|
Dallas ISD District 1 Newsletter – December 2024 Recap
Haga clic aquí para ver la versión en español.
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful break with their family and is ready to dive back into the school year. Exciting things are happening in Dallas ISD and District 1.
Dallas ISD Updates
Dallas ISD Shines in Teacher Retention: Dallas ISD is full of amazing teachers, and they are the most important drivers of student success. Since Dallas ISD implemented its Teacher Excellence Initiative in 2014—where we pay teachers more for effectiveness rather than longevity—our teacher retention has skyrocketed. Teacher turnover in Dallas ISD (16.8%) is now substantially lower than the region (19.1%) and the State (20.9%).
Community Listening Progress & Goal Setting: THANK YOU to the more than 1,000 community members, staff, students, and parents who came to our community listening sessions and filled out surveys about their vision for Dallas ISD. This month, the Board reviewed all this data and worked on priorities for DISD that will guide our work over the coming five years. The discussion focused on setting goals in the following areas.
1. 3rd grade literacy, including focus on earlier learning.
2. 3rd grade mathematics, including focus on earlier learning.
3. 6th – 8th grade ELA and Math growth, including Algebra 1 in 8th grade
4. College, Career & Military readiness, with a focus on the more rigorous metrics.
5. Financial and digital literacy
The Board will continue to define these goals in the coming months, while also defining our constraints—meaning the values we will commit to preserving while pushing for our goals:
A. Student and Parent Experience
B. Staff Satisfaction and Retention
C. Equitable Access to Resource
D. Effective and Efficient Budget
E. Effective Special Education Services
Dallas Receives the Highest Tier Bond Rating: Dallas ISD just got a top-tier bond rating. The Kroll Bond Rating Agency recently assigned DISD a bond rating of AAA. Of the 1207 school districts in Texas, only 11 have received the AAA bond rating. Higher ratings mean lower interest rates, which can save our taxpayers millions of dollars over the life of the bonds.
District 1 Updates
Here are highlights from our District 1 schools. Please e-mail any ideas you have for highlights to LanceCurrie@dallasisd.org.
-
Barnes & Noble donates 1,000 books to Walnut Hill ILA: Barnes & Noble made an incredibly generous gift to the students at Walnut Hill. We were treated by an awesome student performance followed by the students picking out their next read. Thank you!
-
Welcome to Marcus, Principal Ruiz! When students returned from the holiday break, they welcomed a new principal, Nakita Ruiz. Principal Ruiz is a fourteen-year educator who recently served as an assistant principal at Hector Garcia, which barely missed being “A” rated. She led the ELAR department, which achieved the highest growth rating in Region 1. With a beautiful new school and amazing new principal, great things are happening at Marcus.
-
WTW Caballeras Earns Division 1 Rating. Congrats to the Caballeras, who earned a Division 1 rating at the Dallas Dance Educators Association 2024 Dance Assessment.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- January 18 (10:00 a.m. to 11;30 a.m.) – Virtual Discovery Dallas ISD (register here)
- January 23 (6:00 p.m.) – Dallas ISD Board Meeting
- January 25 (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) – STEM Expo, Fair Park Automobile Bldg., 3809 E. Grand Ave.]
- February 22 (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) – Fam Jam, Kimball High School, 3606 S. Westmorland Rd.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve our students. If you have questions, thoughts, or want to talk about how we can work together to make Dallas ISD the best school district, please reach out. I’m happy to grab coffee or set up a Zoom call. Just e-mail me at LanceCurrie@dallasisd.org.
Thank you,
| 
