HISD’s Elementary Curriculum and Development department will host an end-of-year ceremony on Saturday at BakerRipley Gulfton Sharpstown Community Center to honor 2018-2019 HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) graduates. 

More than 650 parents and children completed the program this year. The free, home-based program helps parents prepare their preschool child for academic success over 30 weeks. Parents are taught educational activities that they then repeat with their child throughout the week.  

This will be the first of 10 HIPPY end-of-year parent meetings, in which parent participants and their children will be recognized for their completion of the home-based program. During the event, parents will be treated to a resource fair, and will be provided with books and educational support materials to continue their work through the summer months.   

“The mission of the HIPPY program is to empower parents to become teachers in their houses,” said HISD HIPPY Manager Gabriella Hernandez.  

Forty-six HIPPY home instructors are assigned to communities across the district to enroll families and deliver the HIPPY curriculum. Research shows that HISD kindergarten students whose parents have participated in the HIPPY program significantly outperform their peers in reading and math. 

Open enrollment for HISD’s HIPPY program kicks off June 1. To learn more, visit HoustonISD.org/HIPPY or call 713-967-5298.