- Senate panel hears contentious ‘school choice’ bill
- How music instruction is hitting the right note in education
- Houston Rising—why the next great American cities aren’t what you think
- Senate votes to delay school ratings until 2014
- Opposition to school vouchers runs deep in Texas House
- Don’t wait on the courts to increase school funding
HISD has approximately 60,000 students who are classified as English Language Learners (ELL), and to help teachers make the most of their instructional time with those students, Professional Support & Development has developed eight ‘everyday excELLence’ routines in partnership with the Multilingual department.
Teachers can implement these simple, high-impact, research-based instructional routines to help ELL learn rigorous content while developing stronger vocabulary and literacy skills.
For details, please see the April 2013 edition (.pdf) of Celebrating Effective Teaching.
Principals know that the single most critical factor affecting students’ academic achievement is the presence of an effective teacher in their classrooms.
That’s why hiring the strongest candidates is so important, and why the latest Campus Spotlight from the Effective Teachers Initiative is focused on hiring strategies for principals.
Read the latest installment (.pdf) to get tips from:
- Cullen Middle School Principal Clayton Crook
- School at St. George Place Principal Adam Stephens
- Sharpstown High School Principal Rob Gasparello
- Berry Elementary School Principal Deborah Silber
Also check out the previous profiles highlighting Berry ES, Dowling MS, Madison HS, Osborne ES, and Pin Oak MS.
Do you know someone whose work on behalf of public schools has gone largely unrecognized?
If so, then consider nominating him or her for a 2013 “Guiding Star” award!
For the third consecutive year, Parents for Public Schools-Houston will be honoring parents, community/business partners, volunteers, and school/district staff who go above and beyond the call of duty in their service to Houston’s schoolchildren. For details, please click here.
Next drug-free workplace training session April 16
HISD will be conducting three “drug-free workplace” training sessions this spring for central office administrators, principals, principal designees, and managers. This training teaches personnel how to recognize impaired employees in the work place and how to call for a reasonable suspicion drug/alcohol test.
For dates and details, please see this related article.
Open Transfer Period for teachers ends April 19
The Open Transfer Period for teachers will take place from March 25–April 19, 2013.
During this period, teachers are free to transfer between HISD campuses to fill open positions for the 2012–2013 school year. A teacher’s current principal must sign off on the transfer as an acknowledgement that the employee is leaving the campus.
For complete details, please see this related memo.
Deadline for HMNS Excellence in Science award nominations: April 26
Do you know a high-school junior or teacher who demonstrates outstanding performance in the area of science or math?
If so, consider nominating him or her for one of the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Excellence in Science awards. Winners will receive a $2,000 cash prize.
The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, April 26. For complete details, please visit the HMNS website.
Mobile mammograms available through July 29
The Rose, a non-profit organization dedicated to the reduction of breast-cancer-related deaths, is offering on-site screening mammograms at three different locations to women who meet certain criteria.
For complete details, please see this related article.
A few weeks ago, McReynolds Middle School teacher Robert Myers was featured in the Shout-Outs section of Friday eNews for his students’ performance in high-level chess tournaments.
Now, Myers is returning to the Accolades section for an accomplishment of his own.
Over the past weekend, Myers was designated a Level IV (National) Certified Chess Coach by the United States Chess Federation—and he is now the only one in Texas and one of only eight in the entire world.
| If you know someone who should be featured in Accolades, please email us at info@houstonisd.org and tell us why. |
This week’s Shout-Out goes to Catherine Alia, a teacher at Gross Elementary School, from her principal, Jill Brooks, for her philanthropic spirit.
“‘Every Child, Every Day—Whatever It Takes’ is our motto here at Jenard Gross, but one teacher took that message across the globe,” explained Brooks. “Catherine purchased 300 T-shirts with a variation of that slogan on them, and distributed them to poor children in Imo State, Nigeria, West Africa when she traveled there over Spring Break. She also bought hot lunches for the students at Umuokeh Community School (a very low-income school, located in one of the poorest communities in Nigeria) for the entire week, in an effort to make sure that they would have at least one healthy meal per day.”
| Know someone who deserves a shout-out? Send an email to info@houstonisd.org with the subject line “Shout Out for eNews!” and tell us why. |
Marshall Middle School will be celebrating its 100th year of existence on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at the Sabor del Northside festival in Castillo Park (1145 Quitman St., 77009)—and the public is invited!
Originally known as Northside Junior High School when it opened in 1913, this campus was subsequently renamed for John Marshall, the fourth chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.
The Marshall celebration doesn’t officially begin until 2:30 p.m., but the festival opens at 11 a.m. and visitors are welcome to come out early and take a photo with the colossal birthday “cake” made up of 1,000 individual cupcakes, visit with some of the many alumni present, or peruse some of the dozens of photos and other fun memorabilia from the school’s history, including an honor society pin from the 1940s, a cheerleading sweater from the 1960s, and a band jacket from the 1970s.
Here are some other dates you may want to mark on your calendar:
- April 1–30: Distracted Driving Awareness Month
- April 13: All-Earth EcoBot Challenge
- April 14–20: Week of the Young Child
- April 14 & 16: Rockets’ HISD Appreciation Nights
- April 16 & 30: Reasonable suspicion trainings
- April 19: Open Transfer Period ends
- April 27 (.pdf): School Choice Fair
- April 28: March of Dimes March for Babies
- May 1–31: Asthma Awareness Month
- May 5: Lemonade Day
- May 6–12: School Nurse Appreciation Week
- May 6–10: Teacher Appreciation Week
- May 9:Board meeting
- May 15: Recipe for Success Garden Haiku contest deadline
- May 18: Young Inventors’ Showcase entry deadline
- May 27: Memorial Day
- June 1: Hurricane season begins
- June 6: Last day of school (students)
- June 7–11 (.pdf): Graduation ceremonies
The Houston Museum of Natural Science will be hosting its next Teacher Tuesdays workshop at 5 p.m. on April 9, 2013.
This week’s theme is light, heat, sound, and electrical energy, and how it changes from one form to another. The target audience is teachers of grades K–5.
For more details on HMNS offerings, visit that website. An Educator’s Guide (.pdf) is also available.
Other upcoming learning opportunities:
- Tweets from the principal’s office—Author and keen human observer Daniel Pink has said that, “The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind.” This four-hour seminar (3:30 – 5:30 p.m. on April 8 and 15, at the Ryan Professional Development Center, 4001 Hardy, 77009) will explore the cultural shift in thinking and share a few easy-to-implement technology tools that will allow campus leaders to jump on board. Sign up on eTRAIN using course code LD0185. Additional course offerings can be found in this catalog (.pdf).
- Fallingwater residency—Explore the world of legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright this summer at his masterwork in Mill Run, Pennsylvania. The deadline to apply for this residency is Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Applications postmarked by March 31 are eligible for a $100 discount. For complete details, click here.
- HMNS summer energy workshops: Middle- and high-school science teachers are invited to participate in one of two weeklong workshops over the summer sponsored by Marathon Oil Corporation. Participants will acquire knowledge of careers in the energy industry by touring production sites such as the Cedar Bayou Natural Gas Power Plant, the Varel Drill Bit Factory, and the South Texas Nuclear Project. The workshop costs $45, with lunch provided each day. Please see this related flyer (.pdf) for details.
Kelvin Scurry
Maintenance repairer Kelvin Scurry had only been out of high school for a couple of years when a neighbor told him about a job opening in HISD’s Facilities and Maintenance Operations department (now known as Construction and Facility Services).
But that tip led to a solid career in education, as Scurry officially marked 25 years of service to the district on April 4.
For the first 20 years of his tenure, Scurry installed and repaired fencing at facilities across the district, but in 2008, he was promoted to his current position, and now he deals with parking-lot striping, tree trimming, and other grounds-related services in addition to that.
“I love my job,” said the Booker T. Washington alumnus. “I just love serving the people. They know when I show up, I’m going to get the job done.”
Many other HISD employees are also marking milestones this week (March 31–April 6)—see if you know anyone on this list:
35 years
- Dorothy Thomas, associate teacher
25 years
- Margaret Hernandez, secretary, Sterling HS
- Norma Morin, teaching assistant, Park Place ES
- Julie Roushani, teacher specialist, Wainwright ES
- Patricia Vega, teaching assistant, Browning ES
20 years
- Felicia Ceaser-White, specialist, Secondary Curriculum
- Ronald Parnell, analyst, Budgeting & Financial Planning
- Jennifer Walker, speech therapist, Child Study
15 years
- Patricia Ashley, secretary, Alternative Certification Program
- Maria Baez, custodian, De Chaumes ES
- Charles Bowden, warehouser driver, Furniture Services
- Juan Gonzalez, attendant team leader, Food Services
- Maria Guadarrama, attendant team leader, Food Services
- Rocio Morelos, student information representative, Bell ES
- Blanca Perrett, teacher, Looscan ES
- Nga Tran, attendant, Food Services
10 years
- Carolyn Anderson, Substitute Aide/Clerk
- John Babers, plant operator, Hobby ES
- Joseph Cormier, crossing guard, Cornelius ES
- John Shanklin, crossing guard
- Anita Suson, teacher, Eastwood Academy
- Minerva Torres, crossing guard, Golfcrest ES
5 years
- Troy Bonner, teaching assistant, Harper Alternative
- Willie Burroughs, senior manager, Construction & Facility Services
- Jerry Claybon, telecom repairer, Construction & Facility Services
- Suzanne Coleman, area manager, Transportation Services
- Sossiena Demissie-Sanders, teacher, Milby HS
- Lorita Lynn Destin-Cartwright, clerk, Transportation Services
- Marta Eskin, teacher, Herod ES
- Juan Estrada, custodian, Dowling MS
- Juan Grajales, maintenance repairer, Construction & Facility Services
- Gloria Guerrero, associate teacher
- Voris Houston, warehouse, Food Services
- Aldridge Jack, teacher, Scroggins ES
- Ma Dolores Lazaro, teacher, Fonville MS
- Dennis Turner, associate teacher
| Check back next Friday for more April Milestones. Leave a comment below if you’d like to congratulate any of the above employees. |
