New school guide helps Dallas parents through maze of school choice | Da...
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By MELISSA REPKO Staff Writer
[email protected] Published: 11 January 2014 10:52 PM Updated: 12 January 2014 01:29 AM
Resource: Texas School Guide Each year, Children at Risk ranks Texas public schools. And each year, the education nonprofit fields calls from parents who feel trapped at failing schools. “They’d call and ask, ‘What can we do?’ ‘How can I transfer?’ ‘How can I make a change at my school?’” said Jessica Noel, a research coordinator for Texas-based Children at Risk. Concerned and confused parents inspired the nonprofit’s latest project: guides for public school choices in Dallas and Fort Worth ISDs. The guides are being released online Sunday at TexasSchoolGuide.org. The handbooks include how-to manuals called “Parent Action Guides” and short profiles of traditional public schools, magnets and charters in each district. The free, 237-page Dallas guide will be available in print. Children at Risk also will conduct parent workshops over the next few months. Dates and locations will be posted on the website. Children at Risk is an independent nonprofit organization that researches how public policies, especially in public education, affect poor children. It has ranked Texas schools since 2006. Its staff decided to expand the school rankings and create a simple, straightforward school guide for parents. They compiled data from the Texas Education Agency, contacted individual schools, spoke to community groups, held parent focus groups and conducted an online survey for parents. Children at Risk said it will update its online guide as schools provide more information. The organization plans to publish a new guide each year after it compiles its annual rankings. Traditionally, parents send their children to the public school in their neighborhood and may not know about other options. And if they do know, parents are often left to do research on their own — or rely on word-of-mouth. In Dallas, parents who choose public schools can send their children to neighborhood campuses, magnets or independently run charters. Each comes with advantages and disadvantages, and some require an application. For example: Parents can transfer their children from one Dallas ISD neighborhood school to another, but they must fill out a transfer request and get both principals’ permission. They can appeal a denial through a committee. Parents who receive notice that their neighborhood school is failing state standards can seek a “Public Education Grant” transfer to another school. The school district is required to provide alternatives but is not required to provide transportation. Dallas ISD magnet schools have their own application process, which is held once a year. Many of the magnets offer a specialized course of study, such as science or fine arts. They include some of the district’s most competitive and desirable programs, though some earned “F” grades in the Children at Risk guide. Charter applications vary from school to school. Each independent charter school has different requirements and deadlines. Most
1/15/2014 1:23 PM
New school guide helps Dallas parents through maze of school choice | Da...
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have lottery systems for admission, and some of long waiting lists. The first part of the Texas School Guide introduces parents to the varied school choices and offers advice for exploring options. The second part is a directory of school profiles, organized by geographic zones. Just like a report card, each school gets a letter grade from A to F. Noel suggested that parents identify their Dallas ISD neighborhood school, review its profile and compare it to other schools, charters or magnets. Parents can use the “Find Your School” feature at DallasISD.org/Page/88 to locate their neighborhood school. The district also has newly formatted school profiles on its website. DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander said having an informative website is like having “a welcome mat for parents.” “Parents are hungry for information,” he said. “They want to know about their school. They want to know the various programs schools are offering. They like to feel connected to the school.” Parents who want more information about the district’s magnet programs can pick up a booklet at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, 1201 E. Eighth St., said Keisha Crowder-Davis, Dallas ISD’s director of school design. The booklet is not available on the district website. Follow Melissa Repko on Twitter at @melissa_repko. Did you see something wrong in this story, or something missing? Let us know.
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Bill Betzen 3 days ago Discipline issues, as I mentioned below, are the major challenge in DISD middle schools. If you want to see how DISD middle schools compare relative to discipline problems you can see a chart I made at http://schoolarchiveproject.blogspot.com/2013/06/dallas-isd-discipline-reports-by-middle.html Check Hill Middle School against all the other DISD middle schools for discipline for first semester last year. Only 13 of the 34 or so DISD middle schools have better discipline rates, so it is doing okay. However, I would strongly recommend they start a School Archive Project such as the one at Quintanilla, which now has a much better discipline rate than Hill while having a much more poverty afflicted student
1/15/2014 1:23 PM
