Monthly Archives: September 2014

Code Red: Workshops help school nurses stay prepared for any situation

Participants brush up on their skills before school starts so they can perform both routine and life-saving procedures

Codwell ES Nurse Carla Carter (right) learns the correct way to perform a gastrostomy feeding from HISD Nurses Joan Maset (left) and Linda Hill (seated).

Until this week, Nurse Carla Carter had never had to catheterize a student in the course of her duties at Codwell Elementary School. But she felt both confident and capable of doing so when the time came, thanks in part to the skills-update workshops offered each year by HISD’s Health & Medical Services department.

“You never know what’s going to come on campus,” explained Carter. “Each semester, you might get a child with a different condition than you had the one before. Today was a perfect example. I’m in my fifth year with HISD, but I never had to catheterize a student until now. Just this morning, we got a student I have to catheterize twice a day.” Continue reading →

56 HISD students named National Merit semifinalists

Fifty-six students from six Houston ISD high schools are semifinalists in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

The students, who attend Bellaire HS, Carnegie Vanguard HS, Challenge Early College HS, DeBakey HS, The High School for Performing and Visual Arts, and Lamar HS, are eligible to receive part of the $33 million pot of scholarships that will be awarded in the spring. There are nearly 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, and about 7,600 will receive scholarships. More than 22,000 students applied by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Continue reading →

Grads Within Reach walk returns 59 dropouts to class

Fifty-nine high school dropouts are back in the classroom this week, thanks to volunteers with Houston ISD’s 11th annual Grads Within Reach walk.

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More than 200 volunteers canvassed the city to encourage students who had not returned to school this year to continue their education. The volunteers knocked on 1,400 doors and chatted with about 500 people. Continue reading →

Helms ES celebrates crossing guard’s 84th birthday

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Helms Elementary threw a birthday party for one of its most dedicated employees on Monday – 84-year-old crossing guard Joy Wilson. She was presented with dozens of cards and flowers. Continue reading →

Video highlights design ideas for new Dowling Middle School

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A new HISD video, which was recently presented to stakeholders, provides an overview on the status of the design process at Dowling Middle School.

“Dowling Middle School believes in parents as partners. We believe in valuing our stakeholders and their input,” said Dowling Principal Tynette Guinn. “Knowing that we are about to embark on 21^st century learning with our new campus is very exciting for us, the parents, the students, and the community.”

Continue reading →

It’s not too late to sign up for HISD Text Message Alerts

The wait is over. Today HISD has launched its new text message notification system, which will help HISD officials quickly and efficiently notify parents and employees when district and campus emergencies occur.

Did you receive a text message from HISD? If you did, that means your cell phone number is registered with HISD or one of its campuses, but you have not signed up for text message alerts. If that’s the case, you likely received the following message: Houston ISD text messages. Reply Y for aprx 3 msgs/mo. Txt HELP for info. Msg & data rates may apply. See schoolmessenger.com/tm. Continue reading →

Target makes donation to HISD Literacy By 3 initiative

The Houston Independent School District will continue to build on its literacy efforts through a $95,000 grant from the Target Corporation. Continue reading →

HISD schools celebrate International Literacy Day

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Many Houston ISD schools held special events to celebrate International Literacy Day on Sept. 8.

Anderson Elementary School students held a parade of book characters, and they participated in a special presentation of the Wizard of Oz. Students and staff donned costumes to perform the story.

“We want to make sure the love of reading comes to life,” Principal Roslyn Vaughn said. Continue reading →

Bellaire HS stakeholders turn out for first bond community meeting

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Members of the Bellaire High School community gathered Thursday evening to learn about the status of the planning and design phase of the school’s new construction project.

As part of HISD’s 2012 bond program, a new Bellaire High School will be constructed that will provide students with a 21^st century learning environment and incorporate the recently completed science classroom and laboratory wing.