Get your bikes, hikes, and anything else you might need to conquer the 2.2 mile Northaven Trail ready. The project, which was introduced as part of 2006 bond package, officially kicks off its construction with a groundbreaking on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. behind Dealey Montessori.

City officials and representatives from the Friends of Northaven Trail will be on hand to answer questions and dole out high-fives. Actual dirt shoveling will follow shortly, I’m told, and the trail should be completed in early months of 2012.

DISD trustees were briefed this afternoon on Version 5.0 of the 2011-12 budget, and I’m trying to make heads or tails of it. For example, I see that the Dealey Montessori Vanguard is losing two FTEs, aka full-time educators, aka teachers. But elsewhere in the massive document (search for “Dealey”), it says the school is going from 4.5 Montessori teachers to 3.0 Montessori teachers.

If you’ve been sweating out the rising cost of higher education, your child could end your worries with a skillful game of chess. George Bannerman Dealey Montessori and International school is hosting a scholarship chess tournament Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

For $10, kindergarten through twelfth grade students currently attending a Dallas ISD school or charter school are eligible to compete by age group. The top player in fifth through sixth grade age group will receive a full four-year University of Texas at Dallas scholarship. For information, contact Dennis Raveneau at (972) 794-8400 or chess101@sbcglobal.net.

George Bannerman Dealey Montessori Vanguard and International Academy is more than just a fancy name. The school made the 2010 list of Higher  Performing Schools as designated by the National Center for Educational Achievement. Seventh and eighth grade students were deemed on track for “college and career readiness” in the areas of math, reading, science, and writing. Only social studies did not make the cut. Check out the stats here.

The North Dallas Early Childhood PTA likes to stay ahead of the curve. Parents of toddlers and preschoolers can get a sneak peak at local schools at a meeting Wednesday with representatives from Withers, Kramer, Dealey, and Preston Hollow Elementary. Principals and PTA presidents will be on hand to answer questions and promote their schools.

When: 7 p.m., Wednesday

Where: Meaders Hall, Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church

Today, a sampling of bank presidents, fire house chiefs, city council members, and business executives will take on a new role: Principal for a day.

More than half of Dallas ISD schools are participating in the program. George Bannerman Dealey Montessori and International Academy will turn over the reigns to John Gorman of Texas Instruments.

In addition to greeting students and making morning announcements, Gorman will have the opportunity to teach a class, meet with the student council, attend student performances, read to students or lead a class assembly.

Of course if you’re the principal, you can do whatever you want, right? If you had the opportunity to run the show at a DISD school, what would you do?

It’s been a dry spell for George Bannerman Dealey Montessori Vanguard and International Academy. I haven’t written about how awesome the DISD magnet school is since before Christmas. I remember one Saturday night in January (in the pre-blog era) driving by a line of people camped out outside the school as temperatures plummeted to 28 degrees, waiting to submit admissions applications for the fall.

Well, Dealey is back to its typical awesomeness again. DISD just sent over a press release announcing that middle school math teacher Carol Wingard is one of 46 teachers nationwide who will travel to Houston this July for NASA’s LiftOff Professional Development Summer Institute. Attendees will conduct experiments, tour facilitities, network with other teachers, and rub shoulders with rocket scientists.

Congrats to Ms. Wingard. She was the first person I spoke with when I first visited Dealey at the beginning of the school year. And it was she who finally untangled the school’s unwieldy name for me: Dealey Montessori Vanguard goes from pre-K to fifth grade. Dealey International Academy is the middle school. Put it all together, and you have the George Bannerman Dealey Montessori Vanguard and International Academy. Whew.