For students, summer vacation is in full swing, but HISD is hard at work preparing for the impending fall semester. Preparing for almost 190,000 students for a new school year isn’t a task that can be done alone, however, this is where the collaboration of community partners is vital.
HISD’s Community Partnerships Department, with the help of local businesses, is working to secure resources for its annual Back-to-School Bonanza, an effort to support multiple back-to-school supply drives throughout the district.
Research shows that children who have their own school supplies are more creative, have better attitudes toward learning, and ultimately achieve higher grades. According to the National Education Association, parents spend an average of almost $300 on school supplies each year. Because this sum is ever-increasing, it is more important than ever that HISD works together with community members to organize these drives so every student has the opportunity to start the school year prepared for success.
Community Partnerships is asking the HISD community to sponsor the Back-to-School Bonanza in the form of monetary donations, donating school supplies, or hosting a drive to rally your neighbors in support of HISD students.
Some popular strategies for collecting supplies are to have donation boxes or containers available at your location, or a one-day event in which the community brings donations to fill boxes or a school bus/large truck at a community, corporate or sporting event. For more ideas and instructions, reference the Back-to-School Bonanza toolkit.
Please avoid any used school supplies or items packaged with offensive words, artwork, or symbols.
To host a supply drive, fill out this form.
To donate school supplies directly, bring your donations to the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center at 4400 W. 18th St. Donations will be accepted Aug. 1-28, Monday through Friday.
If you prefer to make a monetary donation, your contribution will go toward purchasing school supplies at a cost-savings. Donate to the Houston ISD Foundation, or use this QR code:
Please direct questions to Community Relations Liaison Angelica Francis Adams, and for more information, follow Community Partnerships on Twitter.
