Students return to class in Dallas, Fort Worth and other districts

DALLAS - It’s back to school today for hundreds of thousands of North Texas kids.

Students in 86 school districts across the area have their first day on Monday. They include the Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving, McKinney and Arlington school districts.

The Dallas Independent School District, the largest school district in North Texas, welcomes back more than 150,000 students and some of them will headed to new schools.

Ignite Middle School opens for the first time Monday. It focuses on personalized learning. There are also two new early childhood learning centers opening in the district for 3 and 4-year-old students.

This is also the first year Dallas ISD is running its own school buses.

Parents who need help with information can call the district’s back to school hotline at 972-925-5555.

The school day will be a little longer for 86,000 students in Fort Worth ISD. The district starts a new class schedule that will add about 15 more minutes of class time.

Parents are encouraged to double check the bell schedule before drop off and pick up time.

Fort Worth ISD is also putting an emphasis on STEM and the visual and performing arts this year with the newly renovated IM Terrell Academy.

Many school districts are stepping up security. Grand Prairie ISD will have police officers outside each campus Monday. Last year one student there was charged for posting a threat on social media.

Teachers in the Lovejoy school district in Collin County will have panic buttons. The system is already used in some hotels. It allows teachers to press a button in an emergency.

In Arlington, Superintendent Dr. Marcelo Cavazos will visit 12 schools during his seventh annual tweet-a-long. The first stop was at Gunn Junior High School to show off its new track. All 10 junior high schools in the district received facelifts on their football fields.

Cavazos will also check in on the STEM Academy’s first senior class at Martin High School.

We want to see how you’re getting ready for school. Share your back to school pictures on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #Ready4School. You may see your picture featured online or on air.