Houston ISD is hard at work preparing for the 2024-2025 school year. As our students, families and communities recover from the recent storm, community partners can lend their support by equipping students with school supplies.  

HISD’s Community Partnerships Department is teaming up with local community organizations to prepare students and their families for the upcoming school year with the annual Back-to-School Bonanza, a collaborative effort to provide essential learning resources and school supplies 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. Each year, parents spend more than $200 on their elementary school student’s supplies, $300 for middle schoolers, and $375 for high schoolers. 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.

To address this challenge amid storm recovery efforts, HISD is inviting you to help join the Bonanza by hosting a supply drive, making donations, or volunteering at distribution events.

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, or to volunteer at a distribution event, contact HISD Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) at (713) 556-8477.

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 July 8 – August 8, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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 here. Please direct questions to Community Relations Liaison Angelica Francis Adams (713-556-7200), and for more information, visit https://www.houstonisd.org/communitypartnerships.