Back in 2019, as the culture initiative began, cross-functional teams from throughout the district worked together to define the core four so everyone had an understanding of what each of the?principles meant, says Pamela Lear, Dallas ISD’s chief of staff and chief of racial equity. For example, the district would focus on transforming students’ lives and work fast to respond to the need of their colleagues. Being?friendly would create memorable moments for students and staff, says Lear, who initiated the project.

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The district’s frontline office managers will be the next group to participate in the core four training, which will begin this summer. A stronger culture will hopefully play a role in helping stem the enrollment losses the district has experienced in recent years. The population has dropped from about 150,000 students to 143,000 over the last seven years as families have switched to charter schools and been forced to move away by rising property costs, Lear says. “People walk onto a campus and they don’t like the feel of it and make a different decision,” Lear says. “That’s really where this work started, when we asked, ‘Why are we losing students?'”

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