The Houston Independent School District and University of Houston are joining forces to offer a new teacher preparation program that aims to bring HISD’s brightest students back into the classroom upon their college graduation.
Through the Teach Forward Houston fellowship program, HISD graduates interested in obtaining a degree in education are eligible for free tuition at University of Houston in exchange for teaching four years in HISD after graduation. Continue reading
For the third time in a row, a student from Cornelius Elementary School has taken home the top prize at the Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Competition. Fifth-grader Richard Espinoza-Garza was all smiles as he took center stage to claim his prize. Now in its 20th year in Houston, the annual competition is sponsored by Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP.
Principal Karen Jackson attributed her school’s three-year winning streak to a combination of strong support and a positive campus culture. “We are highly competitive and demand excellence from our kids in everything we do,” said Jackson. “We have a speech coach, and every winner from our campus has had over-the-top parental support.”
This year, 12 finalists answered the question, “What would Dr. King say in his campaign speech if he were running for president this year?” Continue reading
HISD’s Procurement Services Department has been recognized for excellence in public procurement after a rigorous application process through the National Institute of Government Purchasing’s Institute for Public Procurement.
Specifically, HISD achieved OA4 Accreditation, which recognizes excellence in public procurement by establishing a body of standards that should be in place for a solid purchasing operation and the demonstration of best practices.
The Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center and all HISD schools and district offices will be closed on Monday, January 18, 2016, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Normal school and business operations will resume on Tuesday, January 19.
The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday approved a resolution that formally begins the process of renaming four schools in order to represent the values and diversity of the school district, in accordance with the district’s non-discrimination policies.
The resolution affects Henry Grady, Richard Dowling and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson middle schools, and Lee High School. Continue reading
The Houston Independent School District Board of Education voted Thursday to name Trustee Manuel Rodriguez as its new president.
Rodriguez has served on the HISD Board of Education since 2003.
Trustees also voted to elect new board officers: Wanda Adams, First Vice President; Diana Dávila, Second Vice President; Jolanda Jones, Secretary; and Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Assistant Secretary. Continue reading
Loan officer Anthony Lopez of LiftFund 
this week offered tips to local business owners on securing small business loans for startup businesses.
“We finance startup businesses, and we have a simple formula that we give to our customers to discover what they need to qualify for a loan,” Lopez said during HISD’s monthly Workshop Wednesday.
The sessions are held on the first Wednesday of the month and are hosted by HISD’s Business Assistance Supplier Diversity department.
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Did you know you could program a computer to play a piano using fruit or PlayDoh as a conductor? That’s what teachers and students learned at a “Crack the Code” event held Jan. 9, at HISD’s Southmayd Elementary School.
Sponsored by the Innovative Curriculum STEM Teacher Development team and funded through the TIF4 STEM grant, “Crack the Code” created an opportunity for teachers to develop coding skills and explore new ways to implement coding in their own classrooms, even when they don’t have computers available. More than 200 students, teachers, and parents participated in the event, which offered a variety of coding activities — both plugged and unplugged — in an exciting day of challenge and learning.
Teachers participated in the learning right along with their students, as they worked their way through the station activities. From creating obstacle courses and navigating mazes to working with Scratch programming and physical computing, participants expanded their coding skills and understanding.
“This was a wonderful experience for my students,” said Judy Salmon, a teacher at Milne Elementary. “They didn’t want to leave and neither did I.”
Managed by the Office Innovative Curriculum and Instruction in partnership with the Department of Research and Accountability, the TIF4 STEM grant is a five-year federal grant in its third year of implementation. The grant provides program support to 23 schools: 18 elementary campuses, three middle schools, and two K-8 campuses.
See more footage of students and their project in the #HISDecoded Twitter feed.
The new year is a great time to make a resolution to volunteer with HISD. There are so many opportunities, including classroom assistance at your child’s school, mentoring or tutoring at a neighborhood school, fundraising, reading to a young student, and much more.
Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) recruits thousands of parents and community members to donate their time and resources to increase student achievement across the district.
Only about 700 — or less than one percent — of HISD students have special dietary needs that require restricted diets, but providing those children with healthy, nourishing food is all in a day’s work for HISD’s Nutrition Services department.
Dietitian Lindsay Smith works closely with nurses and kitchen staff to monitor students who need allergen-free meals, and HISD as a district eliminated all peanut and tree-nut products from its recipes two years ago as a precaution, to prevent accidental allergic reactions.