All HISD campuses and offices will be closed for Spring Break from Monday, March 13, through Friday, March 17, 2017.
Schools and offices will reopen for normal business on Monday, March 20, 2017.
Employees should consult the duty schedules posted here.
The HISD Police Department will be patrolling district facilities all during the holiday break. Emergencies may be reported by calling 713-892-7777.
HISD will observe the start of Asian-Pacific Heritage Month on Thursday, May 4, with an Asian Pacific American Heritage Celebration at Kim Son restaurant downtown (2001 Jefferson Street).
As a part of that celebration, members of the district’s Asian Advisory Committee will recognize three outstanding teachers for their contributions to Asian students and to HISD as a whole. Teachers will be selected from the elementary, middle, and high school level and will receive a $500 cash prize each. Continue reading
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March is Music in Our Schools Month, and to celebrate, HISD is sharing musical performances from schools and students across the district, and from Superintendent of Schools Richard Carranza.
Voucher programs such as education savings accounts or tax credit scholarships threaten the district’s school choice efforts
The 2017 Texas Legislative Session is underway, and state lawmakers are discussing school choice.
As a district of choice, Houston ISD is among many districts throughout the state to offer a multitude of academic options to parents and students. However, a voucher system – in the form of education savings accounts or tax credit scholarships – would disrupt what school districts like Houston ISD are already doing to provide choice. In addition, vouchers would have a damaging impact on the state’s public school system which educates more than 5 million children in Texas.
Recently, House Public Education Committee Chairman Rep. Dan Huberty said his committee will not allow vouchers to move through the Texas House. HISD applauds Chairman Huberty, Speaker Joe Straus and members of the Texas House for their courage and for standing in the gap for Texas’ children.
“On behalf of the 215,000 students and 287 campuses at HISD, the district strongly opposes harmful school choice legislation,” said HISD Board of Education President Wanda Adams. “We are grateful for the work being done in the Texas House. The state’s constitution says, ‘It shall be the duty of the Legislature to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.’”
Nearly 80 percent of HISD’s students are economically disadvantaged and one-third are learning English.
HISD operates 119 magnet programs at 110 schools districtwide. Like many districts, Houston ISD offers choice from Pre-K through 12th grade to all children. HISD has high-performing magnet schools, charter schools, early college high schools, early childhood centers and a virtual school.
In 2016, 37 of HISD’s high schools were recognized among the most academically rigorous schools in the U.S. by the Washington Post. The district also is a two-time winner of the National Broad Prize, an honor awarded to urban school districts for closing the achievement gap.
“The Legislature’s main focus is to make sure the public school system works well,” said HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza. “HISD is ready to do our part to boost student achievement and sustain high-quality choice programs for Houston’s children.”
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Brenda Zackery doesn’t mind all the trucks and construction noise at Codwell Elementary across the street from her house on Tavenor Lane, part of a $12.5 million renovation of the school.
“I was upset when they closed it,” she said of the building, which was shuttered to students in 2014 because of moisture problems. “I had gotten used to the kids waking me up in the morning. It will be good for the community when they reopen it.”
Workers didn’t pause on Friday as neighbors, parents, students, and HISD staff gathered at the school site to officially celebrate the construction with a groundbreaking ceremony. The event was part of a milestone day for HISD’s South Area feeder pattern community, which also included a grand-opening celebration for the new Sterling Aviation High School just down the street.
Dr. Dana Arreola has been selected as the school support officer for the Northeast Area. Dr. Arreola is the former principal of McGowen Elementary School, where she led its transformation leading to a “Met Standard” rating.
Destini Williams, right, navigated the most difficult time in her life without leaving her studies behind, thanks to help from Deborah Greco, left, with Communities in Schools. The group is one of many that partners with HISD to provide behavior and medical services, parent education, and other social services that address the whole child.
Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.
Destini Williams remembers many times in the past four years when she could have dropped out of school. Like when her mother died of breast cancer a month before the start of her freshman year. Or a year later when her father suffered a stroke that put him in the hospital and rehab for nine months. Or after his second stroke last fall.
“She has the determination to keep going even when a lot of people would have given up,” said Deborah Greco, a licensed social worker for Communities in Schools of Houston and part-time counselor at North Houston Early College High, where Destini is a senior. “Her story is not common, but it’s not extraordinary either. The issues are so huge for students, it’s difficult for them to focus on school.” Continue reading
Principal Bertie Simmons has transformed Furr High by believing in every student who walks onto her campus. “We’re trying to teach them they can make a contribution to the world in a very positive way. They usually don’t get outside their own neighborhoods. It makes a big difference to open their eyes to new ways of doing things.”
Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.
Furr High Principal Bertie Simmons grabs a turquoise soccer ball from a bag in her storage closet, tosses it to the tall boy standing in her office, and instructs him to kick it around.
The boy — a junior in a neighboring district hoping to re-enroll at Furr — looks dubious but follows instructions. After a few minutes, the 82-year-old principal takes the ball back and holds it up as she connects a cord attached to a bulb, which immediately begins to glow. Continue reading
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About 75 parents and community members had “Coffee with the Principal” on Friday morning at Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, where they were entertained by the schools talented mariachi band before being updated on the progress of their new school.
The school is being built as part of HISD’s 2012 bond program. Representatives from Satterfield and Pontikes, the construction management firm on the project, made a brief presentation before taking questions from the crowd.
Williams Santos, a student at Energy Institute High School, has come up with an innovative way to work around power outages.
Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.
William Santos will graduate with the first class of Energy Institute High this spring, and he may do so with the prototype for a product that could one day be in your home.
His engineering teacher challenged the class to tackle an unsolved problem in the world, and William thought about how power outages affect homes and businesses in Houston. By using magnets and a turbine to harness the kinetic energy generated by air passing through every building’s air-conditioning unit, he thought, he could store energy for later use. Continue reading