Dallas ISD exceeds enrollment projection

Dallas ISD has already surpassed its student enrollment projections for the school year, with more than 156,100 enrolled as of Sept. 7.

The district, which originally projected an enrollment of 155,089 students this school year, is on track to top last year’s enrollment of 156,832 students.

District officials said one reason for the higher-than-projected enrollment is that more Dallas-area families are learning about and choosing best-fit schools in Dallas ISD. From collegiate academies—where students can earn up to 60 hours of college credit or an associate degree while still in high school—and innovative choice schools to the district’s growing high-quality pre-K program, district officials said there is an ideal school for every student in the Dallas area.

But more than any other factor, district officials credited the higher-than-projected enrollment to the Texas Education Agency’s accountability ratings showing tremendous gains across the district. The new TEA state accountability rating known as “A through F” graded school districts on student achievement, school progress/growth, and closing the achievement gap. Dallas ISD received a “B” letter grade and is home to six of the 12 schools that achieved the highest-possible score on the 2018 STAAR test, according to the TEA.

Meanwhile, Dallas ISD has also achieved a steep decline in the number of Improvement Required campuses, from 43 in 2013-2014 to four in 2017-2018.

“We are proud of our tremendous gains in Dallas ISD, and our families, teachers and staff should feel great accomplishment in what we have done together,” Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said. “But this is not the finish line, we have just started this race. We still have much more work to do.”