Author Archives: HISD Communications

Twenty-nine HISD schools awarded by TEA for top performance in 2014-2015

Campuses receive every distinction designation available from the state.

Twenty-nine schools from across the Houston Independent School District earned the maximum number of distinction designations from the state for their top performance throughout the 2014-2015 school year.

The campuses – 17 elementary schools, six middle schools and six high schools – earned every distinction designation awarded by the Texas Education Agency. Schools are eligible for distinctions if they are rated as having “Met Standard” — the highest rating under the state accountability system — and meet various other performance standards.

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Officers, personnel honored at annual HISD Police Department Awards Luncheon

About 150 officers, personnel and family members of the Houston Independent School District Police Department gathered at Peck Elementary School on Friday to honor outstanding employees during their 18th Annual Awards Luncheon. The ceremony celebrates the achievements, outstanding customer service and contributions of the department during the academic school year.

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2015 Green Schools Challenge winners announced

The 2015 Green Schools competition has concluded, and HISD’s Energy & Sustainability Department is pleased to announce the winners of the Green Schools Challenge.

Mistral Early Childhood Center, Baylor College of Medicine Academy, McGowen Elementary, Piney Point Elementary, Seguin Elementary, and Garden Oaks Elementary all placed in the contest. As part of the competition, 28 schools pledged to take energy saving actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help protect the environment for future generations. Schools also were encouraged to become a registered Eco-School through the National Wildlife Federation.

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Sterling HS to add welding to course offerings

Sterling High School will offer a new course in its airframe engineering and design program in the 2015–2016 school year: welding.

The school is able to offer welding through a new partnership with Houston Community College. Students who successfully complete all of the necessary courses will earn a certificate as a welder’s helper. If they go on to study at Houston Community College, they will be able to take advanced welding courses there. Continue reading →

Washington HS students achieve liftoff in New Mexico

It took them five long years to do it, but the High Altitude Rocketry Team from Washington High School has finally achieved success.

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On their fifth visit to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico this July, the team managed to launch its 23-foot suborbital rocket. Continue reading →

Teachers get support in science instruction from Baylor College of Medicine

Greg Vogt demonstrates Newton's second law of motion by igniting vaporized ethanol to show how thrust is generated for rocket launches.

Greg Vogt demonstrates Newton’s second law of motion by igniting vaporized ethanol to show how thrust is generated for rocket launches.

Students may still be on vacation, but more than 450 teachers from the Houston Independent School District went back to the classroom this summer for an intensive training program organized by Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Education Outreach.

The Baylor Summer Science Institute is geared toward teachers who may not have a strong science background. The program included presentations by scientists and inquiry-based lessons featuring content specific to teachers’ grade levels, with a focus on the nature of science and physical science. Each participant also received teaching resources to take back to their campuses and earned professional development credit.

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Lamar HS named ‘National Debate School of Honor’

Lamar High School has been recognized as a National Debate School of Honor by the National Speech & Debate Association.

The National Speech & Debate Association is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle school, high school, and collegiate students in the United States, and it presented the award to Lamar during its annual tournament held in Dallas over the summer.

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HISD earns “Met Standard” rating from state for the 2014-2015 school year

Almost 80 percent of HISD campuses also receive “Met Standard” designation.

The Houston Independent School District earned an overall “Met Standard” rating, according to 2015 state accountability data released Friday by the Texas Education Agency.

The district received the rating — the highest offered under the state’s current accountability system — despite increasing performance targets on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, test.

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Austin HS stakeholders learn about design plans for new school

Members of the Austin High School community came out this week for the first of three community meetings to hear about plans for the school’s new campus. As part of HISD’s current bond program, Austin will receive a new $68.4 million building that will accommodate 1,800 to 2,000 students.

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