This is very, very surprising!” Ozandro said with a laugh.

All Dallas ISD campuses participated in the first districtwide Neighborhood Walk on Aug. 21. District staff and community members canvassed throughout the nearly 400 square miles that make up Dallas ISD. In addition to reminding families about the first day of school, teachers and staff talked about the new school hours and upcoming meet the teacher nights.

Delia Rios, the mom of Idaliz and Ozandro, thanked the principal and teachers for stopping by their house.

“I think it’s a great idea that you come and let students know you are ready for them to start school,” she said. “This adds a personal touch so we know our principal and teachers care about our kids.”

Meanwhile, Dallas ISD Chief of School Leadership Stephanie Elizalde thanked the teachers and staff for spending the time to go out and meet families.

“You are the heartbeat of the campuses because you fuel student learning every day,” Elizalde said. “We could never thank you enough for that rewarding work that you do.”

Elrod’s Grocers again offers grants to pay for field trip buses

Teachers making plans for an exciting new school year have until 5 p.m., Friday, August 18, to apply for grants funded by Elrod’s Grocery to cover the cost of field trip transportation. Last school year, Elrod’s generously donated more than $20,000 to help schools provide students with out-of-school learning opportunities. Go here to download a memo with full details and instructions to submit applications.