Author Archives: HISD Communications

Getting athletics facilities ready for fall is a team effort

Crews are hard at work on the new Delmar Fieldhouse.

Crews are hard at work on the new Delmar Fieldhouse.

With the fall sports season fast approaching, here’s what you need to know about how HISD athletics facilities are being prepared:

The team at Delmar Stadium has been hard at work in the pre-season to get the facility in shape for fall football. Over the summer, the synthetic turf on the football field was replaced, much of the facility received new paint, and restrooms were renovated – including the installation of air conditioning and new stalls – making the stadium ready to host plenty of Friday night lights action this fall. Continue reading →

Reading program kept elementary teacher in former students’ hearts

Dr. Lorraine Killion had the same group of students from the third through fifth grades at Wesley Elementary School some 35 years ago. They were a pilot group for what was known then as DISTAR, a system for teaching reading and math (DISTAR reading has since been expanded and rebranded by SRA/McGraw-Hill as Reading Master). Dr. Killion and her students became so close during those three years that the students never forgot her.

When one of the alumnus’s sons discovered that Dr. Killion was still teaching, the former students used Facebook to get in touch and organize a reunion. Nearly the entire class gathered at a Houston restaurant recently to honor Dr. Killion, whom they hadn’t seen since the fifth grade.

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“They surprised me, and I cried like a baby,” Dr. Killion said. “I hadn’t heard from them for 30 years! I thought I was having lunch with a couple of students, and nearly all of them were there.” Continue reading →

Students headed back to school will see some big changes at bond campuses

Summer break was no vacation for HISD’s bond project team, as schools in the district’s $1.89 billion program made significant headway, with more construction activity in progress than at any other time in the district’s history.

Construction crews work on the new Condit Elementary School, August 19, 2015.

Construction crews work at the site of the new Condit Elementary School.

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Think you might need to visit HISD’s headquarters? Check this list first!

Hundreds of parents come to the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (HMWESC; 4400 W. 18th St., 77092) each fall in the weeks leading up to the start of school, but many discover they didn’t really need to.

While some tasks must be performed in person at HISD’s headquarters, others can be accomplished at the campus level or even from home via the Internet.

If you are a parent trying to complete a form, request a copy of records, or accomplish any number of other start-of-year tasks, check out our list below first, and you could save yourself a trip or hours wasted in line. Continue reading →

New principal takes faculty on the road to learn more about community

Sometimes, the best way to understand someone is to learn more about their origins.

That’s why new principal Susan Monaghan took her faculty members on a one-hour tour of the neighborhood surrounding Westbury High School on Aug. 10 to give them a glimpse of the community in which many of their students grew up. Continue reading →

Customer survey: 85% of HISD parents, students, staff satisfied with their school

More than 131,000 participants provide feedback on schools, district

Eighty-five percent of Houston Independent School District students, parents, teachers and administrators continue to be satisfied with their school, according to the district’s annual customer satisfactory survey.

The overall satisfaction rating — which equates to a B- for the district, as a whole — is up two percentage points from 2013, which is when the HISD Your Voice survey was first launched. Results have been consistent or increasing across all measures since then.

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CFS announces new attendance incentive program during welcome back in-service

HISD Construction and Facilities Services managers last week announced a new attendance incentive program during the department’s annual Welcome Back Professional Development session.

Throughout the day on Wednesday, over 1,800 employees were treated to breakfast and lunch before heading to a packed auditorium at HISD’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps headquarters to receive awards and recognition for their hard work across the district. Employees also learned that eligible CFS employees will have an opportunity to receive up to $1,000 in additional pay based on excellent attendance.

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Band students now required to get pre-participation physicals

HISD has long required its student athletes to obtain clearance from their healthcare providers before participating in extracurricular activities — and now, that same policy will apply to students in marching bands, too.

“Whether they’re wearing 20 pounds of padding or carrying around a 20-pound tuba, it’s important for students to have a physical examination before they start practicing or playing,” said Director of Athletics and University Interscholastic League band activities Marmion Dambrino. “At HISD, safety is our top priority, so we want to make sure all of our students have a clean bill of health before they get out onto the field, particularly in this heat.” Continue reading →

South Early College HS, Mandarin Chinese building projects go vertical

The new campuses for South Early College High School and Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School have reached a major milestone in the construction of both buildings as work crews have begun erecting steel columns and beams, taking the projects into the vertical phase of construction.

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