Carnegie Vanguard ranked sixth best high school in nation

Carnegie Vanguard High School has been ranked as the sixth best high school in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s 2015 Best High Schools rankings. Last year, the school was ranked 23^rd on the prestigious list.

Two additional Houston Independent School District schools were ranked in the top 100 — DeBakey High School for Health Professions, which was ranked 23rd, and Eastwood Academy, which came in at 53rd.

Get the full story here.

Congratulations also go out this week to:

• HISD Superintendent of Schools Terry Grier, who was awarded the 2015 Bob Grossman Leadership in School Communications Award by the National School Public Relations Association. The award recognizes a current superintendent of schools for outstanding leadership in school public relations and communications. Get that full story here.
• Peck Elementary School Principal Carlotta Brown, who was recognized along with her school on the May 14 broadcast of the Ellen DeGeneres Show with a $100,000 check for her campus and a $10,000 check for herself. You can read that full story here.
• HISD’s Nutrition Services department, which was recognized recently for completing the Local Products Challenge during School Breakfast Week 2015. Each year, the Texas Department of Agriculture challenges schools to use more Texas products in the meals they serve during National School Breakfast Week and recognizes those who complete the challenge. Read more about the Challenge and how HISD incorporated more local foods into its menus here.
• The Rough Riders from Reagan High School’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps’ army unit, who rousted the 14-year title holder at the National High School Drill Team Championships to be named the national champions. They won the top prize this year at the Masters Level of the Mixed Arms Division—a first for Reagan High School and a first for any high school from the Houston area. Get the full story here.
• Eight students from four HISD schools, who were included in the latest round of National Merit Scholarship winners. Tianxiu Chen and Marina Finley (Bellaire HS); Brett Gu (Carnegie Vanguard HS); Xiaoyi Dou, Zachary Kortum, Teresa Lee, and Poornima Tamma (DeBakey HS); and Claudia Heymach (High School for the Performing and Visual Arts) all received $2,500 to offset their college expenses. Read more about them, including which three were the valedictorians of their respective senior classes, here.
• Four graduating HISD seniors, who collectively received $14,000 in scholarships from the Houston Hispanic Architects & Engineers association. David Valerio (Carnegie Vanguard HS), Jasper Gregory (Lamar HS), Bianca Rubio (Bellaire HS), and Michael Ortiz (Washington HS) will all be pursuing degrees in engineering or architecture.
• Marilou Alcaraz (Briarmeadow Charter), Pia de Leon (River Oaks ES), Dr. Nghia Le (Washington HS), Oscar Le (Sharpstown International School), Nazan Sohail (Key MS), and the Asian American Club at Chávez High School, which were all recognized by HISD’s Asian Advisory Committee for their contributions to Asian students and to HISD as a whole. Read more about (and see photos from) that event here.
• Westside High School student Nathan Brunell, who will be immersing himself in deaf culture this summer after being selected to attend an exclusive American Sign Language (ASL) program at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Nathan is one of only 48 high-school students chosen from across the country to participate in the 10-day program, which is for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing students. Get his story here.
• The 150 students from six HISD middle schools who were treated to a shopping spree at Target on May 8, thanks to the Moran Norris Foundation’s “Shopping for Good Character” program. Students from Cullen, Dowling, McReynolds, Marshall, and M.C. Williams middle schools, as well as Woodson Leadership Academy, were selected by their teachers for excellent attendance, great character, and the ability to make good choices. Get the full story here.
• Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center senior Luis Guapo, who recently passed the CompTIA Network+ test over the weekend, giving him a total of three industry certifications: Information Technology Fundamentals, A+, and Network+. Read more about him here.

If you know someone who should be featured in Accolades, please email us at info@houstonisd.org and tell us why.