Tag Archives: De Zavala ES

HISD historical namesakes celebrated at annual Chávez-Huerta Symposium

Chávez High School staff and students celebrated their school’s namesake with their annual Chávez-Huerta Symposium on Saturday, March 25. The Symposium, a combination of multiple events organized in honor of César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, was held in person this year for the first time since its inception in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Victoria Orozco-Martinez named new principal of De Zavala Elementary

Victoria Orozco-Martinez (Houston Independent School District)Victoria Orozco-Martinez has been selected as principal of De Zavala Elementary School.  She has served with distinction in multiple capacities with Team HISD for more than 20 years. Ms. Orozco-Martinez began her career in education in 1994 as a bilingual teacher at Brookline Elementary, where she was subsequently promoted to manage the school’s Title 1 program.  She served next as a bilingual teacher and curriculum coordinator at Golfcrest Elementary, as well as campus literacy coach at Brookline.

In 2008, Ms. Orozco-Martinez made the transition to the district level as a curriculum and content specialist, working extensively in the development of curricula and assessments for five years and supporting campus implementation across HISD.  In 2013, she returned to campus leadership as assistant principal of De Zavala.  During this time, the school was twice identified as a high-performing and high-progress school by the Texas Education Agency. Ms. Orozco-Martinez is a graduate of HISD.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in educational management from the University of Houston at Clear Lake. She has two daughters.

Twenty-nine HISD schools awarded by TEA for top performance in 2014-2015

Campuses receive every distinction designation available from the state.

Twenty-nine schools from across the Houston Independent School District earned the maximum number of distinction designations from the state for their top performance throughout the 2014-2015 school year.

The campuses – 17 elementary schools, six middle schools and six high schools – earned every distinction designation awarded by the Texas Education Agency. Schools are eligible for distinctions if they are rated as having “Met Standard” — the highest rating under the state accountability system — and meet various other performance standards.

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HISD adding 21 campuses to dual language program in 2015–2016

HISD is expanding its successful dual language program to 21 more campuses in 2015–2016, launching thousands of additional pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students on the road to learning a second language. Currently, 31 HISD schools offer a Spanish dual language program.

Starting in August, kindergarten students — and pre-kindergarten students, at some schools — will be learning in both English and Spanish. One grade will be added to the program each year until it reaches school-wide.

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School tours give principals a look inside successful Guided Reading programs

Figuring out how to do something for the first time can be tricky, but having an expert on hand to show you the ropes can make it a lot easier. That’s why HISD has asked the principals of eight elementary schools with effective Guided Reading programs in place to offer tours to other campus leaders.

Guided Reading is a critical piece of the district’s Literacy By 3 initiative, which aims to have all elementary students reading at or above grade level by the end of grade 3. A big part of its successful implementation will depend upon the creation of both individual classroom libraries and a central storage area for Guided Reading materials that all teachers can use as a resource. Continue reading

12 schools compete in All-Earth EcoBot Challenge

A dozen Houston ISD schools took part on the All-Earth EcoBot Challenge at Reliant Center last weekend, which allowed students in grades 5-8 to show off their engineering skills.

Teams of four students designed, built, and programmed autonomous robots. The teams then used their robots to complete a series of missions that connect to the commercial and industrial future of energy exploration, transportation, technological innovation, medical research, and environmental sustainability.

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