Yearly Archives: 2014

HISD proposes new Arabic Language Immersion Magnet to meet needs of culturally diverse city

Poised to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive global economy and growing Arab-American population, the Houston Independent School District is proposing the creation of its first-ever Arabic Language Immersion Magnet School.

If approved by the HISD Board of Education, the proposed dual language immersion school would open its doors in the fall of 2015, with two pre-kindergarten and two kindergarten classes. A new grade level would be added each year as the students progress through the fifth grade.

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HISD announces district’s holiday greeting card artwork for 2014

Designs are also available for purchase by the general public through Friday, Dec. 5

Each winter, HISD sends out holiday greeting cards to hundreds of people and organizations, including school principals, board members, legislators, local leaders, parent groups, and community partners. Since 2003, these cards have featured the artwork of district students, and this year, three designs were chosen to showcase their creative talents.

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Video highlights design for new Davis HS with ‘eye toward the future’

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A new video released by HISD highlights the planning and final design images for the new 21st century Davis High School. The campus is one of 40 facilities being rebuilt or renovated under the $1.89 billion bond program approved by voters in 2012.

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Educational website helps students build their vocabulary while having fun

Friendly online competition also promotes team spirit, as schools band together to beat their cross-town rivals

HISD’s Bellaire and Chávez high schools usually face off against each other on the football field or the basketball court, but this year, those campuses are taking their rivalry to the Internet, and fighting for dominance in a more ethereal realm.

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eNews Highlight: Meet the Carnegie senior who’s applying to 23 colleges

Read why this EMERGE student is keeping her options open in this week’s edition

While most seniors are fine-tuning a short list of colleges and universities they might want to attend, one student at HISD’s Carnegie Vanguard High School is doing exactly the opposite. Learn why Olaide Sode is pushing herself to apply to almost two dozen different schools, and how the EMERGE program is helping Olaide and other economically disadvantaged students to reach for the stars in the Nov. 7, 2014, edition of eNews.

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Longfellow ES students to showcase ‘The Leader in Me’ qualities

Longfellow Elementary students are cultivating a sense of personal responsibility and leadership skills through the “The Leader in Me” program. The school, located at 3671 Norris in southwest Houston, will showcase those qualities in a special program from 9–11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13.

“’The Leader in Me’ provides the most solid foundation I have ever seen to help kids lead a principled, centered life,” said Longfellow ES Principal Norma Perez-Gwynn. “It has made an incredible difference with our children.” Continue reading →

Students building robots, writing code in district STEM programs

In the sixth grade, Clifton Middle School student DK Lacy built a robotic hand in his computer science class. In the seventh grade, he helped his classmates build a life-size robot. Three months into his eighth-grade year, he’s already worked on a class project to create a 3-D printer by disassembling three different computers. But he says his greatest creation is yet to come.

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“I love to build things, and I want to make things one day that not many people have made – a car that runs on an alternative resource like dirt or water or a smartphone for the blind to help my dad,” said DK, a student in Clifton’s magnet program for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). STEM is one of several magnet program areas to choose from on HISD’s new magnet application for the next school year.
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Former ACP Teacher of the Year now has his eyes on the Fishman Prize

Physics teacher Adeeb Barqawi works with his students at Kashmere High School, April 14, 2014. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

Physics teacher Adeeb Barqawi works with his students at Kashmere High School on April 14, 2014.

When Adeeb Barqawi first started teaching during the 2012–2013 school year, he had no idea how quickly success would come to him.

But in June of 2013, he was named the Alternative Certification Program Teacher of the Year for the entire State of Texas, and the following February, his approach to instruction was highlighted in a Breakthroughs feature of the district’s eNews publication. This led to accolades from the mayor and Houston City Council in April of 2014, and now, the high school physics instructor is hoping the combination of his teaching philosophy and his students’ achievements will bring him recognition on the national stage. Continue reading →

Wainwright ES educator helping her students ‘embrace the struggle’

In this edition of I Am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other members of Team HISD, we talk to Wainwright ES teacher Jennifer Hannah about what got her into the field of education, how the Effective Teacher Fellowship helped prepare her for the classroom, and why she inspires her fourth-graders to engage in “productive struggle” when writing.

Jennifer Hannah poses for a photograph at Wainwright Elementary School, November 6, 2014. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)
You’ve already accomplished a great deal academically and professionally. You’ve earned a master’s degree in creative writing, freelanced as a writer and researcher for McDougal Littell, taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston, and even written a number of children’s books. What inspired you to go into the classroom?

A couple of things. For three years, I taught freshman composition and rhetoric at UH. I really was surprised at how much I liked talking and thinking and learning about writing. Teaching was a way for me to think about writing in a way that I hadn’t before, and I loved that. Then, when my children started going to preschool, I visited a lot of classrooms to find the best schools for them, and I noticed that once I picked their schools and was involved in volunteering, I never wanted to leave. I liked seeing how busy and occupied children could be when they were learning.

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