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W hat ViVian taylor, prin-cipal at irma lerma rangel young Womens leadership School, has most enjoyed about being principal at the first one-gender school in the district is seeing the girls grow and mature as they embrace a learning environment tailored to young women.
the school, which now has grades six through 12 and almost 400 students, opened in 2004 as an all-girls school with a curriculum that emphasized lead-ership and the areas of science, math, and technology.
i am most proud of the seventh- and eighth-graders who are now our juniors and seniors, taylor said. When we opened our doors, neither the parents nor the students were sure of what to expect of an all-girls public school, but they trusted the adminis-tration and the staff to provide an environ-ment that would be nurturing and an aca-demic curriculum that would challenge the students to reach their highest potential.
Being the first public all-girls school in texas presented its own set of opportunities, taylor said. the concept of single-gender schools is common among private schools,
but educators were keeping an eye on ran-gel leadership School to see if it also would work in a public school setting.
the difference between a mainstream school and rangel leadership School in-cluded tailoring the curriculum and class-room work to provide an optimal learning environment for young women, an empha-sis on leadership and community service, career-oriented summer internship pro-grams, small advisory groups, and active parent involvement.
taylor believes the school has met expec-
tations and is proud of the first group of girls, who will graduate from the school in May. in fact, the rangel leadership School model has been so successfulthe school is ranked exemplary by the texas Education agencythat the dis-trict has formed a task force to open an all-male school.
We are all excited about the opening of an all-boys school, taylor said.
the B.F. Darrell Male leadership academy is projected to open for the 2010-2011 school year at what is now B.F. Darrell Math, Science, and tech-nology Vanguard. the all-male acad-
emy was proposed as part of the 2008 bond program approved in May.
the development of an all-male leader-ship academy for students in the Dallas iSD signals another excellent offering to match the many outstanding programs we have such as the irma lerma rangel young Womens leadership School, the townview Center magnet programs, the nationally recognized elementary programs and many, many others, said Shirley ison-newsome, Southeast Elementary learning Community executive director and task-force chair.
All-girls school is successful example of single-gender education
2 School Board Recognition Month
New student information system
3 Teacher Incentive Fund, Performance Pay Program
4 School Zone Dallas
School scorecards
News in brief
5 Reinhardt Elementary School student returns after life-threatening accident
Communicator January 2009 | www.dallasisd.org | i | 2 | 6 A newsletter for employees of the Dallas ISD

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Dallas ISD Communicator January 2009 | www.dallasisd.org | i | 2 | 6
January is School Board Recognition Month
D allaS iSD haS joinED othEr DiStriCtS throughout the state this month to thank board members for caring about the future of children enrolled in our public schools. Many schools have laid plans, including marquee mes-sages, student artwork, and school events, to tell their board member that his or her hard work has been noticed and is appreciated.
Governor rick Perry proclaimed january as School Board recognition Month to build awareness and understanding of the vital function an elected board of trustees plays in our communities. their job is to establish a vision for the educa-
tion program, design a structure to achieve that vision, assure schools are accountable to the community, and strongly advocate continuous improvement in student learning.
While they may in-dividually disagree on certain issues, their role as a board is to strive toward a common goalhelping students achieve. that job entails an end-less string of meetings and school functions to
attend; reams of reports, agendas, proposals, and other information to read and study; and a host of difficult decisions to make.
the districts board members contribute hundreds and hundreds of hours each year. For ideas on how school staffs and students can say thank-you to board trust-ees for their contributions, visit the texas association of School Boards Web site at www.tasb.org/services/communications/recognition/sbrm/index.aspx. For in-formation about the Dallas iSD Board of trustees, visit www.dallasisd.org/about/boardpage.htm.
(Standing) Lew Blackburn; Leigh Ann Ellis; Carla Ranger; Nancy Bingham; Edwin Flores; (Seated) Adam Medrano, secretary; Jerome Garza, second vice presi-dent; Jack Lowe, president; Michael Hinojosa, superin-tendent of schools; Ron Price, first vice president
Secondary schools go online with new student information system
DurinG thiS SEMEStEr, all secondary schools and selected elementary schools will begin using the scheduling feature of the new Chancery Student Management System. When it is fully implemented, this Web-based system will allow principals, teachers, and other school staff to schedule classes, enroll students, track student performance, and enter and moni-tor attendance.
in the fall, seven schools began using the sys-tem as part of the phase i implementation. Phase ii will continue through the 20092010 school year and will include implementation of all fea-tures at all secondary schools. Phase iii concludes the implementation at all Dallas iSD schools. By the end of the 20102011 school year, all elementary schools will be using the new Chancery student man-agement/information system.
For the most current information about the Chan-cery Student Management System implementation, go to inet.dallasisd.org/si.

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T hE DEaDlinE For instructional staff to opt-in to the districts 20082009 Performance Pay Program is Friday, Feb. 27. the program is sponsored by the teacher incentive Fund, a five-year $22.3 million grant the district received from the u.S. Department of Education to fund incentives for improving student achievement.
For the 20082009 school year, only campus-based instructional staff at most district schools may earn awards based on the School Effectiveness index, and teachers who receive a Classroom Effectiveness index may earn awards for individual performance based on the following criteria:n teachers (CEi and non-CEi), in-
cluding master teachers, must receive two classroom observationsfor exam-ple, one for 45 minutes and the second for a minimum of 20 minutes. Prin-cipals and evaluators need to ensure that all Professional Development and appraisal System rules for documenting classroom observations are followed. this includes documentation of the observation and feedback with the date and beginning and ending times noted.
(if assistance with PDaS rules is needed, contact an-drea hilburn.)n instructional staff and
teachers must receive a pro-ficient or exceeds expecta-tions on their appraisals.n instructional staff
and teachers must have 95 percent attendance for their full-year work calendar.
to participate in the 20082009 program, instructional staff must opt-in or opt-out using oracle Employee Self Service by close of business on Feb. 27. taking no action will be considered an opt-out.
although support staff and other non-instructional staff were included in the pilot program, a recent ruling from the Department of Education has prompted the district to amend the program for districtwide implementa-tion. the Department of Education has indicated that the tiF funds are intended to provide incentives only for teachers; teacher assistants; and prin-cipals, including assistant and associate principals.
For more information about the 20082009 tiF program, visit www.dallasisd.org/performancepay.
Campus-based instructional staff can find out more about the 20082009 Per-formance Pay Program during information sessions that will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the following locations:
Deadline to opt-in to Performance Pay Program is Feb. 27PERFORMANCEPAY PROGRAM
TEACHERINCENTIVEFUND
DATE LOCATION TEL. NO.
Monday, Jan. 12 David W. Carter hS (214) 932-5700
Tuesday, Jan. 13 Woodrow Wilson hS (972) 502-4400
Wednesday, Jan. 14 W.W. Samuell hS (972) 892-5100
Thursday, Jan. 15 north Dallas hS (972) 925-1500
Friday, Jan. 16 hillcrest hS (972) 502-6800
Thursday, Jan. 22 Moiss E. Molina hS (972) 502-1000
Monday, Jan. 26 l.G. Pinkston hS (972) 502-2700
Wednesday, Jan. 28 lincoln hS (972) 925-7600
Thursday, Jan. 29 Seagoville MS (972) 892-7100
Monday. Feb. 2 a. Maceo Smith hS (214) 932-7600
Tuesday, Feb. 3 h. Grady Spruce hS (972) 892-5500
Wednesday, Feb. 4 thomas jefferson hS (972) 502-7300
Thursday, Feb. 5 South oak Cliff hS (214) 932-7000

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School Zone Dallas airs Jan. 21 on WFAA-Channel 8
School Zone Dallas, the districts award-winning tV show hosted by students, will air at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, jan. 21, on WFaa-Channel 8, courtesy of john Eagle Dealerships. this episode also will air at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays on time Warner Cable channel 12B/98 and on KEra 13 at dates and times to be determined. For more information and air times, check out the School Zone Dallas Web site at www.dallasisd.org/schoolzone.
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