On Monday, Aug. 28, more than 186,000 Houston Independent School District students started their first day of the 2023-2024 school year.

This school year is one of many changes, with 85 HISD campuses participating in the New Education System (NES) implemented by new superintendent Mike Miles. But in every classroom, the goal is the same: prepare every student for the world and workforce of the year 2035.

“I’m amazed at how well the teachers are already implementing the new NES model,” said Miles. “I’m amazed at how well students are already getting into routine, and we’ve had teachers doing some great work already with multiple response strategies and high-quality instruction.”

While class is back in session, HISD remains focused on quality education and the safety of students as they learn and grow.

The HISD Police Department partnered with the Houston Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, and Houston Ministers Against Crime for Project Safe Start, an initiative designed to ensure that all campuses and surrounding neighborhoods have an increased police presence as the new school year begins.

All week, schools throughout the district were visited by Miles and the four division superintendents: Imelda De La Guardia (South), Lara Stout (West), Luz Martinez (Central), and Orlando Riddick (North).

“I have visited several schools this week, NES, non-NES campuses, and NES-Aligned, and what I saw in the classrooms was pure excitement,” said Martinez. “I saw students learning, teachers teaching at high levels of rigor and instruction, differentiating in the moment to ensure that all students are receiving the quality education that they deserve.”

Prior to the first week of school, each division spent months preparing in professional development settings and completing rigorous training to ensure that principals and staff were ready to lead students through a successful school year, starting from day one.

“As I’m walking through, I’m seeing structure, kids answering questions, teaching and learning taking place, and happy kids and happy staff,” said Stout. “The West Division truly feels that this is a historic year and that our principals are going to make big differences at their campuses.”

With just one week of school in the books, Miles is already very impressed.

“This is a baseline, this a starting point, but we’re improving already, and I expect that we’ll continue to do that through the rest of the year,” said Miles.

For more videos from the first week of school, visit the HISD YouTube page.