Campus Staff News

National IT Professionals Day is celebrated annually on the third Tuesday in September to show appreciation for those who have dedicated their lives to keeping systems safe and efficient— Jennifer Le and Daniel Akwei are among them. 

As information security analysts in the district, they are making a huge impact on cybersecurity, said Michael Anderson, deputy chief of Educational Technology. 

“Each day, they perform a series of checks and reviews that help the security team at large to understand if there were or are any cybersecurity or privacy matters that should be investigated further,” Anderson said. “If need be, this team will spring into action to lead the investigative work as well as the incident management. They are the youngest and most talented cybersecurity analysts I’ve ever worked with since I entered management in 2002.”

Le and Akwei are both relatively new to the district, with about one and two years of district experience respectively, but they said they are driven by a “strong sense of togetherness” within Dallas ISD as well as a passion for keeping students safe.

As the district’s Cybersecurity Threat and Vulnerability Management team, they are constantly analyzing data logs and district devices for any abnormalities that could indicate a security risk. It can be difficult at times, but Akwei said the Educational Technology team helps keep him motivated. 

“Working with my colleagues is the most amazing thing ever,” Akwei said. “Everyone is willing to help and share their knowledge, and we always have team dinners. I really enjoy that. So overall, the whole Educational Technology department in my experience is the best.”

Being focused, fast, flexible, and friendly are all key components of providing cybersecurity support to the district. While Le and Akwei make up a small team, they interact with a variety of customers from principals to concerned parents, so they keep the Core 4 at the center of everything they do. 

“Focusing on what they’re requesting is very important because sometimes it can be broad,” Le said. “We have to come in with a sense of urgency, making sure everybody feels like time is being dedicated to them, and we have to be flexible because you never know what is going to happen at any moment of the day. And, of course, we need to be friendly, especially when something is urgent. That balance is very important when trying to resolve an incident or some kind of case that’s been brought to us.” 

One of their most common tasks is helping safeguard district employees from phishing attacks, both by educating their peers on best safety practices and by guiding people through securing their devices after phishing incidents. 

“I feel like I’m giving back,” Le said. “We have a part in ensuring that our students are safe, not just on the internet, but mental health-wise as well. I think that’s very important, especially with how many students we oversee every single academic year.”

This year, professional development for teachers, nurses, speech therapists, and media specialists will be differentiated by years of experience. Teaching & Learning will host in-person after school professional development for new teachers, those with zero to one years of teaching experience, from 4:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14.

The training will take place at the following locations:

2023-2024 New Teachers with two or More Years of Experience

Teachers who are new to the district with two or more years of classroom service are required to complete two asynchronous modules during the 4:30- 8 p.m. window on Sept. 14. These trainings should be completed remotely, and teachers with this level of experience do NOT need to report to a training site. 

The overall focus of the event is to provide participants with the opportunity to collaborate with  peers while learning about curriculum resources and multiple response strategies to strengthen student engagement during instruction.  

For more information, please visit the Professional & Digital Learning webpage at dallasisd.org/pdl or contact Stephanie Ford at sford@dallasisd.org or Kymberli Hamilton at kyhamilton@dallasisd.org.

A total solar eclipse will be visible in Dallas on April 8, 2024, and Mark Broughton, director of the Environmental Education Center, is already preparing to help middle school students take advantage of the rare opportunity thanks to a Junior League of Dallas Grant for Innovative Teaching.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everybody, including the students,” Broughton said. “But you have to wear solar viewing glasses of some sort to look at the sun that day.”

Broughton applied for the Grants for Innovative Teaching—which are designed to help improve education in Dallas ISD with support for unique programs outside school budgets—to supply students with those special glasses. 

Thanks to the grant, Broughton will be able to provide 2,000 pairs of glasses during the solar phenomenon, and he said he hopes to apply for additional grants to increase that number and give the memorable experience to as many middle school students as possible. 

“It’s an incredible opportunity because a solar eclipse will not happen in Dallas in their lifetime again,” Broughton said. “If they were to see another one, they would possibly have to travel to another country to view it, so this will be it for some of the students. I wanted to do what I could to give them what they need to safely view that eclipse.”

Broughton is working to provide more transformational experiences to Dallas ISD students. As director of the Environmental Education Center, he said he and his team hope to see at least 20,000 students from prekindergarten through 12th grade visit the center on field trips. 

Dallas ISD’s Environmental Education Center is a 500-acre academic facility located in Seagoville that includes more than 4 miles of nature trails, interactive exhibits, a 70-seat ecology theater, four science laboratories, a live animals laboratory, a fossil pavilion, a working barn, and more. 

All district teachers are invited to take advantage of the many resources available through Broughton’s team, including the Science Resource Center, which sends equipment and materials to teachers to use, and the Living Materials Center, which sends teachers live plants and animals to enrich classroom learning.

To learn more about what is available through the Environmental Education Center and to find solar eclipse resources, visit https://www.dallasisd.org/Domain/96. 

For Adriana Popa, a seventh- and eighth-grade science and physics teacher at Sudie L. Williams Talented And Gifted Academy, service has always been a key motivator that has led to being recognized with a 2023 Service Above Self Teacher Award from The Rotary Club of Dallas.

These awards are given to teachers who have demonstrated excellence in their profession by going the extra mile. While Popa said she feels “special and celebrated” to have earned the honor, she is not motivated by recognition.  

Popa has a long history of going above and beyond, including becoming a medical doctor in her home country of Romania, a volunteer physician in Italy, and an educator through Dallas ISD’s Alternative Certification Program. She also served as an AmeriCorps volunteer in a Dallas ISD classroom, and has supported gardening clubs, soccer teams, STEM academies, and more. 

“I really think it’s an amazing opportunity that has happened to me. I never considered becoming a teacher growing up, and I found my calling,” Popa said. “When I started teaching eight years ago, I wanted to be that teacher that I felt like I never had during my K-12 and use hands-on skills to teach science because when the students see, touch, and do, they never forget.”

Many of Popa’s favorite memories in the classroom come from the engaging activities she has created. For example, she said she did not know what a s’more was until she moved to the United States, and she decided to share the fun with her students by using tea candles to make s’mores and explore the evidence of chemical reactions. 

“I will never forget how I had kids actually walking out of my classroom thanking me and saying, ‘You gave me the experience of my life. I’ve never had something like this,’” Popa said. “To actually learn and feel trusted to do an experiment, something they can learn from and eat, they obviously enjoyed it. These moments make me go home and want to do even more.”

Popa, who has been recognized as exemplary by the Texas Education Agency, said her inspiration to create memorable moments in the classroom and put her students first comes from her desire to give back. 

“When I was a kid dreaming of becoming a physician, all I wanted was to help people,” Popa said. “To me, serving means trying my best to care for as many people as possible, from handing out food to the homeless to baking and cooking meals for a student who is sick. I feed off the energy I get when I feel like someone I helped is doing well and has a big smile.”

When stakeholders such as parents, students, team members and community members call Dallas ISD in search of vital information or help, they will likely first come in contact with one of the members of the district’s Call Center. 

Lester Singleton, manager for the Call Center, says their primary objective is not to transfer the call but to make sure they are resolving issues on the first call. Their secondary responsibility is to get them to the right person the first time, every time.

According to market analysis research that Singleton has studied, nationally, the average hold time for call centers is three-minutes. For his team, the average hold time is 30-seconds.

“We listen first, then we talk, then we educate, and then we find the solution,” Singleton said. The Call Center has been in existence for 17 years, one of the things Singleton has learned in the years he has managed it is that listening is key, because many of the stakeholders who call want to feel like they’ve been heard. 

The six team members (five full-time and one part-time) manage thousands of calls that come into the district.

During the first week of the school year, the Call Center received almost 6,000 calls, and in the month of August alone, they received over 14,000 calls. 

As the Call Center keeps up with the demand, they put Core 4 at the forefront. Singleton says that his team practices the district’s culture tenets in this order: Friendly, Fast, Flexible, and then Focused.

“The reason why Friendly is the first tenet to us, is because within the first 10 seconds of a customer calling, they can tell if one of the agents is the person they want to speak to,” said Singleton. “If you’re friendly, you set a very positive disposition within the first 10 seconds. And since you are friendly, the customer will be more receptive to what you want to convey to them.”

Since the tone of being friendly is established the moment a Call Center team member answers a call, Singleton says the primary greeting is “Thank you for calling Dallas ISD, with whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”

Singleton also conveys the message to his team to never treat a stakeholder the way they want to be treated– in fact, they should treat them better. He says that he wants every customer that calls the district to feel like they’re important when they receive the undivided attention of his team.

To anticipate the types of calls the Call Center will receive at different times of the year, Singleton is consistently in contact with departments such as Human Capital Management, Benefits, Payroll, and others. 

For example, Singleton says that in November, December, March and April, they know that they are going to receive inquiries from parents about magnet schools. To prepare, Singleton reaches out to the magnet programs for information his team can share when they answer those calls. 

Not only do the Call Center team members work together to achieve equitable outcomes, Singleton describes his department as a community who supports each other and celebrates each other’s achievements. With a winning team, Singleton says they will continue to work together to bring the best customer service to all stakeholders from the district. 

Principal Monica Marquez has spent the majority of her career at Louise W. Kahn Elementary School, as a teacher when it opened and then working to become an academic coordinator, assistant principal, and now principal of her home campus. 

It was during her time as a third-grade teacher that she first met student Selene Ramos—who is now assistant principal at Kahn Elementary. 

“Selene was very talkative and always came dressed to the nines,” Marquez said. “She was a good student who was always a go-getter wanting to help others, and that really has not changed in the 20 years we’ve known each other.”

Ramos recalled similar memories with a smile: “Sometimes I would get in trouble because I would want to help the other students too much. It’s always been in me to help others. I grew up in this neighborhood in Oak Cliff. As an immigrant child, I always wanted to give back to the community and to Dallas ISD, which built me.”

The two of them kept in touch over the years as Ramos was growing up. Her siblings attended Kahn as well, so Ramos would visit to catch up with Marquez, who Ramos said was “always happy to hear about my journey.” 

As an undergraduate student at the University of North Texas, Ramos was placed at Kahn to complete her teaching internship at her request, and then she transitioned into being a teacher on the campus. 

“I’ve been here for nine years,” Ramos said. “This is all I know. This is my home.”

Marquez said it has been a joy to support Ramos first as a student and then as a teacher and now as her assistant principal. 

“I’m always proud when I see my students come back,” Marquez said. “That’s what you want to do is make a difference in somebody’s life through education. My proudest moment with Selene was when she told me, ‘I’m going to get my master’s to become an administrator.’ It was really exciting for me to help her grow. And then when I had the opportunity to hire her as an administrator, I knew that was where she needed to be—here by my side to help.”

Calling Kahn home is something Ramos treasures, and she attributes much of that to Marquez.  

“She has made such an impact in my educational journey,” Ramos said. “She is that teacher who always sees your potential and continues to push you forward. She has seen me. She’s seen my potential since I was a third-grade student, a college intern, and a teacher, and it just continues. It’s been a true blessing.”

As the district moves to the beat of opportunity in classrooms throughout the district, one department is creating opportunities for students to grow, explore their interests and develop life skills outside the classroom.

By providing students the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities, Student Activities is improving the overall educational experience of Dallas ISD students.

Director of Student Activities Leonidas Patterson believes the department’s theme for this year—Stay the course—communicates its singular focus on the district’s priority of making sure that all students have the opportunity to get involved in at least one extracurricular or co-curricular activity each year. 

“I know from my journey that extracurricular activities matter and help young people grow and develop while they are looking for their niche in life,” he said. “Participating in yearbook and theater allowed me to be curious, creative, and brave.”

The newest coordinator to Student Activities, Omar Ovalle, said that it is exciting to work in a school district that makes participation in extracurricular activities a priority.

“Being a part of Student Activities gives me the opportunity to be a resource to students in their journey as they excel in an environment outside of the classroom,” Ovalle said.

Last year 23,779 students participated in the 12 extracurricular programs sponsored by Student Activities at no cost to schools. The department offers a variety of extracurriculars for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, including UIL Academics, esports, cheer, and debate.

Christina Martinez, program manager, said that the extracurricular activities help students foster their creativity and improve their academic performance while highlighting their knowledge and talents.

“Providing students a space where they can shine is what makes this job worthwhile,” she said. “The workshops, tournaments, and academic competitions afford students that space where they can be competitive, have fun, and meet new friends.”

For a complete list of the extracurricular activities sponsored by Student Activities, visit www.dallasisd.org/studentactivities.

For nearly three years, some Dallas ISD students needing extra support in reading have been finding it through the district’s Reading Interventionist Program. The results have been so promising that as this new school year begins, the program is expanding to nearly every elementary campus in the district.

The program began in March 2021 with six elementary and four middle schools serving campuses with primarily African American student populations. In partnership with the district’s Racial Equity Office, the district’s Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Department used the MAP assessment (Measure of Academic Performance) to identify students who were reading two to three grade levels behind and to capture their growth and achievement.

Starting with just 10 interventionists paid for with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, the program yielded results so favorable that 10 more interventionists were added, followed by an additional 16 last year specifically to support second graders.

“The results have been incredible, to say the least,” said Assistant Superintendent Roshonda Clayton-Brown. “Last school year, the reading interventionists were moved under the direction of School Leadership. With the combined efforts from Teaching and Learning, School Leadership, and the Racial Equity Office, our students saw substantial growth!.”

And this year, ‘because of the hard work of our reading interventionists and the huge impact this initiative has made on our students, our program is expanding,” said Clayton-Brown. “We have added an additional 139 reading interventionist positions to serve third-grade, tier 2 students on almost every elementary campus in the district. We know that by providing this additional support to our students, we will increase the number of students reading at or above grade level.”

And as for what’s next for the program? “The sky is the limit!” Clayton-Brown said. “We will continue to provide high-quality interventions as we close instructional gaps for our students. Our students will become lifelong lovers of reading as they exceed grade-level expectations.”

In compliance with state and federal laws, Dallas ISD requires that all employees complete the policy acknowledgement and compliance training by Friday, Sept. 29.

Step 1: Complete Policy Acknowledgement

Using their email address and password, employees will log into the policy acknowledgement website at https://PolicyAcknowledgement.dallasisd.org to acknowledge the Employee Handbook, Annual Employee Notification of District Policies, Family Relationship Disclosure, and Confidentiality Requirements.

Step 2: Complete Compliance Training (Cornerstone)

Employees will use their email address and password to log into Cornerstone at https://dallasisd.csod.com. The compliance training assignment will be in the “My Assigned Training” section located on the “Welcome” page or on the “Learning” tab under “View Your Transcript.”

Training includes the following: Child Abuse Awareness, Educators’ Code of Ethics, Copyright and Licensing, Dress Code Standards, Employment Concerns and Employee Rights, FERPA, Sexual Harassment, and Workplace Bullying. Training for campus staff will also include Anaphylaxis and Auto-Injectors, Bloodborne Pathogens, What is Bullying, and Section 504.

For assistance with technical issues in Cornerstone, go to the Live User Support tab in Cornerstone to access the live support team.

Substitutes only

Both the policy acknowledgement and compliance training are available in the Compliance Learning Portal. Substitute employees will use their employee ID, last name (as listed in Oracle), and date of birth to log into the portal.

Links to the policy acknowledgement, Cornerstone, and the substitute portal can also be accessed on the Policy and Compliance website at https://www.dallasisd.org/hcmpolicy.

For additional questions or assistance, please contact Human Capital Management’s Policy and Compliance team at HCMcompliance@dallasisd.org.

National Suicide Prevention Month is recognized annually in September to raise awareness for suicide prevention and treatment, as well as warning signs and how to get help when it is needed most. 

Dallas ISD holds the safety and well-being of students and team members alike at the highest priority, so employees are encouraged to learn the warning signs and get the support they—or those around them—need.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), warning signs of suicide include: 

• Increased substance use and abuse
• Feelings of emptiness, hopelessness or being trapped
• Significant mood swings 
• Talk of wanting to die or being a burden 
• Withdrawal from friends and relatives 
• Feelings of intense guilt or shame
• Making a plan or researching ways to die
• Eating or sleeping more or less
• Acting impulsively or recklessly

Anyone who is experiencing a crisis can get immediate support by contacting the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in English or Spanish at 988. Additionally, people can access the NAMI HelpLine from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., by calling 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), texting “HelpLine” to 62640, or emailing helpline@nami.org. 

Dallas ISD team members can also access the Employee Assistance Program by LifeWorks. This confidential, secure platform has free specialist counselors on call 24/7, as well as personalized wellness tips, health assessments, and more. 

Contact LifeWorks by calling (972) 925-4000 or by visiting www.dallasisd.org/benefits and clicking on Benefits Resources. LifeWorks has an app that offers specialized self-help resources developed by experts. Once downloaded, the app can be accessed through the EAD login credentials.

It’s OK to not be OK. Reach out for help, and encourage those around you to do the same. Together, we can break the stigma around mental illness and help prevent crises.

Source: National Alliance on Mental Illness