HISD welcomed three new members into its 2012 Partnership Hall of Fame on Oct. 5.
The theme for this year’s appreciation breakfast was “Partnership Champions,” and KBR, the Port of Houston Authority, and Prepared 4 Life were all recognized for their efforts to “champion” public education by providing extra resources and opportunities for HISD students.
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HISD will be celebrating three of its long-standing community partners by inducting them into the district’s 2012 Hall of Fame during the annual Partnership Appreciation Breakfast on Friday, October 5 at 8:15a.m. at the Royal Sonesta Hotel (2222 West Loop South).
This year’s honorees, KBR, Port of Houston Authority, and Prepared 4 Life,will be recognized for their continued support and efforts to provide extra resources and opportunities for HISD students.
“We depend on our community partners to help us better serve our students and provide them opportunities that will prepare them for the workforce,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said. “They are vital to the success of the children in Houston. We can’t thank them enough for their continuous commitment to helping Houston’s students.”
The 2012 event’s theme, “Partnership Champions,” will recognize the partners’ efforts to go above and beyond to help HISD students achieve their dreams through their collaboration.
The KBR partnership began with the original HISD-Halliburton partnership in the 1980s. This partnership provides HISD with volunteers and financial contributions as well as support for organizations that help the district’s students. The KBR Discover Engineering group has volunteered for HISD programs as judges for science fairs, Youth Inventors’ Showcases, HISD/KBR Science Teacher Award, and FIRST Robotics Competitions. KBR is known for its three year commitment of $25,000 per year beginning in 2009 for the KBR Science Teacher of the Year Award.
The Port of Houston Authority began its partnership with HISD in 1986. Since then, the partnership has evolved to focus on encouraging students to pursue career opportunities in maritime transportation or associated fields. Thousands of students have taken tours of the Ship Channel on the Sam Houston inspection boat. The cornerstone of this partnership is the maritime program at Austin and Yates high schools. Students participating in the maritime program have the benefit of dual course credits, field trips, internships, college scholarship opportunities and maritime industry themed forums. Students also participate in the Port of Houston Authority/Texas Southern University summer transportation academy program and the Boy Scouts of America’s Venturing program.
Prepared 4 Life has been an HISD partner since 2005. The partnership began with after-school activities offered at select middle schools to instill life skills, character education and self-reliance. An E-mentoring program was later implemented to help students as well. Prepared 4 Life is noted for sponsoring Lemonade Day which began in 2007 and offers students entrepreneurial experience by encouraging them to select lemonade stand sites while schools choose to have school, grade-level, or classroom stands. To extend the entrepreneurial experience to more students, Serving Up Lemonade was implemented in 2010 for sixth-grade students and expanded the next year to include seventh-grade students.
Voters looking to cast their ballots early or on Election Day should remember that this year’s ballot covers a lot of ground – from the presidential race to the Houston Independent School District’s proposed $1.89 billion bond. 
The school district’s bid to modernize and rebuild schools across Houston will be near the end of the ballot, after voters choose their president, county judges, constables and decide for or against several other propositions.
The number of Houston ISD students taking the SAT college entrance exam has nearly doubled in just two years, and the number of graduates scoring at college-ready levels on the SAT has hit a new record, according to figures released today.
A score of 500 or better in each of the three SAT subjects – reading, math, and writing – is considered to be a strong sign that a student is prepared for college-level work. The Houston Independent School District’s seniors of 2012 posted significant gains in this area since 2010. In just two years, the number of HISD students scoring 500 or better has risen to 2,056 in reading (26 percent increase); 2,738 in math (41 percent increase); and 1,816 in writing (20 percent increase).
“HISD students and teachers are showing that they can meet the challenge when we raise expectations and increase the level of academic rigor in every classroom,” Superintendent Terry Grier said. “We should all be proud that hundreds more HISD graduates showed up to college this fall prepared to meet the challenge and succeed.”
In 2011, HISD became one of the very few school districts in America to offer every high school junior the chance to take the SAT for free during the school day. Students also received free access to the College Board’s online SAT test preparation materials. Typically, students must pay a fee and sign up to take the SAT on a weekend.
HISD’s effort to increase access to the SAT exam paid off, with 9,480 students in the Class of 2012 having taken the SAT, compared to just 4,920 in the Class of 2010. This represents a 93 percent increase in students taking the SAT. Two years ago, 52 percent of HISD seniors attempted the SAT at some point during high school. Now, 92 percent of students are taking the SAT by their senior year.
The rise in the number of HISD students taking the SAT was so significant that HISD accounted for half of the total statewide increase in the number of students who sat for the exam.
“On behalf of the entire College Board, I want to congratulate HISD for its outstanding growth in SAT access and success in 2012,” said College Board President Gaston Caperton. “I have had the pleasure of visiting Houston public schools and I have seen firsthand the power and the possibility afforded by the college-going culture that the district’s administrators and faculty instill in their students. HISD should be a model for large school districts across the country at a time when a weak economy is decimating their ability to produce college and career ready graduates.”
This increase in college readiness comes at a time when HISD graduates are earning more scholarship money with each passing year. In 2012, scholarship offers to HISD students exceeded $180 million, compared to $97 million in 2010.
Significant progress made by all racial and ethnic groups
The number of students scoring at the college-ready level has risen in every subject among every racial and ethnic group since 2010.
Participation up among all student groups
SAT participation rates increased rapidly for students of every race and ethnicity over the past two years.
As participation increases, average scores decline
As the number of students taking the exam dramatically increased, average scores dropped predictably. The College Board has reported that scores tend to decline as the number of low-income students and first-generation immigrant students take the exam. In 2012, the average HISD reading score dropped 35 points to 410, while the average math score declined 31 points to 439, and writing dropped by 34 points to 406. Average SAT scores also declined nationally and statewide.
If we eliminate the bottom 3,259 scores in 2012, which is the difference in the number of students tested from 2011 to 2012, average scores in each subject would increase substantially. The average composite score for the top 6,225 students tested in 2012 is 1,424, compared to 1,355 for the 6,225 students in the Class of 2011 who took the SAT. Although this is not a statistically valid comparison to make, it does offer some valuable insight into the impact that increasing the testing pool has on average scores.
“While Houston’s students are making strong progress, far too many are leaving high school unprepared for college and to contribute to our city’s prosperity,” Dr. Grier said. “We must do better.”
This year, HISD launched a new and improved curriculum designed with the input of thousands of teachers. The new curriculum is aligned with state and national standards and will prepare students to meet increasingly tough academic standards. The new curriculum also places an emphasis on every child reading at or above grade level.
Moving forward, high school teachers and counselors will be encouraging more students to take advantage of the free online SAT test preparation materials that are available from the College Board.
Anyone looking to find out more about the school district’s proposed 2012 $1.89 billion bond proposal should come to one of Thursday’s “Community Conversations,” at Austin High School (1700 Dumble) or the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th Street).
The sessions will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. and will include a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session.
HISD’s Curriculum Department hosted a Partnering with Parents to Prepare Students for Algebra workshop at Helms Elementary School recently, and nearly 90 parents attended the event, which was designed to help them learn some of the same instructional strategies used by HISD teachers to convey various mathematics concepts to their children.
Hundreds of people have already turned out for one of the district’s Community Conversations on the proposed 2012 bond that would rebuild and renovate schools across the district, including most of the high schools.
But if you missed last week’s four sessions, there is still time to attend any of the four informational meetings scheduled this week. The$1.89 billion bond proposition is primarily focused on 28 of the district’s high schools but also significantly impacts 10 other school buildings. More details about the proposition can be found on the 2012 Houston Schools Bond website (click here). The measure goes before voters on Nov. 6. Early voting begins Oct. 22.
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The collaborative efforts of the Grady Middle School community, along with those who designed and built the new facility, were all praised Monday morning at an official dedication ceremony for the school’s newest addition.
Light from the mid-morning sun served as the backdrop for the ceremony that included performances from the Grady band and theater groups. Working together as the students did was also how community members worked with HISD and school staff, as well as the building’s architects and designers, said HISD Board of Education member Harvin Moore.
“It’s really very, very important that decisions be made that involve the people that are really going to live with it,” Moore said. “The parents, the neighbors and the faculty and teachers. They know about educational needs and the academic design of a great school.”
Grady’s new building includes a library, cafetorium, gymnasium, music room and new administration offices. In total, the building cost about $13.7 million, paid for with funds from the 2007 bond program.
Students aren’t the only ones who get to enjoy the new school, though, said Grady principal Gretchen Kasper-Hoffman.
“People love it. They’re so excited to see this on the corner. They enjoy driving by and seeing such a lovely building and knowing that the kids are learning,” she said. “It wasn’t horrible before, but now, it’s just something that sticks out and the community can be proud that this is our middle school.”
The school, located at 5215 San Felipe Street on the city’s near West side, now has some facilities that are either on par or best those of nearby private schools, said Moore, who specifically cited the quality of Grady’s new music room.
Moore also reminded those in attendance that the new addition was only the first phase of construction planned for Grady, noting the second phase of the plan was among those projects listed in the 2012 bond program.
In the proposed plan, Grady would receive $14.8 million to complete renovations around the school and replace 23 temporary buildings currently being used for classroom instruction. The project is among 38 total projects in the $1.89 billion proposed bond program, scheduled to go before the voters in November.
Melinda Garrett, whose management of finances for Texas’ largest school district since 2001 led to numerous honors and accolades for fiscal responsibility, has announced that she will retire in December.
“I am deeply honored to have had the privilege of serving the children, taxpayers, and employees of HISD for all these years,” Garrett said. “But I’m ready to start this next chapter of my life, spending time with my husband and our family.”
On Garrett’s watch, the Houston Independent School District has maintained the highest possible bond rating and the lowest property tax rate of the two dozen school districts in Harris County. At the same time, HISD gained a national reputation for excellence in public school financial accountability. In 2011, HISD became the first U.S. school district in three years to win the prestigious Award for Excellence in Financial Management from the Council of the Great City Schools. In 2010, Garrett won the Council’s Bill Wise Award for distinguished service to America’s urban public schools.
“No single person has contributed more than Melinda Garrett toward HISD’s national reputation as a model district when it comes to managing taxpayer money with a focus on doing what is best for children,” said Superintendent Terry Grier. “It is because of Melinda’s excellent long-term financial planning during these tight budget times that our students have the resources they need to continue out-performing their peers across the state and nation.”
HISD Board of Education President Michael Lunceford commended Garrett’s ability to explain complex issues, such as Texas school finance law, in terms that the public and policymakers can understand.
“Melinda Garrett is one of the few people in Texas who really grasp all the intricacies of our state’s school finance system,” Lunceford said. “What’s even more remarkable is that she understands the history and nuance behind the system. And she has the skills and patience to help the rest of us to understand, so that we can make informed decisions that result in money going where it’s needed the most — classrooms.”
A Bellaire High School graduate, Garrett holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from Texas Woman’s University. She landed her first job with HISD in 1976 as a kindergarten teacher at the former Easter Elementary School in 1976. Two years later, Garrett went back to school to earn her master’s degree in accounting from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. She then joined the audit division of KPMG Peat Marwick and became a certified public accountant working on audits of governmental and private sector firms.
Garrett returned to HISD in 1985 as the district’s controller. She was named chief financial officer in 2001. She is a member of the Texas Association of School Business Officials, where she has served on the Accounting Advisory Committee and as president of the Gulf Coast Chapter. In 2009, the HISD Board of Education named Garrett interim superintendent before Dr. Grier was hired.
The search for Garrett’s successor is under way, Dr. Grier said.
Blue Bell Creameries will honor East Early College High School (220 North Milby), one of two HISD schools named 2012 National Blue Ribbon Schools, with a school-wide ice cream party on Friday, Sept. 28. A Blue Bell truck filled with ice cream will arrive at the school at noon to treat all of the students, teachers, and staff members.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools program has honored more than 7,000 of America’s most successful schools for the past 30 years. This year 269 public and private schools across the country, including HISD’s Project Chrysalis Middle School, received the coveted award. Blue Bell Creameries will honor Project Chrysalis Middle School at a later date.
Blue Ribbon Schools are selected based on two primary criteria. They must be among the highest-performing schools in their state and they are schools with at least 40 percent of students from disadvantaged backgrounds that have improved student performance to high levels.
This year’s winning schools will also be honored at an awards ceremony in Washington D.C. on Nov. 12-13, 2012.