She has a reputation around Dallas ISD as a principal's leader and she's not afraid to admit it.
"I feel really good about interacting with our principals," said Stephanie Elizalde, Superintendent of Dallas ISD.
Over the summer in a packed auditorium, she got a standing ovation as she told principals she would reduce the focus on test scores this school year
"Teaching and learning should be joyful, it should be engaging students, and teachers should be able to utilize both the science and the art of teaching. So we know that there's room for improvement," said Elizalde.
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Last school year the district piloted a new curriculum on math and reading and found solid success This year Elizalde is rolling it out district-wide. She wants to do the basics and do them well. It's a different note than her predecessor.
"Sometimes you have to do something that is bold and that’s what this pandemic is forcing us to do, we gotta do something different," said Michael Hinojosa, former Dallas ISD Superintendent, in an interview with NBC 5 in 2021.
Hinojosa led the way in different, everything from kids learning in a virtual world to hybrid schools.
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Elizalde's plan may be simpler, but she says it's just as innovative.
"We're going to continue to think about things and try things out. We also have to be very measured and what we're trying because I think post-pandemic, we have a different level of responsibility, just because we had such, I mean, there was such disruption for so many of our students," she said.
She wants to hear from parents too, on everything from tests to safety.
"We need that voice. To really be relentless and nonstop, I do think it is a voice that actually to this point, has actually kept the private school subsidies from coming to fruition," she said. "So is any one thing going to take care of everything? No. And we're going to show up every day to keep adding as many things as we can so that at the end of each day, I can rest my head saying we made it another day."
