Yearly Archives: 2014

Westside teachers putting the HUB to the test

Students at Westside High School won’t be getting their PowerUp laptops until January, but that’s not stopping teachers on campus from using the PowerUp:HUB with their students.

With the help and encouragement of their campus instructional technologist, Westside teachers are starting to use the online teaching and learning platform for various instructional routines with their students including homework assignments and tests.

“Initially I had negative thoughts about the HUB, but now I like it because I and I am not so scared of it,” says Westside Advanced Placement World History Heather Barrow, who is using the HUB for homework assignments that she previously would have assigned to her students to do from a textbook. Continue reading →

Aged to perfection

Marina Palmer thought she was going to a meeting, but when she turned the corner, she saw two huge silver balloons – a 9 and a 0 – flanking the break room, as well as a crowd of coworkers from the HISD Human Resources Department.

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“Surprise,” they yelled, as everyone captured her reaction on cell phones and cameras. Inside the break room was a big chocolate cake that said, “Happy 90th Birthday Mrs. Palmer,” a large bouquet of flowers, more balloons, presents, cookies, and other snacks. Continue reading →

Benbrook ES students celebrate their library makeover

Excitement was in the air as the faculty and staff of Benbrook Elementary School awaited the grand opening of their new library. Target, in partnership with the Heart of America Foundation, funded a total makeover for the school’s library. Volunteers from local Target stores put the finishing touches on the furnishings and shelved the last of the new books just moments before HISD Superintendent Terry Grier, Heather Cook from U.S. Rep. Ted Poe’s office and State Rep. Jessica Farrar joined the celebration.

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“When you can look across a big wonderful city like Houston and you can find corporate sponsors like Target who care, who care about the kids, who care about the communities in which their stores are located,” said Grier, “it just makes Houston a can-do, special kind of place.” Continue reading →

North Forest homecoming to be made more memorable by giveaway

Remember when Houston ISD auctioned off North Forest ISD memorabilia? Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones purchased much of it and is giving it back to the community Saturday.

North Forest High School’s homecoming game against Austin HS is set to kickoff at 6 p.m., but three hours before that, at 3 p.m., Skillern-Jones, along with State Rep. Senfronia Thompson and Houston Vice Mayor Pro Tem Jerry V. Davis, will host a tailgate party, complete with refreshments, a DJ, and door prizes. Skillern-Jones also be giving away all the district memorabilia to alumni or students who want it. Continue reading →

HISD preschool parenting program reports higher student achievement in reading and math

Children of parents who participated in the Houston Independent School District’s Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program have outperformed their peers on the 2014 Aprenda 3 exam in reading and mathematics in the first, second, and third grades.

This marks the fourth consecutive evaluation in which HIPPY students have significantly outperformed their peers on the standardized exam for English Language Learners.

The annual HISD evaluation of the program looked at test results of 99 elementary school students whose parents participated during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 year. The most significant differences between HIPPY students and non-HIPPY students were in second-grade mathematics and third-grade reading. On these exams, HIPPY students outscored their peers by 12.7 and 10.6 normal curve equivalents (NCEs), respectively. Continue reading →

Challenge Early College HS students learn about cybersafety and digital citizenship peer-to-peer

Underclassmen at Challenge Early College High School took their recent lesson about cybersafety and digital citizenship very seriously. As one of the Phase II PowerUp schools, Challenge students will get laptops by the end of October and must undergo digital citizenship training. At Challenge they are doing the training a little differently. Challenge ECHS seniors were trained by HISD instructional techs, and they, in turn, are training the 9th-, 10th- and 11th-graders during their Advisory class.

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“They’re actually getting the information from the perspective of a student, and it’s from a facilitator in their own advisory, so it’s someone they’ll actually listen to,” said Challenge senior Sandra Torres. “They won’t tune out the student because they’re so connected to them, so they’re actually going to pay attention and take into account what they say.” Continue reading →

PSAT Test Day introduces students to the SAT, prepares them for college

HISD 9-11th graders took the PSAT during the school day on Oct. 15 at their campus as part of the district’s PSAT Test Administration Day.

The PSAT, a preliminary SAT and College Board exam that measures college readiness among students, is offered to HISD students free of charge on PSAT Test Administration Day at HISD. Students are scheduled to take the exam in the morning and could spend up to three hours completing the test that includes sections on math, critical reading, and writing.

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“There are a lot of opportunities for students to prepare for the PSAT in HISD,” said Jharrett Bryant with the HISD College Readiness Department. “The PrepMe platform is an online course that’s given to all students in the district. It’s actually an adaptive course, where based on a diagnostic you take at the beginning of the class, it customizes a study plan for you.” Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education approves tax rate

The HISD Board of Education adopted a 1-cent property tax rate increase on Oct. 9, 2014, by a 7-1 vote with Trustee Greg Meyers in opposition. Trustee Manuel Rodriguez, Jr. did not attend the meeting. The new property tax rate $1.1967 per $100 taxable value keeps HISD as the district with the lowest rate in the region and the lowest of the 13 largest districts in Texas. Continue reading →

Check out this week’s HS football schedule

We’ve got a packed weekend of high school football!

One of the most closely watched matchups will be Bellaire vs. Lamar. Lamar has won the last 31 games against Bellaire and is looking to extend its streak to 32, but the powerful Cardinals are looking put a stop to it. Check out this story on yourhoustonnews.com for more about the rivalry and how this game will impact the race for the 20-6A crown.

Here’s this week’s HISD high school football schedule: Continue reading →

The creative side of technology: Chevron program fuels Clifton MS STEM education

Imagination, creativity, problem-solving, and technology joined forces at Clifton Middle School with a generous donation from Chevron and its Fuel Your School program. Chevron donated MaKey MaKeys to Clifton MS and teacher Jawad Tahiri’s engineering and technology classes.

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“At Clifton, we believe that at this age, they should be totally fluent in the language of technology, so we put cutting-edge…latest technology in their hands,” said Tahiri. Continue reading →