More than 50,000 applicants were notified Friday of the status of their magnet and vanguard school applications for the 2014-2015 school year. The Office of School Choice offered a hotline to answer questions from 5-7 p.m. and will continue to take calls 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or to respond via email at magnetonlineapplicationhelp@houstonisd.org.
There’s a chance, though, that your question is the same as others we’ve been receiving. Here’s a list of the most Frequently Asked Questions:
Architects presented design renderings and 3D images of the new High School for Performing and Visual Arts Thursday at a community meeting that provided a more detailed site plan of the five-story facility.
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Students at schools all across Houston are getting jazzed up in advance of the STAAR exams that begin next week, with activities ranging from tutorials to pep rallies.
Pupils at HISD’s Chávez High School, for instance, got to participate in a relay race and fling cream pies at their principal and teachers during an event held on March 27.
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Garcia Elementary teachers and staff got their students excited by hosting a pep rally. There were performances and a surprise flash mob! Click here to see a video from the event.
Here is a breakdown of the testing schedule:
As architects design a new 21st century Lee High School, they are thinking about flexible learning spaces, integrated technology and increased light. But getting students involved in the design process is providing the school’s identity.
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A “selfie” taken by Las Americas Newcomers School Principal Marie Moreno with some Ugandan students.
It’s been said that to really understand someone else, you first have to walk a mile in their shoes. That’s why Principal Marie Moreno went on a trip to Africa over Spring Break with one of her campus administrators.
Moreno, who traveled to Uganda and Kenya with test coordinator Rachel Barrios, is now hoping to parlay the lessons she learned overseas into better experiences for the students and parents she serves at Las Américas Newcomer School.
“We hear stories from our children every day (about what their lives were like before coming to America),” said Moreno. “But it’s different when we put ourselves in their environment. We had the experience of living in their world. Giving up all the amenities we take for granted only makes me appreciate our children even more.”
Dave Vollmer
By day, Dave Vollmer is a senior manager in HISD’s IT department, but by night, he serves as a boys’ head lacrosse coach for Lamar High School—a volunteer position he has held for 25 years.
Learn more about why he’s so passionate about the sport and how he helped bring it to HISD schools in this week’s “I Am HISD” profile. Or check out the full edition of eNews online.
Other highlights from this week’s issue include:
Don’t paint the girls bathroom walls pink was one of many requests from a small group of Parker Elementary School students who wrote a list of 26 must-haves for the design of the new campus.
The students presented the list Wednesday to the school’s architect, sharing ideas for solar panels, automatic sinks, open windows, larger classrooms and music rooms, an updated library with reading zones for different grade levels, and individual spaces for the gym, cafeteria and auditorium.
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Middle school students who take Algebra I as a seventh- or eighth-grader will no longer face the prospect of “double testing.” Until recently, those students would be required to take both the Algebra I end-of-course (EOC) exam and their grade-level STAAR math assessment.
Now, the Algebra I end-of-course exam will satisfy the requirement for a math test for those middle school students.
Pictured are the Lively sisters: Mary (Class of 1955), Laurel (Class of 1970), Elizabeth (Class of 1975), Kathryn (Class of 1960), Carol (Class of 1970), and Robyn (Class of 1967), left to right.
Milby High School is one of the oldest high schools in Houston, and three families recently proved it when they were honored by the school’s alumni association for having the most graduates from a single generation.
The Andersons and the Fivecoats were the undisputed champions, with eight siblings each, but the Livelys were not far behind, with a group of six sisters who graduated between 1955 and 1975.
César E. Chávez
If César Chávez were still alive, he would be 81 on Monday, March 31. To honor his memory and recognize his birthday, César E. Chávez High School is spending seven days honoring the man and teaching students more about him. Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW).
“Bearing his name carries great responsibility,” said Chávez Principal Rene Sanchez. “As the only comprehensive high school in the state of Texas and one of only four in the entire country named for César Chávez, we need to teach and inspire our students with the words and deeds of our namesake.”
Chávez was a well known Latino American activist who used nonviolent protests – including fasting in 1968 — to bring draw national attention to the harsh working conditions of farm workers. The organizations he helped found ultimately resulted in better working conditions for farmers.