Author Archives: HISD Communications

Get to know your neighbors on National Night Out October 6

Knowing who lives next to you can sometimes be the first step in preventing crime—and that’s why police departments across the country have been encouraging people to step outside on one evening each year to meet their neighbors.

This year marks the 32nd anniversary of National Night Out, a crime/drug prevention event created and sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch.

In Texas, official activities will take place from 6–9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, and all Houston-area residents are encouraged to put on a smile, lock their doors, and go outside to meet their neighbors.

Want to meet Houston ISD police officers? They are holding an event at Peck Elementary, 5001 Martin Luther King Blvd., from 6-8 p.m.

Backpack Buddy program helps fill weekend ‘food gap’

HISD Nutrition Services and the Houston Food Bank have been working together since 2014 to deliver extra food to needy students through the latter’s “Backpack Buddy” program. Its goal is to fill the food gap that exists at certain students’ homes over the weekends. Last year, about 89 schools participated. This year, that number has increased to 101, making this partnership a lifeline for disadvantaged HISD students.

“It’s really sad,” said HISD Dietitian Nan Cramer. “We have children who come in Monday morning starving because their last meal was the previous Friday afternoon in school.”

The district recently received its first 25 pallets of food for distribution. And last Friday, students at participating campuses were discreetly issued their food sacks, so that they could enjoy healthy, nourishing meals even after school hours. Continue reading →

First School Choice Open House helps parents fine tune their campus selections

HISD hosted the first of four School Choice Open Houses on Oct. 3, 2015, and hundreds of families came out to Jordan High School on Saturday to explore their options.

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“My main interest is the gifted and talented (G/T) program,” said parent Linda Le, who has two daughters. “These sessions are helpful, because you can look at all the different schools and talk to someone right away to get as much information as you need.”

“As a teacher myself, I’m able to see the different schools and what they offer, ask questions, and then decide what’s best and look at locations,” added Dominique Broomfield, a teacher at Eliot Elementary School with three children. Continue reading →

‘Caught in the Act’ spotlights Law Elementary School

Dual-language kindergarten teacher featured in October 2015 C.I.A. video

Cristina Garcia Chumillas, a dual-language teacher at Law Elementary School, was “Caught in the Act” of delivering great instruction during a recent visit to her kindergarten class. An HISD video crew, along with Elementary Curriculum and Development Officer Lance Menster and Assistant Superintendent of Multilingual Programs Gracie Guerrero, surprised Chumillas and her students and captured the video below.

[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/141449460″ width=”500″ height=”280″ responsive=”no”] Continue reading →

HISD home visiting program to help hundreds of families prepare children for preschool

The Houston Independent School District this week will begin offering in-home lessons to hundreds of new families from across the district in an effort to help parents better prepare their children for preschool.

The lessons are part of the district’s Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters — or HIPPY program. As part of the program, HIPPY home instructors models simple educational activities for parents to practice with their 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds.

The one-hour, weekly lessons span 30 weeks and cover early literacy skills, mathematics, science, fine and gross motor skills, and language development. Research shows that HISD kindergarten students whose parents have participated in the HIPPY program significantly outperform their peers in reading and math. Continue reading →

HIPPY program launches districtwide for 2015–2016 school year

In early October, nearly 600 families across the Houston area began receiving free lessons in their homes to prepare their children to succeed in HISD schools, before they ever set foot in a classroom.

Parents began participating in the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program, which models simple educational activities for parents to practice with their three-, four-, and five-year-old children. Forty-four HIPPY home instructors are assigned to communities across the district to enroll families and deliver the HIPPY curriculum. The one-hour weekly lessons span 30 weeks and cover early literacy skills, mathematics, science, fine and gross motor skills, and language development. Research shows that HISD kindergarten students whose parents have participated in the HIPPY program significantly outperform their peers in reading and math. Continue reading →

Sixty Edison MS students receive laptops from Comp-U-Dopt

Sixty Edison Middle School students are proud owners of computers, thanks to a generous donation by Comp-U-Dopt.

Ninety-six percent of the school’s students are considered economically disadvantaged, so a computer isn’t something their families could easily afford to buy. Comp-U-Dopt, a nonprofit that provides laptops to underserved children in grades 3–8, gave refurbished laptops to students who completed an essay application to show a need for a working computer. Continue reading →

Yates HS stakeholders hear about plans to build a new school

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More than 160 parents, neighbors, and alumni attended a community meeting at Jack Yates High School on Thursday evening to hear about plans to build a new 21st century campus for the school. This was the second of three Yates meetings that will be held to update stakeholders on the project status.

Continue reading →

Texans star presents $12,000 check for Looscan ES SPARK park

A group of lucky fourth- and fifth-graders at Looscan Elementary School exchanged high fives with Houston Texans star Vince Wilfork on Tuesday as he arrived at the school’s SPARK park to present a $12,000 check for new playground equipment.

Wilfork, accompanied by United Healthcare team members, presented a grant that will help replace the school’s 20-year-old playground equipment. The 12-year NFL veteran and first year Texan teamed up with United Healthcare and the Dreambuilders Foundation to make the donation through the Vince Wilfork Foundation. The nonprofit organization provides funding for diabetes research, education and care, and financially supports disadvantaged children who need assistance.

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Nine schools to participate in Marching Band Festival Oct. 6

Nine HISD high school bands will be strutting their stuff in the district’s eighth annual Marching Band Festival on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The festival gives bands the opportunity to receive feedback on their music quality, sections, music effects, visual effects, and visual performance. The critiques will help the bands prepare for future performances and events.

Participating schools include: Continue reading →