Dallas ISD principals focus on improving school climate and culture amid educational pressures.
DALLAS — Outside Thomas Jefferson High School, educational pressures have been building. But inside was where Dallas ISD principals reverted to their “why.”
“I’m a principal where I grew up,” Cedar Crest Elementary Principal Stacy Ray said.
Having brought the school from a state grade of an “F” to a “B,” Ray said her focus has been on improving the school’s climate and culture.
“We just try to bring things that they didn’t have, give them an experience like no other,” Ray said.
It is what she and others at DISD’s principal summit described as the backdrop to building relationship and trust within schools and with families.
“As a campus that’s significantly immigrant population students and, and significantly, low socioeconomic status students, we are a pathway. We are the pathway for our students to the American dream,” said Benjamin Jones, Thomas Jefferson High School Principal and DISD’s Master Principal.
That dream doesn’t come without its hurdles as the Trump Administration plans to dismantle the Department of Education. Public schools are also facing funding concerns, teacher and principal shortages along with a demand for more pay.
“Are there pressures out there? Do I wake up thinking about them some days? Sure,” said Jones.
That’s why the principals said setting up the culture and climate for the next 220 days of educational work is crucial.
“Regardless of the stresses, regardless of the challenges that are happening outside these walls, eight hours a day you get to be here, you get to be safe,” Jones said. “You get to be comfortable, and you get to be learning.”