Staff News

In Dallas ISD, team members, students and families come together at the end of the year to share with others who might need help or a little extra cheer. Their generosity makes it possible for children and adults to stay warm, to have extra food, or to get the toys and gifts they wish for to celebrate the end-of-year holidays. Below are several examples of the Dallas ISD community’s generosity.

 

W.H. Adamson High School

W.H. Adamson High School held its 16th Annual Toy Drive—“Santa’s Workshop”—In the spirit of “paying it forward.” The Adamson Leopard PTO members, students, and employees are involved in planning the annual toy drive. Adamson’s former community liaison, Maria Garcia, began the workshop for families in need 15 years ago. Each year since 2008, Adamson High School continues to host more than 200 families, including gifting almost 400 children with presents and food for the holiday season. The Adamson band plays live Christmas music, members of the choir sing holiday tunes, the Leopardettes Drill Team greet families as they walk in, and families get to enjoy the event and have photo ops with Santa Claus. Thanks go to the Adamson Alumni Association, Adamson PTO, Adamson Athletics, Oak Cliff community partners, and Community Liaison/Event Coordinators Mayra Quinones and JC Puebla for continuing to make this event possible every year. 

Sudie L. Williams TAG Academy

Students organized a toy drive to support the incredible work of Community Partners of Dallas, collecting donations for abused and neglected children in the community. Thanks to the generosity of Sudie Williams families, we were able to contribute a variety of items that will bring joy and comfort to these children during the holiday season.

 

 

 

 

Edwin J. Kiest Elementary School

“Winter Wonders” is an event created by the school’s counselor after noticing that students needed winter accessories, coats, and even socks. Snowflake ornaments were placed on the school’s tree and staff could take one or more. Each snowflake listed an item needed in the clothing drive. For example: “Please purchase three pairs of gloves in sizes for students in second grade and younger.” Staff were asked to bring their donation back to campus by Dec. 12 and everyone at the campus was excited to share holiday joy in the form of staying warm and cozy this winter.

 

David G. Burnet Elementary School

The school’s Student Lighthouse Committee organized a winter clothing drive to collect hats and mittens for both adults and children with all donations benefiting Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support. They also hosted two annual drives to support different organizations. One is a pet food drive benefiting Operation Kindness, which has become a yearly tradition. Last year, we introduced a personal hygiene drive to assist the school’s local high school.

Maria Moreno STEAM Academy

This school is all about giving during the holidays. Every year, the school collects gifts and clothes for a small group of students experiencing homelessness, death of a parent, or extreme poverty. Some staff have sponsored children along with a local car club, but there are still several students who need support and benefit from this effort. 

Moreno also holds a Giving Week during which the school collects items for Skyline Nursing Center, the local nursing home. This year, the school is collecting pajama bottoms, body wash and deodorant, blankets, hats, gloves, along with apples, oranges, and candy canes.

 

Special Services Parent Engagement and Community Outreach Department

This December marks the second year the Special Services Department has proudly participated in the Be An Angel Christmas Program: Spreading Holiday Joy, a heartwarming initiative that brings holiday cheer to special needs children in Dallas ISD. Students in Specialized Programs were nominated by their teachers to participate, ensuring the program reaches those who will benefit most. Volunteers shopped for personalized gifts for each child, creating a magical holiday experience tailored to their unique interests and needs. While challenges like tight timelines and coordinating logistics arise, the joy and gratitude from families make every effort worthwhile. This program, in its second year, highlights the power of compassion and community, reminding us of the true spirit of the season. 

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy Moseley Elementary School

The school held a canned food drive to provide canned goods to The Stew Pot. More than 1,200 cans were collected in a competition involving all the grade levels. Two FLS classes raised the most cans and won the competition to give back to our community.

 

 

 

 

 

Irma Lerma Rangel Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School

The school has a student angel tree that team members pick from every year to help support students by giving them needs and wants like clothes and gift cards as well as a toy drive for the employees to give to homeless students in Dallas ISD. The school started this two to three years ago and selects a different recipient for the employee toy drive each year.

 

Martha Turner Reilly Elementary School

Each year the school hosts an annual Giving Tree to help families that may face challenges during the holiday season. It is a chance for the community and our employees to share the heart of giving with our very own students. This school year, we plan to help over 40 families.

 

 

 

Henry W. Longfellow Career Exploration Academy

The House of Altruismo hosted a schoolwide canned food drive in support of the North Texas Food Bank. Through the generous contributions of our community, we were able to collect nearly 400 pounds of non-perishable items. These donations will help close the hunger gap and provide much needed assistance to families in North Texas during this holiday season. 

 

W.W. Samuell High School National Honor Society

W.W. Samuell’s chapter of the National Honor Society held its annual winter clothing and canned food drive. This year’s collection was the largest ever with over 2,000 items donated. All donations go to Inspired Vision Compassion Center, a nonprofit food bank serving families here in Pleasant Grove. 

Alex Sanger Preparatory School

The sixth-grade soccer club students sacked 150 snack bags for the homeless community. They also collected several clothing items that will be donated to White Rock Center of Hope. This is the first time Sanger participates in the activity, but the club sponsor has done it since 2016 at previous schools. 

 

 

 

Family and Community Engagement

On Dec. 12, the Family & Community Engagement Dept hosted a toy drive as part of their Winter Expo event. Community Liaisons and Parent Instructors from across the district donated a huge box of toys benefitting the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center. DCAC provides a safe place for children and their families to begin the healing process after experiencing criminal child abuse or witnessing a violent crime. The staff was very grateful as they expect to provide holiday gifts to over 1,500 children living in Dallas County. We are so glad to be able to collaborate and help make the holidays brighter for some special kiddos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Communication Services

Communications Services once again has adopted a school for the holidays, a tradition that Translation Services started a few years ago and has now become a departmentwide effort. The department wanted to help make the holidays a little brighter for a few students and chose  H.I. Holland Elementary School, where an entire second-grade bilingual classroom will receive gift cards to fulfill the needs and wishes of 10 girls and eight boys who have 98% attendance. The gift cards will be delivered before winter break during a festive hot cocoa and donut party. 

 

Resource Centers

Resource Center South had a toy drive and hundreds of toys were collected through the beginning of December for the community. Resource Center West and Resource Center South both also planned food giveaways for families of Dallas ISD students for the holidays.

 

 

 

A line of electric buses, shiny and new, is parked next to the brand-new charging stations at the Lawnview Service Station ready to go into service in the spring. The buses are part of a total fleet of 17 electric buses that the district will put into circulation in 2025.

Once plates are issued and drivers go through a special training in January, the buses—which have a 300-mile reach per charge—will be folded into routes around the Lawnview station.

The 17 buses are funded by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program. This is the first step in the district’s plan to eventually transition to all electric buses, something that Bryant Shaw, manager of the Energy and Sustainability Services Department, anticipates will happen in the not too distant future. 

Two other buses will be funded by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. As the district carries out this project, most of the funding for additional buses and charging stations at other service centers is going to come from the federal government thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.

“I can’t wait to see the new buses rolling down our streets, picking up our students with zero emissions, making our air cleaner, and more breathable for generations to come,” said Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde, when the buses were first announced as part of the Board of Trustees’ Environment and Climate Resolution from 2020. Pursuing funding for 25 electric buses is part of the goals set forth by the resolution.

As part of the installation of the electrical infrastructure for the initial buses, the district has a partnership with Oncor. According to Shaw, additional energy-saving efforts are being implemented, such as managed charging, so the buses will be charged at a certain time, such as the evening hours to manage costs. 

Shaw and his team continue to diligently work on applying for federal funding to get more buses, including the EPA grant stemming from the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act. Dallas ISD also has received national attention for this work, as Shaw has presented the district’s efforts around the country. He shares with other districts how to get onboard, as well as some of the issues to watch for along the way. 

For more information on the district’s electric school buses, visit the Energy and Sustainability Services website at www.dallasisd.org/energyandsustainability.

 

 

The holiday season is upon us which brings to mind all the wonderful dishes and desserts like pecan pie, stuffing, casseroles, and eggnog that people enjoy this time of year. These comfort foods can make eating healthy during the holidays challenging. The best intentions can crumble when making merry with family and friends who are feasting on delicious foods. Health Services has some tips to avoid overindulging during the season.

Be wise with dessert:

•   Split a dessert with a family member or friend.
•   Bring a healthier version of your favorite dessert to the gathering.
•   Try to avoid eating a dessert after every meal.

Be mindful of hidden calories:

•   Try to avoid adding sauces to meats or cheese sauce to vegetable dishes.
•   Swap full fat dressings for lighter versions.
•   Swap sugar for a lower calorie sweetener in beverages.
•   Try a mocktail version of your favorite beverage.

Before the holiday gathering:

•   Eat before the gathering so you are not too hungry.
•   Survey available options and avoid grazing.
•   Offer to bring a healthy dish to the gathering.

Remember, everything in moderation so you have a good time and stay healthy with habits that work for you. If you eat more than you planned, don’t consider it a catastrophe and add guilt to the mix. Start again with healthy habits the following week. 

Websites to give your favorite holiday recipe a health make-over:

https://recipes.heart.org/en/collections/lifestyles/holiday

https://diabetesfoodhub.org/recipes/holidays-entertaining

https://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/17938/holidays-occasions/christmas/

 

 

 

Ricardo Velez found his calling helping students develop college readiness skills as an AVID tutor and has found his place as an eighth-grade English language arts and reading teacher in Dallas ISD thanks to the district’s Alternative Certification program.

Velez showed his passion for supporting students as an AVID tutor while working on his associate degree at Dallas College. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Mt. Angel Seminary in Oregon, he knew he wanted to become a teacher and found that Dallas ISD’s AC and Latino and Black Male Residency programs aligned with his goals and beliefs.

“I wanted to come back home and was looking at different AC programs, and when I saw the resident program, I really identified because I know what it’s like to grow up like these students,” he said. “I remember how I looked at my own teachers and my  own struggles. I wanted to be part of a school district that helps the same child I was. I have been enjoying it ever since.”

Velez always knew he wanted to be a teacher and thought back to teachers who have helped him develop self confidence and his own voice and wants to do the same for his students. 

As an eighth-grade teacher at Hector P. Garcia Middle School, Velez is committed to fostering an inclusive and open-minded classroom where students feel comfortable and empowered to engage deeply with literature. He feels that encouraging the analysis of diverse perspectives broadens students’ understanding of texts and promotes critical thinking and respect for differing viewpoints, he said.

“His ongoing commitment to professional growth and the desire to make an even more significant impact on his community are reasons why he has been so successful as part of both the AC and the residency programs,” said [who from HCM is saying this?]. “These programs help him continue to be successful by providing him with valuable tools and mentorship to further shape students’ lives.”

In his classroom, Velez strives to provide a variety of resources and to deliver differentiated instruction because students learn at their own pace, he said.

Velez said he is his students’ number one fan in and out of the classroom.  He is sure to show up to football games and cheer them on to continue building meaningful relationships beyond the classroom walls, which helps bridge the gap between school and community by making them feel that their efforts and achievements are celebrated. He understands that being an educator involves mentoring, encouraging, and showing up for students. 

“To build student relationships, you have to see them more as a whole person, not just as a student,” he said. “You see them developing their personalities and their own character.” 

What Velez finds most rewarding about being a teacher is seeing their students grow. They recently completed mid-year exams that showed significant growth in reading, he said. 

“Some of them showed 200 percent growth, and one of my eighth graders reached a ninth-grade reading level!” he said. “I love seeing them believe in themselves and take those risks.”

Velez encourages those who are looking to become teachers to find an alternative certification program that aligns with their beliefs and what they value. 

“Here at Garcia Middle School, I was able to be placed at a campus that promotes well rounded education, social emotional learning, academic rigor, but also kindness and responsibility,” he said. “I would definitely recommend Dallas ISD’s program. It provides genuine support that is very applicable to the classroom.” 

If you’re passionate about children’s success and are interested in making a difference in the lives of children, the Dallas ISD Alternative Certification Program offers free tuition and all the training you need to become a certified teacher, said Shuntrice Rhodes, director of Alternative Certification. Inspire the next generation of young minds teaching in one of the critical shortage areas, including core subjects in early childhood to sixth grades with ESL, bilingual, English language arts and reading in seventh through 12th grades, math in seventh through 12th grades, science in seventh through 12th grades, or special education in early childhood through 12th grade. 

For more information about Dallas ISD’s AC program, contact alternativecertification@dallasisd.org. Apply now at dallasisd.org/acp.

 

District schools and administrative offices will be closed Monday, Dec. 23, through Friday, Jan. 3. While the district is closed for winter break, team members can still get assistance with their benefits. The Benefits Contact Center will be closed on Wednesday, Dec. 25, and Wednesday, Jan. 1.

Non-Emergency Assistance

You may reach the Benefits Call Center by calling 972-925-4000, option 2 for wellness. 

For non-emergency health concerns such as cold and flu, TRS ActiveCare participants can utilize Teladoc at a reduced cost. Call 1-855-Teladoc (835-2362) or visit their main page. If you have never used Teladoc before, you must set up your account before you can access the services. You will need your name, date of birth, and BCBS member ID number to register.

Flexible Spending Accounts/ Health Savings Account

If you have questions regarding your HSA/ FSA, contact Optum at 877-528-9876 or visit

www.optum.com. Optum is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When you call, you will need your FSA/HSA card number, name, and date of birth. If you visit the website, you will need your name, date of birth, social security number, or employee ID.

Employee Assistance Program

Some employees find the holidays challenging. If you need help navigating this time, please contact the Employee Assistance Program at 972-925-4300, Option 3 EAP. They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To access the website or the Telus Health One app, you will need your district email address, district username, and password.

•       the website Telus Health
•       the app: Telus: Health One

Leaves of Absence

For questions regarding leaves of absence, email benefitsleaves@dallasisd.org.  During the periods in which the district is closed, the email boxes will be monitored periodically to ensure any critical issues are resolved in a timely manner.

 

Dallas ISD is committed to supporting beginning teachers in their first or second year of teaching, and one of the ways that this happens is by providing them mentors. 

Human Capital Management and Professional & Digital Learning partner to provide the Teacher Mentor Program, which supports beginning teachers, resulting in high-quality instruction, improved student performance, and retention of new educators joining the teaching profession.

The Teacher Mentor Program:

• Provides a campus-based mentor to beginning teachers in their first or second year of teaching
• Provides effective support to beginning teachers to successfully transition into their teaching assignment
• Coaches beginning teachers to improve their performance
• Orients beginning teachers to district and campus policies and procedures
• Assists beginning teachers with connections to district curriculum and curricular resources, including formative and summative assessments
• Helps beginning teachers build positive relationships to ensure student success
• Provides professional development that includes mentorship best practices to mentors and appropriate campus staff throughout the school year

One of the features of the Teacher Mentor program is the annual fall mixer where more than 700 teacher mentors, novice teachers, and central staff support teams gather to socialize, celebrate and network. The event includes a Department Fair that allows new teachers to learn more about what resources are available from central administration departments. 

 

 

This fall, Dallas ISD has been planting for education and for the community as almost 100 fruit trees are setting roots in two separate orchards at the STEM Environmental Education Center and at Seagoville High School.

Seagoville students participated in the Urban Orchard Planting sponsored by Dollar General and GROW North Texas. Thanks to the partnership, 50 trees and bushes were planted on the campus grounds, and when they mature and bear fruit, the food will be given back to the Seagoville community during the school’s monthly food drives.

Similarly, the food harvested from the 40 trees planted at the environmental center with the help of Sunset High School students and GROW North Texas volunteers will benefit local food banks, district resource centers and the environmental center’s animals.

“We are planting the orchard to use for instructional purposes,” said Mark Broughton, director of the environmental center. “For example, we will use the orchard to provide students with opportunities to investigate and explain how producers can make their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through the cycling of matter.”

Among the trees planted at the environmental center are peach, jujube, Asian pear, European pear, persimmon, pomegranate, elderberry, fig, agarita, mulberry, nectarine, plum, pawpaw, goumi berry, and blackberry. The trees will take approximately three years to mature.  

 

 

The end of year celebrations are a source of merriment, but they can also be a source of danger because of the decorations used for the traditional festivities. The American Red Cross has a list of tips to make sure families stay safe. 

According to the National Fire Protection Association, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are the top three days for candle fires, but trees, tree lights, and other decorations are also a risk if not maintained properly. 

According to the Red Cross, one of the best ways to prevent a disaster from a home fire is to test the home’s smoke alarms and practice the home fire escape plan with free resources at redcross.org/homefires. In addition, the organizations provides these 10 simple safety tips for the use of lights and ornaments:

1. Check all holiday light cords to make sure they aren’t frayed or broken. Don’t string too many strands of lights together—no more than three per extension cord.
2. If buying an artificial tree, look for the fire-resistant label. When putting it up, keep it away from fireplaces, radiators and other sources of heat.
3. If getting a live tree, make sure it’s fresh and water it to keep it fresh. Bend the needles up and down to make sure no needles fall off.
4. If using older decorations, check their labels. Some older tinsel is lead-based. If using angel hair, wear gloves to avoid irritation. Avoid breathing in artificial snow.
5. When decorating outside, make sure decorations are for outdoor use and fasten lights securely to your home or trees. If using hooks or nails outside, make sure they are insulated to avoid an electrocution or fire hazard.
6. If using a ladder, be extra careful. Make sure to have good, stable placement and wear shoes that allow for good traction.
7. Don’t use electric lights on metallic trees.
8. Don’t forget to turn off all holiday lights when going to bed or leaving the house.
9. Keep children, pets and decorations away from candles.
10. If hanging stockings on the fireplace mantel, don’t light the fireplace.

 

Reading and writing are critical parts of the whole education, and with several published authors among Dallas ISD team members, these subjects rise to a whole new level.

Inside the pages of her new book, “Namaste Y’all,” Margaret B. Henderson Elementary School teacher Smriti Adhikary tells the story of Gayatri, a young girl adjusting to life in the United States after moving from Nepal. At the same school, fellow author and school librarian, Kena Sosa, is guiding Adhikary through her journey as a new author.

At Arthur Kramer Elementary School, Candice Goetsch, an art teacher, recently published a book, inspired by her lessons about Bridget Riley, an optical art pioneer. Goetsch’s book, entitled “Through a Diamond: The Looking Life of Bridget Riley,” encourages children to engage more with their surroundings and find treasures of their own. Her school recently celebrated the teacher’s accomplishment by featuring a live reading and a tunnel walk through their Bridget Riley-inspired op art installation. 

Inspired by other teacher-turned-authors on Instagram, Adhikary, who teaches first grade, wrote her first manuscript over the summer by drawing from personal experience. The main character, named after Adhikary’s mother, struggles with culture shock on the first day at her new school.

“As a teacher in a low-income area, and even being a minority myself, I feel like 11 years ago there weren’t a lot of books that covered diversity,” she said. “Slowly, in the past few years, Asian-inspired books were being written and I thought they did a really good job with Ramadan and Diwali. But since I am also South Asian from Nepal, where my parents come from, I wanted to put Nepal on the map.”

For Sosa, writing inspiration comes from observations all around her and forming connections with others. 

“Becoming an author was the product of enjoying writing and being curious. I had already written poetry, and articles in college, but taking a class in children’s literature brought me a new joy,” she said. “I started making books out of materials at home and truly enjoyed the process. It took years of submitting, but I got my first contract in 2015 and dove straight into learning about the world of publishing.”

With a 23-year career in education, and 17 years working in a library, Sosa said libraries open students to a world of possibilities.

“The library can be anything we dream it to be–an art gallery, a museum, a research center, a tech lab, but always a place for free learning,” she said. “Being a curious person, I need to work somewhere where I continue to learn and grow. Even now, I learn new things in the library. My mission is to show kids how exciting being a lifelong learner can be.”

Sosa’s advice for Adhikary–and aspiring writers–is two-fold.

“As an educator, it is vital for us to model what we want our students to learn and master. How can they feel brave enough to tell the stories in their hearts, if we aren’t? Seeing us write and create makes them feel more safe to try new things themselves,” she said. “If the thought to write has crossed your mind it is because there is a story in you worth telling. Telling stories helps us better understand ourselves, our perceptions, and how to connect and empathize with others. We have to give perspective for the antagonist and protagonist, which for me, has helped me gain understanding and depth.”

 

For years, an art teacher and a TAG teacher at Jill Stone Elementary School at Vickery Meadow had been collaborating on projects and, this March, they came together again for their biggest one yet—creating ornaments for the holiday season to be displayed at the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

Visual arts teacher Natalie Hebert and Talented and Gifted teacher Angela Mcilveene have worked together for years, first at Geneva Heights Elementary School and now at Jill Stone, collaborating on projects that involve research and art. Hebert has been a teacher with Dallas ISD for most of her nine years in the profession, and Mcilveene has been a teacher for 18 years.

Every year, the center invites a school to create the ornaments that are used to decorate the courtyard trees during the holidays, and this year, it was up to Hebert’s and Mcilveene’s students. The ornaments and other decorations around the center and presidential library revisit the  themes from Bush’s time in office, cycling through them every eight years. 

“Our school was the only elementary school and the only Dallas ISD school to participate, making this an especially unique and exciting opportunity for our students!” McIlveene  said. “It’s very special.”

The theme for this year is 2003: A Season of Stories, which is why the second- through fifth-grade students researched the theme and then picked from about 100 books one that had a particular meaning to them so they could recreate it as an ornament. The teachers met several times with Bush library staff during the months leading to the project and then worked with the students in the “presidential art club” to create 60 ornaments. 

“The students committed to three weeks after school to plan and create their ornaments,” Hebert said. “The ornaments were wooden, so it was a new type of media for them to work with. It was a learning curve, but they did fantastic.” 

Students painted either the cover and the back of their chosen book or could paint an open book with an image from inside the book that was meaningful to them and also add a few little details and their names, Hebert said. 

The students also had the opportunity to go with Hebert and McIlveene and Principal Selena King on a field trip to the center to see their ornaments decorating the tree. They toured the museum, including the full-size replica of the oval office, made presidential decisions in the interactive Critical Decision Points Theatre, and had warm cookies and milk next to their ornaments. Students were given tickets to the library so they could visit with their families.

“It was a proud and inspiring moment for our students and school community,” Hebert said. 

When the decorations are taken down after the end of year celebrations, the ornaments will be returned to the students,who will have bragging rights that their artwork was displayed at one of the only 15 presidential libraries in the United States.