Well, it’s finally here. Super Bowl week has arrived in North Texas.

The media headquarters for the big game is the Sheraton in downtown Dallas. It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump from our lovely office.

I thought you’d like to check out this photo from outside the hotel. Pretty cool stuff.

Due to the expected winter blast on Tuesday, the girls’ JV and Varsity soccer teams will play tonight in Carrollton at Cox Field. The games were originally scheduled for Tuesday night at Franklin. JV will take the field at 5:30 p.m., followed by varsity at 7 p.m.

Fear not, block party goers.

Councilwoman Ann Margolin is reporting that despite the pressing demands of policing a city during the Super Bowl, neighborhood patrols will continue as normal this week. To accomplish this task and keep the streets around town safe, Dallas Police Department is bringing all hands on deck. Instead of the usual 85 percent, 100 percent of the force will be available this week.

I can’t tell you how to pronounce it, especially because the official logo includes a backwards S, but I can report that international clothier Desigual is taking over the space in NorthPark formerly occupied by Abercrombie.

In less prominent spots, signs indicate that Al’s Formal Wear is going in behind the Disney store and an Essensuals salon will open behind the former home of Bachrach (aka the future home of Justice).

In other NorthPark news, I let my 2-year-old walk/run around the mall for the first time, in lieu of his umpteenth trip through there in a stroller. When we got to Jonathan Borofsky’s Hammering Men sculpture, he stopped short and said, “Wow … what’s that?”

“That’s art,” I replied.

After digesting that for a few seconds, he pointed at the closest Hammering Man and said, “That’s tall.”

DISD and the University of North Texas-Dallas are teaming up to bring eleventh grade students a free ACT Prep Academy this spring. While the ACT is sort of the step-child of college entrance exams, a free course is a free course. And this one’s taught by Princeton Review instructors. Take that SAT.

You can register through your child’s school counselor by Feb. 1, or  at UNT-Dallas Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. The class begins with a pre-test on Feb. 5, ends with a post-test on April 2, and in between? A whole lotta book learnin’.

For six Saturdays there is a class for students from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on three of those there are parent meetings from 10 a.m. to noon.

For more information contact: SAT-ACTPrep@dallasisd.org

Making the honor roll just isn’t enough to grace the virtual pages of the newspaper anymore. The following students did more than hit the books, they secured awards outside their school’s walls in science, photography, and debate. Way to go, overachievers!

Ursuline Academy senior Madeleine Ball is one of 40 national finalists in the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search. Ball’s independent research project on cholera focused on the epidemic in Haiti and strategies for future management. In March, Ball will compete in the final round in Washington, D.C.

Greenhill senior Margot Beauchamp won Best in Show at the 23rd Annual Black & White Images Exhibition in Fort Worth for her wet-plate photograph titled “Ryan.” She also placed second in the still-life category and earned an honorable mention for architecture.

W.T. White took home 1st place overall at the Carrington Coleman/Hersh Foundation Debate Tournament last weekend. Other first place finishers included Jonas Rosenbeck, and John Strother and Sage Stevens, who were respectively the top novice speaker and team.

The next two days aren’t just any old bookend to your week. They are the last non-business days you have to prepare for Super Bowl XLV. If you haven’t heard, it’s in Dallas Arlington on Feb. 6. The following activities will put you on the path to game day greatness.

Take advantage of Town North YMCA’s “Parents’ Day Out” from 1 to 5 p.m. today to get your house in order with the kids running underfoot. Once everything is spic and span, reward yourself with a Wheatfield concert at Uncle Calvin’s. Tickets are $$15/$18 and the show begins at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, bring the kids by ESD’s Summer Camp Fair at 1 p.m., and while they’re transfixed by images of water slides and pillow fights, swing by Whole Foods at the Shops at Park Lane for a seminar on healthy Super Bowl snacks from 2 to 4 p.m. Your guests probably won’t thank you, but your cholesterol will. Life’s a trade off.