Yearly Archives: 2014

Mandarin Chinese Immersion Magnet School hosts second community meeting

On Thursday, parents and community members met for the second time to discuss design updates for the new Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School being built under the district’s 2012 bond program.

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Veteran volunteer finds ‘joy and fulfillment’ through work with HIPPY

Melissa Hill

Melissa Hill

HISD’s Family and Community Engagement department will be hosting a recruitment event Saturday, June 28, for the district’s Home Instruction for Parent of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program, which empowers the parents of young children to act as their kids’ first teachers.

To get a feel for what it’s like to work with these parents and children, we sat down with volunteer and mother of four Melissa Hill, who serves as a parent instructor in the program. Below is a condensed transcript of that conversation, in which she talks about what first brought her to HIPPY, what the most surprising aspect of the program has been, and her advice to parents on how best to prepare their young children for academic success. Continue reading →

All teachers to receive a minimum increase of $1,100 under new HISD salary schedule

The HISD Board of Education last week approved a $1.74 billion budget that includes nearly $30 million that will go directly to teacher salaries. As a result, HISD is adopting a new salary schedule that will benefit all teachers. Under the new schedule, every current teacher, and those teachers hired by July 1, 2014, will see a minimum gain of $1,100. Continue reading →

Want to help young children succeed in school? Attend the HIPPY recruitment event June 28

HISD’s Family and Community Engagement department will be hosting a recruitment event on Saturday, June 28, to hire 35 part-time home instructors for the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program. The event will take place from 9 a.m. until noon at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St., 77092).

The HIPPY program helps parents of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children prepare their preschoolers for academic success starting in kindergarten. The role of the home instructor is at the heart of the program—home instructors visit 15 to 20 parents in their homes each week and role-play educational activities for parents to practice with their children. Children whose parents participate in the free program consistently outperform their peers on standardized tests in the early grades. Continue reading →

Plans for Eastwood Academy discussed during community meeting

Members of the Eastwood Academy community turned out Thursday night to learn about proposed site plans for a new building, which is being funded by the 2012 bond program.

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Lanier MS wins big at national debate tournament

Lanier Middle School’s speech and debate team traveled to Kansas City with big dreams, and they came back to Houston with a big win.

Forty members of the 130-member team competed in the National Speech and Debate Association’s Middle School Tournament last week, debating everything from NATO’s relationship with the Ukraine to how the National Security Agency obtains information. The team earned the Overall School of Excellence Award. Out of about 100 schools that competed, only three earned this achievement. Continue reading →

Foundation work underway for new Delmar Fieldhouse

Bond DelmarConstruction crews at Delmar Fieldhouse, which will be part of the new Delmar-Tusa Athletic Complex, are prepping the site’s foundation this week by working on adjusting the slope and elevation of soil on the site and installing a new building pad.

Delmar Fieldhouse was demolished in January as part of HISD’s plans to modernize and replace the 55-year-old athletic facility under the district’s 2012 bond program. The new three-story, 139,000-square-foot facility, designed by PBK Sports, will include a basketball and volleyball arena, locker rooms, training rooms, and athletic storage to accommodate the district’s existing athletic stadium and ball fields. The facility is expected to be complete by mid-2015.

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Two new Middle College High Schools offer small, personal approach

HISD is recruiting students who can’t engage in a traditional high school environment to explore a new option — two Middle College High Schools on Houston Community College campuses in southwest Houston and east of downtown that will open in August.

The schools will offer personalized instruction through one-on-one support and small classes — averaging 15 students per teacher — that will lead to a diploma while providing opportunities for college credits and workforce certifications simultaneously through HCC. A total of 150 students will be enrolled at each campus.

The middle college concept aims at re-engaging students who feel disconnected from or distracted by the traditional high school culture so that they can proceed with their studies and accelerate their college and career readiness. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education adopts 2014-2015 budget

New magnet funding formula approved 5 to 4

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education Thursday approved a $1.74 billion budget for the 2014-2015 academic year that addresses the district’s key priorities – increasing teacher pay, supporting the implementation of a comprehensive literacy plan and funding required expenditures that will ultimately save the district money in the long term.  Continue reading →

‘Leader in Me’ leading Longfellow ES students to academic excellence

Thousands of adults have benefited from Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People since that book was first published more than 20 years ago, and now, HISD students are starting to benefit from it, too.

Over the years, that self-help classic has been refined and reimagined to help young people cultivate a sense of personal responsibility and leadership skills, and the result is “The Leader in Me (LIM),” which is currently in place at Longfellow Elementary School and two other HISD campuses, Shearn ES and Garden Oaks Montessori.

“’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.”
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