The Future Hybrid School will be located in the former Stephen J. Hay School in the Turtle Creek and Oak Lawn area.

The Future Hybrid School will be located in the former Stephen J. Hay School in the Turtle Creek and Oak Lawn area.

hope this newsletter finds all of you starting the new year healthy and happy, and I pray that the light is at the end of the tunnel for this pandemic! 

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Dallas ISD has been working together with Dallas County to ensure our educators get priority for the vaccine and has offered to assist the federal government with vaccination efforts. 

Below, you’ll find this month’s news and updates…

Dallas ISD offers wireless internet access to student homes: Dallas ISD is working to close the digital divide for families that do not have access to wireless internet in their homes. The school district is working with local internet providers and the State of Texas to ensure that all our students have what they need to access learning anytime, anywhere.

New “hybrid school” will open in Dallas ISD next year: While many parents and students are itching to put the pandemic behind them and get back to school as normal, there are parents/students who have grown to prefer virtual/hybrid school models. So Dallas ISD is creating a “hybrid” school for 4th to 6th grade students for the upcoming school year. This choice will be available for parents and students who wish to continue with this model.

School calendar models (base, intersession and school day redesign): This month, Dallas ISD considered and adopted all three school calendars proposed for next year — the Base Calendar, an intersession calendar and the school-day redesign. These last two innovative calendars were created to help combat the learning loss students are showing from the pandemic and ensure students have access to more individualized instruction and support. The Base Calendar, which is our traditional calendar, was approved and will be used in most Dallas ISD schools. The other two innovative calendars approved for pilot testing over the next two years include:

  • Intersession calendar: The intersession calendar could be piloted at up to one-third of elementary and middle schools whose parents and staff opt in. Instead of having 10 weeks of summer vacation, these schools would have five weeks of summer vacation and an additional five weeks off throughout the school year. During the intersession weeks, students who need it and wish to opt in will receive increased instruction in small-group settings.
  • School day redesign calendar: The school year redesign calendar could be piloted at up to 10 schools whose parents and staff opt in. This calendar includes an extended school year for everyone at the school and gives schools flexibility to fully rethink what a school day can look like — including adding additional extracurricular and co-curricular activities.As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at BenMackey@DallasISD.org if you have thoughts, ideas, questions, concerns, or simply want to say hello!

Dallas ISD Trustee
Ben Mackey, District 7