Author Archives: HISD Communications

Design ideas for new Madison HS generate community interest

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Nearly 40 people turned out Tuesday evening to Madison High School to learn about plans to replace the 50-year-old school with a new $82.7 million facility that will feature modern learning spaces and integrated technology.

“We want this school to be a great school and reflect the best of our community,” said Linda Scurlock, who is a member of Madison’s Project Advisory Team, which has been meeting since last year to help plan the school.

Continue reading →

HISD Class of 2015 receives record-breaking scholarship and financial aid offers

The Houston Independent School District’s Class of 2015 has received almost $265 million in scholarship and financial aid offers, a record-breaking amount that surpasses last year’s total by $10 million.

Nearly all HISD high schools — 82 percent — saw increases in scholarship offers at the campus level, with the biggest boost at Scarborough High School, where scholarship offers jumped by nearly 1,000 percent, increasing from less than $200,000 last year to almost $2 million this year.

Record increases also were seen at Mount Carmel Academy, the Houston Academy for International Studies and Worthing and Booker T. Washington high schools. Continue reading →

Austin High School alumnus now gives back as a teacher

In this week’s I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, José Saenz explains why he just can’t stop coming back to his high school. Saenz attended Austin High School and participated in the school’s teaching program. He graduated in 2003, and is now a teacher there. Given the fact that he also met his wife there in the ninth grade, it is clear that for Saenz, all roads lead to Austin.

Jose Saenz

Jose Saenz

You graduated from Austin HS in 2003, and you have returned as a teacher. What did you do after graduating, and what brought you back?

I had made up my mind to become a teacher towards the end of my senior year. I began attending the University of Houston in the fall of 2003 and majored in history. I went through the education program at UH as well. Students were required to do a set number of observation hours and a semester of student teaching. I requested Austin as the location for both. Since graduating, I was very interested in coming back to Austin to teach and having the opportunity to student-teach there helped me make that decision. I felt that I could connect with the students coming from the same neighborhood and having many of the same life experiences. I began working at Austin in 2008 and even returned to UH while working in 2010 to obtain my master’s in curriculum and instruction in social studies education. Continue reading →

Museum features nine students’ artwork in teen exhibition

Artwork created by students from Carnegie Vanguard High School and the High School for Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) is on display at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston through July 19.

The museum’s Teen Council organized the exhibition, titled Perspectives 189: From the Margins, which focuses on marginalization and its personal, political, and social manifestations.

Nine HISD students created pieces that were selected for the exhibition. The following students are participating: Continue reading →

HISD Transportation to host on-site interviews at job fair Saturday

HISD will host a transportation job fair from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, July 18, 2015, at Scarborough High School (4141 Costa Rica, 77092).

HISD will be conducting in-person interviews for the following positions:

  • School bus drivers ($15.70/hourly)
  • School bus mechanics
  • Mechanic helpers
  • Transportation attendants

Continue reading →

Futures Academy seniors get valuable industry experience through Walgreens internship

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Sometimes, opportunity dwells just down the street. Twenty-two rising seniors from the Futures Academy at Jane Long Academy are discovering this truth through pharmacy technician internships at Walgreens locations across the city.

The Long students involved have all taken dual-credit pharmacy classes at Houston Community College (HCC). They will receive additional credit from HCC upon completing their internships at Walgreens, which could easily lead to pharmacy technician jobs or scholarships to attend pharmacy schools. Two interns, rising seniors Marilyn Mendoza and Jonathan Urguilla, have already received job offers from the stores at which they are interning.

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Six more HISD students win National Merit College-Sponsored Scholarships

Six more Houston Independent School District students were selected this week to win National Merit scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities, bringing the total number of HISD winners up to 23 this year.

The students — Afton Widdershins from Bellaire High School; Ariel Hayes, David Lee, and Camille Potts from Carnegie Vanguard High School; and Sloan Lalinde-Barnes and Jessica Rollinson from DeBakey High School for Health Professions — received college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships from the College of Wooster, University of Houston, University of Southern California, Texas A&M University and Trinity University. Continue reading →

Class of 2015 beats previous year’s scholarship offers by $10 million

Several HISD schools saw significant increases in the amount of scholarship and financial aid offers their seniors received this year. Recent HAIS graduates Karina Barbosa (left) and Rynique Lucas received more than $1.7M between them.

Several HISD schools saw significant increases in the amount of scholarship and financial aid offers their seniors received this year. Recent HAIS graduates Karina Barbosa (left) and Rynique Lucas received more than $1.7M in scholarship and financial aid offers between them.

The numbers are in, and HISD’s Class of 2015 has received almost $265 million in scholarship and financial aid offers.

At $10 million more than the Class of 2014, Director of College Readiness David Johnston called the figure “a testament to the district’s college readiness efforts.” A handful of campuses have also seen significant increases in the amount of money their seniors have been offered from last year to this one.

College Success Manager Pamela Joyce Williams attributes Washington High School’s jump from about $2,360,000 in 2014 to more than $7,223,000 in 2015 to a year-long outreach campaign, in which she sent students and their parents regular progress reports and email reminders about deadlines through Naviance. Continue reading →

Nutrition Services helps feed Houston’s hungry

Audene Chung and Amanda Oceguera listen to HISD’s Student Congress Representatives request to help less fortunate Houstonians.

HISD’s Audene Chung and Amanda Oceguera listen to Student Congress representatives’ request to help less fortunate Houstonians.

When Houston ISD’s Student Congress visited the district’s Nutrition Services production facility recently, a new partnership to help feed the hungry in Houston was born.

In May, the Student Congress lobbied Nutrition Services to make food donations to Second Servings, an organization that collects and donates leftover food. While Nutrition Services is unable to donate school lunches, it did find a way to make donations through its catering kitchen operations, and the district recently signed a charter to donate leftover food. Continue reading →

Students enjoy hot dogs with a side of literacy at inaugural ‘Book-Nic’

Photos courtesy Ericka Hernandez at United Way Houston

Photos courtesy Ericka Hernandez at United Way Houston

Students attending HISD’s Sherman Elementary School celebrated summer with a hot dog and a book on July 2, as part of the United Way of Greater Houston’s annual “Day of Action.”

The United Way teamed up with Houston Public Media and the Wesley Community Center to host its inaugural “book-nic” (or book picnic) at the Sherman campus that day. This year, the theme was summer reading, and more than 300 families received a free book to take home. Students could also take part in interactive activities, such as the “make your own book” station, and Wesley Community Center staff members offered free grilled hotdogs and other typical picnic fare to visitors. In addition, the United Way set up its Tiny Library, a free lending library aimed at giving neighborhoods increased access to books. Continue reading →