How Do RISD Schools Rank?

For years, the non-profit organization Children At Risk has sought to "improve the quality of life for children across Texas through strategic research, public policy analysis, education, collaboration and advocacy." As part of their mission, they've collected data on almost all public schools in Texas. Now, The Texas Tribune makes that data available and easily accessible.

"Using the Children At Risk data, The Texas Tribune has built a searchable database to help parents judge schools and help educators and policy makers examine the relative performance of groups of schools and districts. And we've constructed a detailed page for each school, separately laying out the data used to compute the rankings of more than 5,800 campuses."

After the jump, what the data tells us about Richardson ISD schools.

Berkner Run-Rules Richardson 12-1

From 2010 04 HS Baseball

In a big District 9-5A game, the Berkner Rams easily handed the Richardson Eagles only their second loss in district play this year. The Rams won 12-1 in six innings by the ten-run rule. Starting pitcher Stephen Spurlin scattered five hits for the complete game win while Berkner batters pounded out eleven hits. Richardson didn't help their cause any by committing four errors. The play of the game was a 5-6-3 double play by the Rams in the third inning that broke up a Richardson threat while the game was still close. With one game left in the season, Berkner, now 10-3, trails district-leading Richardson, 11-2, by only one game.

Before The Big Bang

Sean Carroll, a physicist at Caltech, has been on a media tour promoting his latest book, "From Eternity to Here." You might have seen him on "The Colbert Report". Or maybe read the New York Times interview.

After the jump, why it's exciting to see a scientist get some media attention.

Oral Exams For School Board Candidates

The Council of PTAs and League of Women Voters sponsored a forum for Richardson ISD school board candidates Tuesday evening in the RISD administration building auditorium. Six candidates for three seats participated. I don't intend to endorse or oppose any candidate, but I do want to make some random comments about what was said at the forum. I won't be mentioning names. If you want anything more specific, check out the recorded video of the forum when it's posted at the RISD website.

After the jump, my impression of the forum.

Movin On Up On The East Side

With the grand opening of ALDI in Richardson scheduled for April 22, we finally got a piece of the pie. Literally.

"Smarter shoppers go to smarter stores. Smarter shoppers know better than to pay extra at stores where baggers bag groceries and employees chase carts in the parking lot, or the cost of national brand marketing raises prices. So smarter shoppers shop where select-assortment inventory increases buying power and lowers prices, saving them up to 50% over supermarket prices. Smarter shoppers just 'get it.' And they get it at ALDI."

After the jump, how ALDI is just the latest in a series of redevelopments for an aging neighborhood in east Richardson.