Author Archives: HISD Communications

Garrett, former HISD chief financial officer, passes away 

Former HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett

Melinda Garrett, who served the Houston Independent School District as chief financial officer from 2001 to 2012 and won numerous honors and accolades for fiscal responsibility, has died at the age of 65.

Under Garrett’s leadership, HISD gained a national reputation for excellence in public school financial accountability and also maintained the highest possible bond rating and the lowest property tax rate in Harris County.

In 2011, HISD became the first U.S. school district in three years to win the prestigious Award for Excellence in Financial Management from the Council of the Great City Schools. In 2010, Garrett won the Council’s Bill Wise Award for distinguished service to America’s urban public schools. It was under Garrett’s leadership that the plan for a nearly $2 billion bond for new and renovated schools was proposed. The bond was overwhelmingly approved by voters shortly after Garrett’s retirement in 2012.  Continue reading →

Sign up now to attend Top-Tier College Night Oct. 11

Juniors, seniors, and students interested in getting a head start on the college process are invited to attend Top-Tier College Night on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at Chavez High School (8501 Howard Dr., Houston, TX, 77017).

Admissions representatives from top colleges across the nation will be on hand to answer questions about selective college admissions.

Students must RSVP to attend. Sign up here to reserve a space and to learn about options for bus transportation from your campus. Dinner will also be provided.

The evening begins with the Top-Tier College Fair from 4-6:30 p.m., followed by Selective College Admissions Workshops from 6:30-7:30 p.m. During the workshops, ninth- and 10th-grade students can attend a session on what they can do now to become competitive applicants for selective institutions. The session will be led by EMERGE staff. Students in grades 11 and 12 can attend a session about the selective admissions process led by a panel of admissions officers. Continue reading →

Teachers begin extended-day training on Achieve 180

Campuses receiving extra support and training every Wednesday

Teachers from across the district gathered at their campuses on Wednesday afternoon for their first extended-day, professional development session as part of Achieve 180, the district’s initiative to support underserved and academically challenged schools.

Achieve 180 contains six research-based best practices or pillars that provide a framework for the transformational work happening at 44 schools throughout HISD. One pillar of the plan, instructional excellence, includes two-hours of specialized and differentiated professional development for core teachers every Wednesday afternoon. The campus trainings are supported by district Teacher Development Specialists and staff from the Elementary and Secondary Curriculum Departments. Teachers at the Achieve 180 campuses receive extra-duty pay for the weekly professional development.  Continue reading →

Lyons ES, Eastwood Academy named National Blue Ribbon Schools for second time

A month after catastrophe crippled the city, there’s a bright spot to celebrate in HISD.  Two of our schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education:  Eastwood Academy and Lyons Elementary.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private exemplary campuses or those that are closing achievement gaps.  Eastwood and Lyons are among 26 public schools in Texas to receive the award this year, and both were named as “Exemplary High Performing Schools.”

Eastwood Academy, which is located in the East End, is a college prep high school.  Students here complete dual-credit courses, along with 80 hours of community volunteer work, before they graduate.  The principal attributes part of their success to the school’s focus on addressing the needs of individual students through social and emotional learning. Continue reading →

Construction at Lawson MS hits halfway mark

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Construction at Lawson Middle School is more than halfway complete with the installation of the roof and testing of the heating and cooling system well underway.

Lawson Principal Kasey Bailey said she’s happy with the construction progress and is looking forward to opening the new school next year.

“I’ve walked the building twice, and it’s definitely coming along,” Bailey said. “Since we are a fine arts magnet, I’m really looking forward to celebrating the arts.”

Continue reading →

Sharpstown HS wins $100,000 sports equipment grant 

Sharpstown High School has won a $100,000 customized sports equipment grant from Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Let’s Play, and Good Sports!

After the field had been narrowed down to 20 schools from across the country, voting opened on Facebook on Sept. 8. Sharpstown then made the top 10, then the top three, and finally were selected by a committee to win the grand prize.

Coach Carlos Quintero spearheaded the winning campaign, and now the athletic department will have $100,000 worth of new equipment. The school would like to thank everyone who voted for them.

See Click2Houston’s video here, which captures the moment the coach and students found out they won, as well as part of the video that won them the prize.

Yao Ming visits Hilliard ES, donates $100K to mayor’s hurricane fund 

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Basketball star Yao Ming toured the flooded Hilliard Elementary School on Sept. 26 to show his support for HISD students suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Hilliard is among the “top 10” HISD schools damaged by the storm, and it will be months before students will be able to return.

Ming joined Hilliard Principal Edrick Moultry and HISD officials at the school, which took on four feet of water from nearby Halls Bayou. Also on the tour were HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza, Board President Wanda Adams, and Trustees Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Diana Dávila, Anna Eastman, and Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca.

Continue reading →

Superintendent participates in live town hall discussion on DACA at UH-Downtown

Superintendent Richard Carranza participated in a live town hall meeting at UH Downtown on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, assuring those in attendance that HISD schools are a safe place for all students – regardless of their immigration status.

The meeting, sponsored by ABC13 and Univision 45, was a non-partisan conversation on Monday night between students and five local panelists about the program and the impact of DACA’s suspension to the city and its residents.

Carranza said there is an estimated 1,500 seniors in HISD who are DACA students, but there may be more since the data is not tracked. He added that the district is providing resources and counseling to those students, many of whom have college and career aspirations. Carranza also reassured students that the district is also busy advocating at the state and national level on the issue.

“I want to reiterate … as a school district, we will not allow students to be pulled from our schools,” Carranza said. “Over my dead body will a student be taken out of our school district because of an immigration raid.”

DACA recipients whose status is set to expire in the next six months will lose their protection from deportation and their work permit this year under the plan to start phasing out the program – unless they reapply for a two-year renewal by Oct. 5.

The Department of Homeland Security will no longer consider new applications for legal status and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it was rejecting all new DACA requests and employment authorization document (EAD) applications received after the Sept. 5 memo.

ABC13 and Univision 45 moderated the event, which also included United We Dream’s Oscar Hernandez, Baker Ripley managing attorney Jill Campbell, St. Frances Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance program director Zenobia Lai, and Dawn McCarty from UHD’s social work department. Questions from UHD students were submitted anonymously and read by their peers.

HISD to host Dream Summit for students on Dec. 9

Superintendent Carranza issues special message on DACA repeal

 

 

High schools celebrate arrival of Literacy Empowered resources  

All campuses receiving classroom libraries and other materials to support high school expansion of literacy initiative

Schools across HISD are celebrating the arrival of nearly 300,000 new books and other reading materials as part of the launch of Literacy Empowered, the high school expansion of the district’s comprehensive literacy initiative.

As part of Literacy Empowered, all high school English language arts and social studies teachers are receiving classroom libraries and each high school campus is receiving grade-level book club libraries (9-12) across an enormous variety of text types, themes, genres, and reading levels.

On Friday, Sept. 22, members of the Raider cheerleading squad and school ambassador program helped their teachers unpack the Literacy Empowered resources at Sterling High School. Principal Justin Fuentes thanked his students and staff and also thanked the district for the centralized support, resources, and tools to grow secondary students on his campus as readers, writers, listeners, speakers, and thinkers.  Continue reading →

Books Between Kids delivers thousands of books to HISD schools in wake of Harvey

In the days after Hurricane Harvey moved through the Houston area, Books Between Kids opened its warehouse to hundreds of volunteers and received donations of thousands of children’s books to replenish schools impacted by the storm.

In partnership with HISD, the organization last week delivered more than 4,000 children’s books to Robinson and Mitchell elementary schools, both recently relocated due to extensive damage directly related to floodwaters from the hurricane.

In the coming days, Books Between Kids will continue its support, delivering 15,000 children’s books to relocated campuses across the school district, including Braeburn, Scarborough and Hilliard elementary schools. Continue reading →