The HISD supplier diversity team collaborated with the City of Houston, Port of Houston Authority, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County to talk contracts with small businesses during May’s Workshop Wednesday hosted by the district’s business assistance office.
Author Archives: HISD Communications
First Book helps Neff ES students start personal libraries
Students at Neff Elementary got a special surprise on Tuesday. First Book donated more than 5,000 books for students to take home and start their personal library.
“If they don’t become better readers during the summer, they will start back at a negative situation because they will have lost the ability, the concentration, the confidence that they are good readers,” said Sheila Long Armstrong, greater Houston chair of First Book, which teams up with the Disney/ABC Television Group and its owned-and-operated Houston TV station, ABC-13 (KTRK), for the program.
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End of the year is time for reflection
Chávez High School first-year teacher Natalie Nelson is looking forward to some free time this summer, but she is also mulling over the things she will do differently next year. Nelson is one of five first-year HISD teachers who were invited to blog about their experiences on the district’s website. The blog, called “177 Days” for the number of days a teacher works each school year, chronicled the ups and downs of new teachers working in a large urban school district.
Nelson teaches government and economics to seniors, so she is saying goodbye to most of her students as they prepare to enter the next phase of their lives. As a softball coach, however, she has returning students with whom she has bonded, and she is looking forward to seeing them next year. Being a coach made sense for Nelson, because she was a year-round athlete herself in high school, playing five sports during her four years there. “Coaching is a huge commitment on top of carrying a full load of teaching with two preps,” she wrote on her blog, “but it has given me a larger connection to the student body and school community.”
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School districts, law enforcement team up with Ministers Against Crime for ‘Project Safe Start’
Students of HISD and across the city of Houston will soon begin to notice an increase of community and law enforcement officials throughout their hallways as the school year comes to an end.
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Class of 2014 sets new HISD scholarship record with more than $233M in offers
Scholarship offers and financial aid awards for the Class of 2014 are still coming in, but this year’s graduating seniors have already shattered last year’s record by nearly $50 million.
Need help to move forward? Sign up for summer school now
With end-of-course STAAR exam results and grades pouring in, this is the time many students may find out that they will need to take summer school courses to recover uncredited course work or to pass one of the mandatory state assessments required for graduation.
HISD announces Nurses of the Year for 2014
A commitment to making every student feel valued and a refusal to limit care to an eight-hour work day have garnered two HISD nurses the district’s highest honors for medical professionals in a school setting.
Lashawnda Harris, who serves at Lyons Elementary School, and Karen Adams, who serves at Sharpstown International School (SIS), have been named HISD’s Elementary and Secondary Nurses of the Year (respectively) for 2014.
Summer Meal Program kicking off at more than 200 schools
No paperwork, registration or proof of income needed to participate
The Houston Independent School District will kick off its Summer Meal Program on June 4 at more than 200 schools. Children ages 1 to 18 can enjoy a healthy breakfast and lunch at no cost through July 3. The beginning of the program will be celebrated with kick-off parties at two participating elementary schools.
The “Summer Food, Summer Fun” kick-off parties will include giveaways, music, HISD Food Services’ My Plate Relay game, and a visit from Ace the Healthy Fox, Food Services’ nutrition mascot.
Events are scheduled for next week:
Wednesday, June 4, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Herrera Elementary School
525 Bennington, Houston, TX 77022
Thursday, June 5, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Gallegos Elementary School
7415 Harrisburg, Houston, TX 77011
Children do not need to be enrolled in summer school to participate in the program, and no paperwork, registration or proof of income are required. Adults may participate by purchasing breakfast for $2 and lunch for $3.25.
All meals served are nutritionally balanced to ensure children receive the vitamins, minerals, and calories needed to maintain a balanced diet. Last summer, HISD Food Services served over one million free meals to Houston-area children.
To find a summer meal location near you, please visit: www.houstonisd.org/summermeals.
Questions about the summer meal program may be directed to the HISD Food Services Department at 713-491-5944. For information on where to find free meals after July 3, contact the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department at 713-676-6832 or dial 2-1-1.
New partnership shines spotlight on Linked Learning’s potential
When most people think about employment opportunities available at large grocery or clothing chains, they probably envision minimum-wage jobs such as cashiers, sackers, stockers, or parking lot attendants who collect abandoned shopping carts.
But a new partnership between HISD’s Career and Technical Education department, the University of Houston Downtown (UH-D), and various big-box stores is looking to change that misconception, and in the process, create a steady stream of high-school students poised for high-paying careers in retail management.
“This type of partnership does exactly what we want,” said Michael Webster, HISD’s assistant superintendent of career readiness. “It’s giving kids access to real-life situations. The idea is that within two to four years of graduation, they will be in a managerial role, and a typical manager at one of these stores makes $125- to $150,000 a year.”
Briscoe ES travels the world of food at International Fruit and Vegetable Festival
Students at Briscoe Elementary were given the opportunity to travel through the world of fruits and vegetables at the International Fruit and Vegetable Festival held at their school.
HISD Food Services Nutrition Team and Recipe for Success Foundation hosted the May 23 event, allowing fourth- and fifth-grade students to taste, touch and smell a variety of colorful, exotic produce from all over the world.