Author Archives: HISD Communications

Construction at Mickey Leland College Prep swiftly moving along

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The site of the new campus for Mickey Leland Young Men’s College Preparatory Academy is teeming with activity these days as construction crews are hard at work and making great progress on the school’s new $42.4 million building.

The new 139,000 square-foot-building, located at 1701 Gregg St. on the site of the former Wheatley/E.O. Smith building in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward, is being built as part of HISD’s current bond program and will accommodate 900 to 1,000 students. Continue reading →

Save the date! April 9 is the “When I Grow Up” career expo


More than 100 exhibitors from local companies will be on hand to help students explore their options in high-demand, high-growth industries at the “When I Grow Up Expo” on Saturday, April 9, 2016. The event will take place from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th Street, 77092).

Students of all ages will enjoy hands-on career awareness and exploration activities, including the STEM Museum on Wheels, Home Depot workshops, the Career Ready Wagon, a gyroscope, and more. Students will have the opportunity to talk with local employers about future careers, experience the Mobile Oilfield Learning Unit, and compete in various student competitions in subjects such as cosmetology, movie making, construction and culinary skills. Food trucks will be on hand, and participants will be able to enjoy student performances by Waltrip HS Jazz Band, Lanier MS Orchestra, Davis HS Mariachi, and the MC Williams MS Orchestra.

Last year, more than 5,000 students, parents, and community members attended the annual expo, which featured a Houston Police Department SWAT tank, Houston Fire Department truck and, “BAT” (breath alcohol testing) van among other exhibits.

For more information, please see the Career Readiness webpage, or call 713-556-6981.

HISD teachers featured in new ad campaign

If you went to see a movie in the past week, chances are you might have seen several HISD teachers during the previews. HISD’s Human Resources Department recently launched an ad campaign aimed at enticing teachers who live in Houston and the surrounding suburbs to come “Teach in the City.” The recruitment campaign includes a 30-second segment currently playing at several movie theaters across Houston, four highway billboards, and a new website.

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“Teach in the City” features a half dozen HISD teachers, including Morgan Greco, a first-year teacher at Herod Elementary School. “I am thrilled to be part of this effort to recruit both new and veteran teachers,” said Greco. “I love working for HISD. As a first-year teacher right out of college, I have more support than I could have ever imagined.”

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Status of all students’ magnet applications to become available March 24

If you’re one of the parents who submitted one of the more than 60,000 magnet applications HISD received for the 2016–2017 school year, your wait is almost over.

Thursday, March 24, 2016, is the date on which parents who participated in Phase 1 of the application process (Oct. 1–Dec. 18, 2015) will be notified of the status of their submissions. Parents who created online accounts will be able to find the results posted on their dashboards, but application-status letters will also be sent out by U.S. mail to all parents who submitted an application.

Magnet notifications are going out via our online system, so you can start checking now. FYI, they can take up to 8 hours to send.
Don’t see any notifications for your magnet application yet? Don’t panic! Your notifications will be posted to the parent dashboard.

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NASA astronaut celebrates National School Breakfast Week with HISD

AstronautatGrissomESNASA astronaut Mike Fincke visited with Grissom ES students on March 10 to help HISD’s Nutrition Services Department celebrate National School Breakfast Week.

First, he presented a video that showed him and his fellow astronauts enjoying their mission on the International Space Station and fueling their bodies for space travel.

“We have fun with our food because it floats. Do you know why it floats?” asked Fincke. “No gravity!” shouted the students.

Fincke explained how space food needs to be packaged to stay fresh and nutritious so astronauts can remain healthy while in space. “We especially enjoy the fresh fruits and vegetables we get when a care package is delivered with a supply cargo from earth.”

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Rocket’s support of #BestSchoolDay campaign to benefit HISD’s Literacy By 3 movement

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HISD’s efforts to have students reading at or above grade level by the third grade got a huge boost on March 10, when DonorsChoose.org launched a surprise “flash-funding” campaign to support teachers’ classroom projects.

Hundreds of HISD educators stand to benefit from the #BestSchoolDay campaign, as Houston Rocket Dwight Howard announced his intent to fund every Houston-area, Pre-K-through-grade-2 teacher’s existing DonorsChoose.org request for books or reading materials during an appearance he made on the Stephen Colbert Show Thursday night.

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HISD wins third national Magna Award for Literacy By 3 efforts

The Houston Independent School District this week received its third national Magna Award, an honor designed to recognize school districts and their leaders for taking bold, innovative steps to improve the lives of students and their communities.

The district received the first-place Magna Award for its Literacy By 3 program, which strives to have all students reading and writing fluently by the end of third grade. HISD is one of five first-place winners in the over 20,000 enrollment category. Continue reading →

Davis HS band to compete at inaugural statewide UIL mariachi festival

DavisHSMariachi2016_800A dozen students from HISD’s Davis HS will be making history this weekend — both as participants in the University Interscholastic League’s very first State Mariachi Festival and as the only school from HISD to be representing the district.

Davis is one of almost 60 schools playing in the inaugural competition, which takes place March 11 and 12 in San Antonio.

“I am pleased to see that mariachi is being recognized at the UIL state level,” said teacher José Niño. “It combines orchestra, band, and choir all in one.”

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Adelina Alcala named new principal of R. P. Harris Elementary School

Adelina Valdez-Alcala, R.P. Harris Elementary (Houston Independent School District)Adelina Alcala has been named the new principal of R. P. Harris Elementary School. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a specialization in Special Education from the University of Texas in San Antonio, Alcala started her career in education in the Alief Independent School District. Over the course of six years, Alcala was an early childhood bilingual teacher serving students with disabilities, a Special Education resource teacher, and a department chair.

After completing her master’s degree in education at the University of Houston in Clear Lake and establishing herself as an instructional leader, Alcala was promoted to the role of assistant principal in Alief ISD.

Student spotlight: Yates HS communications program covers State of the Schools

Editor’s note: This is the first in a weekly series of articles designed to highlight the work of HISD students, particularly as it relates to developing global graduate skills, connecting learning to careers, or preparing for higher education. In this inaugural feature, we take a look at the communications program at Yates High School, whose students covered the district’s State of the Schools luncheon on March 3 as a part of their project-based assignments.

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More than 150 students currently participate in the communications program at Yates HS, and several of those young people got to attend HISD’s recent State of the Schools luncheon. While there, they applied what they are learning in the classroom to real life, honing their skills in photography, film-making, interviewing, and story-telling.

Continue reading →