Yearly Archives: 2014

Community teams up with HISD schools for Walking Towards Literacy event

Over 300 students, families, HISD staff and community members gathered on Saturday to promote literacy across Houston during the 3rd annual Walking Towards Literacy event at Tidwell Park. The Making It Better organization, a HISD community partner for Read Houston Read, sponsored the event.

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Dogan Elementary celebrates dedication of new school

Dogan Elementary School students, staff and community members gathered on Monday to officially dedicate the school’s new 86,000-square-foot building, which was built with $19.6 million in funding from HISD’s 2007 bond initiative.

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Confucius Institute celebration goes to great lengths at MCLIMS

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Students, parents and community members experienced a rare treat at the Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School last week. They were strung along as top chefs from China demonstrated the unique technique of noodle-making at the Taste of China presentation in celebration of the International Confucius Institute’s 10th anniversary. Continue reading →

Flying with confidence: New simulators at Sterling HS prepare students for career takeoff

Moments after the bell rings for the last class period of the day, Sterling High School student Jacqueline Vickers is buckling her seatbelt inside a flight simulator and preparing for takeoff.

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With her hands resting on the flight yoke, she reviews the flight control panel and gazes at the video screen that stretches across the cockpit and shows a digital picture view of Houston.

“I love everything about flying – just knowing that you’re in the air and you’re doing something that most people think is impossible,” Vickers says while practicing to fly in one of two new flight training devices at Sterling. Continue reading →

HISD students, staff participate in Green Apple Day of Service

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About 150 volunteers and community partners were hard at work with their gardening tools and gloves on Saturday for Briargrove Elementary School’s Green Apple Day of Service event.

Students, parents, staff and community members participated in the second annual event by weeding the edible and butterfly gardens on campus, cleaning the outdoor track and installing a water bottle-filling station for outdoor hydration.

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Rodriguez and Wharton are HISD’s newest IB schools

Rodriguez Elementary School and the Wharton Dual Language Academy have received official authorization to operate as International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools. These authorizations bring the district total to 16 IB campuses.

“We earned our authorized IB status through the extensive, collaborative hard work and commitment of our faculty, staff, students, and parents,” said Wharton Principal Jennifer Day. “This journey has brought our school community a long way toward realizing our mission of empowering our students to become respectful, life-long, bilingual and bi-literate inquirers who celebrate diversity as responsible citizens of the world.”

“Our IB authorization reflects our ongoing commitment to excellence for the diverse children of the Gulfton community,” said Rodriguez ES Principal Elena Martinez-Buley.” We are determined to close student achievement gaps by providing a rigorous, meaningful, and integrated curriculum that will expand our student’s knowledge and provide them with the tools to be productive citizens in our society and across the world.” Continue reading →

Explore ‘our shared responsibility’ during 2014 Cyber Security Month

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and the theme of this year’s observance is “our shared responsibility.”

Students and their parents can learn more about their role in that shared responsibility by visiting the cybersafety section of the PowerUp website at http://www.houstonisd.org/cybersafety. There, they will find articles on everything from plagiarism and cyberbullying to sexting and online safety.

HISD will also be hosting a phone bank at Univision on Wednesday, Oct. 1, to answer callers’ questions. The phone bank will be manned by district staff members. Call 1-855-841-4545 between the hours of 5 and 7:30 p.m. that night to participate.

Read Houston Read volunteers prepare to share love of reading with students

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More than 300 caring citizens have already volunteered to work directly with first-graders through HISD’s Read Houston Read initiative, and many of them came to the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Sept. 26 to get a crash course in how to manage their time with the students.

“We want this to be fun,” explained HISD Literacy Director Cindy Puryear. “We don’t need you to be a teacher or a disciplinarian. We’ve got that part covered. But the one thing you can’t get more of is time, so the fact that you are here, giving of yours, means the world to me.” Continue reading →

New manager of Energy & Sustainability has big green plans for HISD

In this edition of I Am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, we talk to the new Manager of Energy & Sustainability Kellie Williams about how her experiences at Fort Bend ISD will impact her decisions here, which sustainability efforts are already afoot in the district, and what’s on the horizon for HISD in terms of “green” initiatives.

You joined HISD in May as the new manager of Energy & Sustainability. What is your vision for that department in the years ahead?

Kellie Williams poses for a photograph at the Facilities Support office, September 22, 2014. (Dave Einsel / Houston ISD)

Kellie Williams

I’d like to see HISD become the leading K–12 entity in environmental stewardship, to participate in several energy initiatives, and to achieve national recognition for outstanding performance.

We’ll also be rolling out a new energy master plan, and bringing in some consultants and engineers to identify and address deficiencies starting this year with a really aggressive approach. They’re going to be collecting data first, such as utility usage and window-to-wall ratios, then gather boots-on-the-ground types of facility information, such as light levels, temperature, and humidity readings. The goal is to complete a thorough investigation and identify opportunities for savings. Continue reading →