‘Significant’ number of schools looking for increases
HISD’s Board of Education held a workshop Thursday on the status of fine arts education in the district and heard that in a survey, a “significant number” of schools said they would like to implement greater access to arts education immediately.
Workshop guides students through ApplyTexas, HCC processes
While 9-11th graders were busy taking the PSAT College Board exam Wednesday, seniors at Sharpstown High School huddled over their PowerUp laptops and created an account on ApplyTexas, an online college application that allows students to apply to every Texas public university, plus some private and two-year schools.
“A lot of our students are low-income, first-generation, underrepresented, said College Guidance Administrator Aaron Rodriguez. “If there’s not someone there to guide them, to push them to apply, I think [the college application process] would be really challenging for them. That’s what we’re here for.”
SELF and Fondren foundations bring baseball, unity to school community
When baseball season begins next spring, the students at Francis Scott Key Middle School will be running the bases of their new baseball field. The Stacey and Bo Porter SELF Foundation, in partnership with the Fondren Foundation, are together donating the construction and support for the field.
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“Part of our mission is facility improvements, and this is a step in that direction,” said Bo Porter, chairman of SELF — which stands for Sports, Education, Lifeskills, and Faith.
HISD bus drivers received a big surprise early Thursday morning on live television, thanks to the KHOU 11 Surprise Squad. Drivers, mechanics and staff members cheered as KHOU reporters Chita Johnson and Mia Gradney handed out more than 400 burritos, courtesy of Breakfast Burritos Anonymous.
HISD Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones has begun serving a three-year term on the board of directors of the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), representing TASB Region 4D.
Skillern-Jones was elected to the HISD board in 2011 to represent District II. She is trustee for northern communities in HISD, including the former North Forest schools. She held positions of secretary in 2012-13 and is currently first vice-president.
The HISD Board of Education adopted a 1-cent property tax rate increase on Oct. 9, 2014, by a 7-1 vote with Trustee Greg Meyers in opposition. Trustee Manuel Rodriguez, Jr. did not attend the meeting. The new property tax rate $1.1967 per $100 taxable value keeps HISD as the district with the lowest rate in the region and the lowest of the 13 largest districts in Texas. Continue reading
The Houston Independent School District will recognize October as College Readiness Month by offering college fairs, workshops, and information sessions to students as they prepare to take College Board exams and apply for college and financial aid.
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“Students can find themselves running out of time to meet deadlines if they wait until November or later to begin the college admissions process,” said HISD College Readiness Assistant Superintendent Rick Cruz. “Applying to colleges and visiting college campuses early helps ensure that our students don’t miss out on a number of valuable opportunities that may lead to a college acceptance or scholarship offer.”
The Houston Texans kicked off the NFL PLAY 60 Challenge at Lanier Middle School Tuesday with the help of linebacker Jadeveon Clowney and safety DJ Swearinger, Texans Cheerleaders, and in partnership with the American Heart Association. PLAY 60 is the National Football League’s campaign to encourage kids to be active for 60 minutes a day.
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After a pep rally for the students, the Texans players and cheerleaders played health games and led activities to put a buzz in the students’ ears about being active each day. The students enthusiastically cheered as Swearinger faced off against Clowney in a hula hoop contest and a “Texas Feud” game show.
Annual survey inspires campuses to use valuable feedback
HISD campus administrators have been busy using the feedback from the district’s Your Voice survey to improve their schools and relationships with students and parents.
“After we realized the valuable data we would receive from the survey, we advertised it better,” said Neff Elementary Principal Amanda Wingard. “We did call outs to our parents to remind them to turn it in.”
Administrators are recommending that the HISD Board of Education authorize the district to negotiate design contracts with 13 firms on the remaining 14 projects within the 2012 bond program.
The latest round of contract recommendations comes ahead of schedule in response to the booming construction market in Houston. Although architect selections for schools in Groups 3 and 4 of the program weren’t slated to take place until next year, the district wanted to move forward as quickly as possible to minimize the impact of escalating construction inflation.