NEWS RELEASES
Contact News and Information
(972) 925-3900

As the nation's eleventh largest school district, Dallas Independent School District serves more than 160,000 students who come from homes where 58 different languages are spoken.  Operating with a $1 billion dollar budget, DISD employs 18,613 employees including 10,000 teachers in 220 schools.

Three Dallas Middle Schools Selected To Participate In Gear Up Program

13 Oct 2000

Participants Invited To Attend Gearing Up for College Family Conference at Sunset on Saturday

Approximately 2,500 Dallas Public School students who attend Greiner, Rusk and Stockard, will increase their opportunity to enroll and succeed in college thanks to their participation in the Gear Up (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness) program. A reception for the participants and their parents will be held Saturday, October 14, at 8:30 a.m. at Sunset High School, 2120 W. Jefferson Blvd. As part of the day's events, from 10:15 a.m. to 11 a.m., parents and students will attend a session on “High School Transitions—Strategies for Succeeding in High School and Beyond” and information regarding financial aid and admissions. This presentation also will be made in Spanish.

Special guests to the event include congressional representatives Martin Frost and Eddie Bernice Johnston, Sally Cain, Secretary's Regional Representative United States Department of Education-Region VI, DISD Deputy Superintendent Mary Roberts, and federal Gear-Up grant officers. The North Texas Gear Up Alliance has the support from the Dallas County Community College District, Texas Woman's University, the University of North Texas and the LULAC National Educational Service Centers.

Gear Up is a federally-funded program which supports partnerships on high-poverty middle schools with colleges and universities, community organizations and business to work with entire grade levels of students. The partnerships provide tutoring, mentoring, information on college preparation and financial aid, an emphasis on core academic preparation and, in some cases, scholarships.