Houston ISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier smiles after writing a message on a bus during the Summer Leadership Institute at Reliant Center, June 18, 2013.

During the first day of the HISD Summer Leadership Institute, Superintendent of Schools Terry Grier challenged principals to share what they can do every day to help their staff, their school, and their students to “become great all over.” Instead of writing their thoughts down on a piece of paper, however, the school leaders grabbed paint pens and “tagged” an HISD school bus parked in front of Reliant Hall.

“Great teachers, principals, and support staff is what it is all about,” said Dr. Grier, as he grabbed a black paint pen and inked his thoughts on the bus. “Our investment in human capital here at HISD is sincere and it is an extremely important piece of what we are ultimately trying to do, which is to make all our schools and students great.”

Principals had a fun time writing their thoughts on the bus. More importantly, the activity spurred conversations among the leaders on what they could do on their campuses to ensure that every student is provided with a rigorous education in a safe environment.

“Great all over means dreaming big and doing what’s best for our students every day,” said Milby High School Principal Sonja Miller. “We have to commit to changing the lives of kids and really believe in it.”

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Other principals wrote about the importance of rigor, relationships, and a no-excuses culture as some of the driving forces behind their efforts to raise student achievement.

“I love the idea of writing and sharing our beliefs and visions on this bus,” said Tiffany Chenier from McNamara Elementary. “It’s a great way to get ready for the coming school year and to set our expectations high.”

To learn more how HISD is becoming great all over, follow the district on twitter.com/houstonisd and search for #greatallover. HISD schools with twitter accounts can also use #greatallover in their tweets as it relates to student gains, high expectations, achievement and rigor on their campus.

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