Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Superintendent Brad Schnautz will resign as superintendent to take a position as Region 11 Education Service Center executive director, according to a news release from GCISD.

The details: GCISD trustees will start interviewing prospective interim superintendents Dec. 10, according to a message to GCISD families from board President Shannon Braun. She added that trustees expect to hire an interim superintendent by Dec. 15.

Some background: Schnautz joined GCISD in 2017 as assistant superintendent and served as superintendent since March 2023. He was superintendent during the 2024 tax-rate election, which passed and saved the district more than $5 million.

GCISD is currently considering closing Dove and Bransford Elementary Schools to combat a roughly $10 million state funding loss caused by declining student enrollment. The district has lost roughly 1,500 students since 2019, according to district documents.

Owner Sarah Varney started The Gift Bar in Colleyville as a showroom for her handmade artwork before transforming it into a shopping experience for visitors to find gifts for their loved ones. 

“We are all about curating gifts for people that are specifically tailored to whoever the recipient is,” she said. “Customers will tell us who they’re shopping for and we’re really hands on [and] involved in the process of putting the gifts together. It’s very thoughtful and intentional.” 

What they offer: The Gift Bar offers house-made candles, room sprays, laundry powder, perfume, body scrubs and lotions, Varney said. 

“I’m very particular about scents,” she said. “I personally don’t like overly powerful candles… so I set out to create my own candle that would be more mellow.” 

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is expecting more than 3 million passengers to pass through the airport during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period.

What you need to know: In a news release, the airport stated the busiest day will be Nov. 30, with an estimated 269,000 travelers. Between Nov. 20 and Dec. 2, the airport will have heavy traffic throughout the travel period. Airport officials anticipate large crowds of departing and arriving customers on Nov. 26, Nov. 29 and Dec. 1, as well.

Zooming in: The news release stated public transit could help speed up the drop-offs and pick-ups. 

Trinity Metro’s TEXRail travels from downtown Fort Worth to Terminal B at the airport. DART’s Orange Line runs from Plano, Dallas and Irving and arrives in Terminal A.

DART’s Silver Line, which launched Oct. 25, will provide a riding option from Richardson, Addison, Carrollton and Coppell to Terminal B.

A new 215-acre development in east Plano is close to final approval, while several new housing developments are underway in Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake. 

See details on these stories and more in a list of the top five most-read stories from Community Impact's Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas from Nov. 17-21.

🏘️ 215-acre Lavon Farms development in east Plano moves forward

🍩 New 6,400-square-foot shopping center on Plano, Richardson border to be anchored by Dunkin’

🍕 Check out 6 restaurants newly opened in the Dallas-Fort Worth area

🍣 Bread Zeppelin expands footprint, all-you-can-eat sushi coming soon: 6 Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant updates

🏠️ 5 housing developments updates in Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake

Local universities announced a partnership for the North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator to address high maternal morbidity rates.

The new partnership between Texas Christian University and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center was announced at the TCU campus Nov. 17.

In a nutshell: The accelerator will primarily focus on reducing obstetric complications by more than 20% over three years and rewarding maternal health improvements through sustainable incentives.

Data gathered through the partnership will come from patients in Tarrant and Dallas counties with assistance from every major health system in North Texas, according to a news release.

“Keeping all of our mothers healthy requires our health care system to coordinate in some new ways,” said Cameron Combs, senior director of Child Poverty Action Lab and the Nov. 1 event emcee. “What North Texas is attempting represents a radical departure from the status quo by tying our coalition’s revenue to demonstrating clinical improvements.”

Looking forward: The partnership will officially start in January 2026, with initial impact results expected to be released in mid- to fall 2026.