Fort Worth ISD

For a kid with severe physical disabilities, having an aide at school can make a huge difference. It can affect whether a student stays in school or drops out, whether the student passes or fails. As part of KERA’s American Graduate initiative, Stella Chavez catches up with Class of ’17 student Chance Hawkins, a sophomore at Fort Worth’s Dunbar High School.

The Fort Worth school district is once again looking for a new superintendent.

That’s because the district’s top pick no longer wants the job. 

Fort Worth school district trustees made their choice for superintendent over the weekend. During a special morning meeting Saturday, the board voted unanimously in favor of Joel D. Boyd, who’s currently the superintendent of schools in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Block schedule classes run like the multi-hour science labs you might recall from high school or college. Some schools use them. Many don’t. As part of KERA’s American Graduate initiative, here’s a look at the difference a schedule can make.

School districts throughout the state are applauding a court ruling that may eventually lead to an overhaul of the way Texas pays for schools.

On Thursday State District Judge John Dietz again declared the state’s school funding system unconstitutional.

School started for most North Texas kids on Monday. But not everyone was there on the first day or the second or even the third. Getting every single student to show up is tough. In many districts, students keep trickling in days and even weeks later. A Dallas ISD official explains what keeps some kids away.

Here’s a question. Do you know the difference between your amygdala and the hippocampus? There’s a group of 3 year olds in Oak Cliff who do. And soon, pre-K children in Fort Worth may know, too. The district is teaming up with Momentous Institute in a new partnership aimed at teaching young children how to take care of their social and emotional health.

Six decades after the U.S. Supreme Court said racially divided schools were unconstitutional, a curious thing has happened. Many school systems are more segregated than ever, but in a completely different way. Tonight, PBS Frontline takes a look at this phenomenon in Baton Rouge, La., in a documentary called Separate and Unequal. What about the numbers in North Texas?

Summer has just started, but some kids are already thinking about the first day of school this fall. 

At a shopping mall south of Fort Worth, Tarrant County leaders helped to kick-off a registration drive to get poor families from 20 school districts free backpacks loaded with school supplies.

The Fort Worth school board unanimously named a retired deputy superintendent, Patricia Linares, as its interim leader Monday night. Walter Dansby resigned last week. For the board, experience was key.

Fort Worth Superintendent Walter Dansby negotiated a resignation settlement of more than $900,000. He’ll soon take on a different job.

In a surprise announcement, Fort Worth ISD superintendent Walter Dansby resigned Monday night. The school board accepted the resignation by a 6-3 vote.  The reasons remain unclear.

A new Texas law requires public school students to decide a career track in eighth grade. It’s a sea change with challenges for schools -- and some anxiety for kids.

Kelli Bowdy, one of the students we’re following in our Class of '17 series, is almost through her freshman year at Fort Worth’s O.D. Wyatt High School. She’s even thinking about graduating early. Nationwide, only 3 percent of high school kids manage that.  

Two minutes. That’s all the time you need to teach your child something new.

That’s the idea behind a series of instructional videos several North Texas school districts are offering parents. This new tool, called ReadyRosie, is getting preschool kids ready for the classroom.

With a surge of charter schools and the continued appeal of private schools, the Fort Worth ISD is meeting the competition head on. For the past few years, the school district has been adding academic specialties at nearly every campus. It’s called the Gold Seal Programs of Choice.

Voters in the Fort Worth Independent School District are being asked to support nearly half a billion dollars in bonds to improve facilities and instruction. Three proposals to do just that are on the Nov. 5 ballot. Offering pre-kindergarten to more children is one of the measures under Proposition 1.

  UPDATE The Texas Education Agency accountability ratings reveal most school districts – 92.5% - achieved the new, acceptable rating “Met Standard.” Both Dallas and Fort Worth Independent School Districts “Met Standard.” there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Among the challenges that many school districts face is the number of economically disadvantaged students and, in some cases, kids without a steady home.

One class in the Fort Worth Independent School District decided to tackle this problem, and they did it with style.

61 year-old Walter Dansby officially becomes Fort Worth Independent School District’s newest Superintendent next month. He started his career with the district 38 years ago to teach and to coach basketball. KERA’s Bill Zeeble sat down with Dansby to talk about plans for the state’s 5th largest school district that comes with serious challenges.