Author Archives: HISD Communications

Parker ES stakeholders hear about plans for new school

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Parker Elementary parents and community members gathered at the school Tuesday evening to hear the project team present the latest design plans and timeline for construction of a new school.

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Trustee Wanda Adams to host District IX community meeting May 7

HISD Board of Education member Wanda Adams, who represents District IX, will be hosting a community meeting to discuss STAAR and promotion requirements from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, 2015, at Hines-Caldwell Elementary School (5515 West Orem 77085).

The meeting will feature a presentation on the STAAR exam, followed by a panel discussion, and a question and answer session. Special Assistant to the Superintendent Dan Gohl and Director of District Testing Julia Amponsah-Glider will lead the presentation and panel.

“I want all the parents in District IX to understand what their child needs to do in order to be successful in their educational pursuits, which includes understanding the STAAR test, and promotion standards,” said Trustee Adams.

For more information about the meeting, contact the HISD Family and Community Engagement Department at 713-556-7290.

Hamilton MS ‘Scratch Off’ contest gives students a taste of coding careers

The team from McGowen ES, who won first place in the beginner division

The team from McGowen ES, who won first place in the beginner division

About 50 teams of students from various HISD elementary and middle schools came together on the campus of Hamilton Middle School May 2, and all were eager to test their mettle as coders in the school’s inaugural “Scratch Off” contest.

Named in honor of the free programming language developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the competition challenged students to complete 20 tasks using Scratch, such as making an animated character called a “sprite” change color or move in particular ways on the screen.

By the time the competition was over, Pin Oak Middle School had nailed down the victory in the advanced division, while a team of students from McGowen Elementary School took home the laurels in the beginner division. Continue reading →

Books Between Kids expands its efforts to include Pre-K students

Children at five HISD early childhood centers to receive free books for summer reading

Pre-kindergarten students at Gabriela Mistral Early Childhood Center giggled with happiness as they picked out books to keep for their very own.

The children were digging through some of the 2,000 gently used books donated to that campus by Books Between Kids, so that each child could take home six books to start their at-home libraries. Continue reading →

Eight more HISD students win National Merit Scholarships

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced this year’s $2,500 National Merit Scholarship winners, and eight HISD students are among them.

They winners from HISD schools are: Tianxiu Chen and Marina Finley (Bellaire HS); Brett Gu (Carnegie Vanguard HS); Xiaoyi Dou, Zachary Kortum, Teresa Lee, and Poornima Tamma (DeBakey HS); and Claudia Heymach (High School of Performing and Visual Arts).

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Business Operations announces ‘Service Excellence’ Employees of the Month

Five HISD Business Operations employees were celebrated as Employees of the Month for May during the department’s breakfast with HISD’s Chief Operating Officer Leo Bobadilla on Tuesday.

(From left to right): Roy Giles, Pat Sykes, HISD Sr. Business Analyst Priscilla Martinez, Kelvin Bryan, and Eusebio Silver.

(From left to right): Roy Giles, Pat Sykes, HISD Sr. Business Analyst Priscilla Martinez, Kelvin Bryan, and Eusebio Silver.

Every month, five individuals from the areas of Transportation, Police, Nutrition Services, Construction and Facilities Services, and Business Assistance are selected to attend “Breakfast with Leo.” The event serves as a way to recognize district employees who go above and beyond to provide exceptional customer service.

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HISD Board of Education to again consider plan to reduce classroom overcrowding

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education next week will consider adjusting neighborhood attendance boundaries at certain elementary schools in an effort to reduce classroom overcrowding.

The plan calls for boundary adjustments at 26 elementary schools, as well as grade reconfigurations at two elementary campuses: Ashford and Shadowbriar, both of which would become comprehensive elementary schools offering pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.

Currently, the two schools share an attendance zone — Ashford offers pre-kindergarten through second grade, and Shadowbriar offers third through fifth grades. Under the proposal, Ashford would retain an attendance zone, but Shadowbriar would not. Instead, it would offer special programming designed to draw students.

The HISD Board of Education is expected to consider the proposals during their regular monthly meeting on May 14. If approved, the changes would go into effect for the 2015-2016 school year and would apply to new, incoming students. Students who are already enrolled — as well as incoming kindergartners — still would be allowed to attend the school to which they are currently zoned.

The attendance boundary proposals were created in response to state law, which requires kindergarten through fourth-grade classes to have no more than 22 students per classroom. Classes that exceed that number must request a state waiver. This school year, HISD had to submit nearly 1,500 class-size waiver requests.

The proposed attendance boundary maps were originally submitted to the school board in March. All remain the same with the exception of the northline area, where the boundary between Lyons and Burbank elementary schools has shifted northward.

Parents whose children attend Lyons, Burbank or Northline elementary schools had an opportunity to discuss this change during a community meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, May 7 at Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center, 9400 Irvington.

For a full list of schools impacted by the proposals, go online: http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/126823.

Read the notes from that meeting here (.pdf).

Spring Visual Arts Showcase displays talent of HISD student artists

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Stroll through the halls of HISD’s Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St, 77092) over the next few days, and you could see a lion, a wolf, or even a cheetah.

All of these and more are represented in original artworks created by HISD students as part of the 2015 Spring Visual Arts Showcase, which is organized annually to display the talent of student artists from across the district.

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Design process kicks off for Garden Oaks Montessori, Pilgrim Academy, Wilson Montessori

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Project Advisory Teams for Garden Oaks Montessori, Pilgrim Academy and Wilson Montessori spent two days last week in a design charrette, where they worked with architects and facilities planners to put together initial design concepts for their schools.

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Author visits Scroggins ES as part of ‘School Lunch Hero Day’

LunchLady_400On May 1, students at 16 HISD elementary schools observed School Lunch Hero Day, a nationwide celebration sponsored by the School Nutrition Association, Random House Children’s Books, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author and illustrator of the popular Lunch Lady graphic novel series.

Krosoczka chooses one school to visit each year on School Lunch Hero Day, and this year, he chose HISD’s own Scroggins Elementary. He connected with Scroggins Librarian Jo Reed on social media and saw the marvelous activities she has done with the Lunch Lady series.

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