Early voting is underway in an election that includes a measure critical to HISD students and the community: Proposition 1.
Voters will be asked to decide whether to authorize a payment of $162 million in local property tax dollars from HISD to the state by purchasing “attendance credits.” The Proposition 1 ballot language will read:
Authorizing the board of trustees of Houston Independent School District to purchase attendance credits from the state with local tax revenues.
Mandarin Immersion Magnet School will host a grand opening on Oct. 24 to celebrate the completion of its new building, which was built as part of the 2012 Bond Program.
The new school — the first of its kind in Texas when it was first launched in 2012 — formally opened its doors to students in August. Located just west of the Galleria on West Alabama Street, the $32.2-million, 120,000-square-foot facility is designed to accommodate up to 950 students.
The school was designed around a sun and moon concept. In accordance with the concept, bright colored learning spaces and academic areas are located in the sun wing, which represents energy. Common areas and community spaces — such as the cafeteria and gym — are in the moon wing, which represents reflection. The building also features a soaring, three-story atrium housing the central library and learning commons areas.
The grand opening will be held at the new school on Monday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m.
Mandarin is among 40 schools — including 29 high schools — being renovated or rebuilt as part of HISD’s voter-approved 2012 Bond Program. By the end of 2016, construction will be underway on nearly three dozen campuses — more than at any other time in the district’s history. Once all work is complete, HISD will boast of one of the most modern portfolios of urban high schools in the nation.
Northwest Terminal Area Manager Terriel Price
When HISD bus driver Liliam Lemus fell ill shortly after returning from her route on Monday, Northwest Motor Pool Area Manager Terriel Price jumped into action.
Relying on training provided by HISD Transportation Services, Price performed CPR after Lemus stopped breathing.
“We called first responders and her relatives to let them know what was going on,” Price said. “While I had 911 on the phone, that’s when I performed CPR.”
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HISD has several programs to help young adults with significant disabilities transition successfully from high school to a productive adult life. In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month , we are featuring three of these programs. This is the second in the series. Read the first in the series, about students at the Houston Food Bank, here.
Eleven interns arrive at their classroom in the administrative offices of the Texas Children’s Health Plan at 8:30 a.m. every morning and spend an hour with their teacher, Lisa Mangum, before fanning out to work in various departments – collating documents, making phone calls, and manning copy machines.
These young adults, ages 18-22, attended HISD high schools before being accepted into a Project SEARCH program that is training them to work in an office environment.
All middle and high students will be provided with smoking prevention curriculum developed by cancer center
HISD and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have reached a first-of-its-kind agreement to provide access to an evidence-based, youth-oriented tobacco prevention and cessation program for all 110,000 HISD middle and high school students.
The HISD Board of Education on Thursday accepted a $7.5 million gift from the Kinder Foundation that will pay for construction upgrades and equipment for the new High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
The vote was 7-2, with trustees Manuel Rodríguez Jr., Wanda Adams, Michael Lunceford, Anna Eastman, Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Harvin Moore and Greg Meyers in favor. Trustees Jolanda Jones and Diana Dávila were opposed.
The new campus, which is now under construction in downtown Houston, will be renamed the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in recognition of the gift.
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HISD has several programs to help young adults with significant disabilities transition successfully from high school to a productive adult life. In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, we will be featuring three of these programs. This is the first in the series. Read the second in the series, about students thriving in an office environment, here.
Gracie, 19, is an outgoing Sharpstown International High School student. She gets up early, dresses in a purple or grey HISD polo shirt and khaki pants, and catches the school bus to the Houston Food Bank. She has a job to do.
Gracie is one of 17 HISD students with developmental disabilities working as interns at the Houston Food Bank through a partnership with H.E.A.R.T (Housing, Entrepreneurship, and Readiness Training). The students, ages 18-22, officially will graduate once their internships are complete.
Houston ISD District 3 Trustee Manuel Rodríguez Jr.
Houston Independent School District Board of Education President Manuel Rodríguez Jr. will be recognized as the 2016 Pearl Award Honoree by the Hispanic Family Initiative on Friday, Oct. 14 during the Hispanic Family and Fatherhood Conference.
The Hispanic Family Initiative named Rodríguez as the 2016 Pearl Award recipient for his community service efforts and dedication to helping HISD families and students. The Hispanic Family Initiative is an organization that focuses on addressing issues facing Hispanic families in Houston and across the country. The organization’s annual Hispanic Family Conference brings together local professionals to Houston Community College for an opportunity to discuss the importance of fathers being engaged in their children’s education.
The number of Houston Independent School District elementary classrooms that exceed the state limit of 22 students has been sharply reduced over the past two years.
On Thursday, the HISD Board of Education will consider asking the Texas Education Agency to grant waivers for 755 elementary classrooms that have more than 22 students this school year. During the 2014-2015 school year, 1,499 HISD classrooms were over the limit, which applies to classes in kindergarten through the fourth grade.
Over the past two years, HISD has worked to bring more classrooms in compliance with the law. This fall, HISD opened the new Mark White Elementary School to relieve crowding in schools located on the district’s west side. Mark White Elementary’s construction was funded by the 2012 voter-approved bond program.
Melissa Alvarez-Centeno has been named the principal of Red Elementary School. Growing up, she attended HISD schools, and during her 22 years of employment with the district, she has had many roles, including teacher’s assistant, bilingual teacher, academic tutor, literacy coach, instructional coordinator, teacher specialist, and assistant principal. She has a passion for working with diverse student populations and has developed the skills required to enhance educational opportunities for all students. Alvarez-Centeno holds a bachelor of arts in Elementary Education with a specialty in Bilingual Education from the University of Houston-Downtown and an M.ED. in Educational Administration from Sam Houston State University. She is married and has two children.