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Allen ISD welcomes students back for 2026-27 school year

School is back in session at Allen ISD.

What’s happening?: Students returned to schools Aug. 13 for Allen ISD’s 2026-27 school year. The district serves more than 20,000 students across 16 elementary schools, three middle schools, one freshman center and one high school, according to its website.

Norton Elementary School teachers welcomed families and students before the morning bell rang at 7:45 a.m. The school teaches kindergarten through sixth grade. Norton Elementary Principal Renee Nelson said the first day of school is “always exciting.”

“Everybody is happy and smiling,” Nelson said. “We love having students back on campus. It’s why we’re here.”

 
CI Business
Pie Five Pizza permanently closes Allen restaurant

Pie Five Pizza is now closed in Allen, according to signage at the location.

The gist: The restaurant offered customizable personal pizzas as well as salads, breadsticks and dessert options. Other North Texas-area Pie Five Pizza locations can be found in Frisco, Arlington and Fort Worth.

  • 190 E. Stacy Road, Allen

 

FOODIE FRIDAY
Check out these new restaurants and bars opening across the Dallas - Fort Worth area.

Vidorra to serve street tacos, handcrafted margaritas in Grapevine

Vidorra's fifth location will open in Grapevine in late August.

Vidorra's menu includes street tacos, fajitas, aguachile, house-made guacamole and parrillada en fuego, an assortment of meat and vegetables served in a molcajete. The drink menu includes a selection of cocktails, such as noche tropical and Vidorra’s soft serve margarita, which combines soft serve ice cream and a frozen margarita.

The restaurant also offers a weekend brunch with options including chilaquiles, breakfast tacos and tableside mimosas.


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☕ La La Land Cafe opens Frisco location
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🍻 Truck Yard sets opening date in Richardson
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🥪 Corner Bakery to open second Plano location along Dallas Parkway
(Read more)

 

Pie Tap celebrates 10 years of serving artisan pizza to Dallas-Fort Worth area

Pie Tap founder and CEO Rich Hicks said the kind of pizza he ate with his young children made him feel lethargic, and he knew that if he ever started a pizza restaurant, he wanted to do things differently.

“I wanted it to be uniquely differentiated, and we would be selling that Italian-style, artisan dough to Dallas,” Hicks said.

Hicks opened the first Pie Tap location in the Dallas Design District at 1212 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas, in early August 2016, serving pizza with dough made from a 300-year-old sourdough starter. Ten years and six additional locations later, Pie Tap is still using its original dough recipe, Hicks said. Hicks said celebrating the 10th anniversary of Pie Tap is a “wonderful accomplishment.”


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What You May Have Missed
💵 Collin County calls $817.5M bond to address growth needs
🎨 Local artist Andrea Holmes completes 1st mural in downtown Allen
🌳 Nearly $4.2M Rowlett Trail Extension Project moves forward in Allen
🧙 The Muggle Hut relocates to Lone Star Mercantile in Allen

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Shelbie Hamilton
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Miranda Talley
General Manager

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