Author Archives: HISD Communications

Education leaders tour Apollo 20 campuses to see how HISD is incorporating technology

Some of America’s most innovative education leaders gathered at the Houston Independent School District’s headquarters on March 19 for the second meeting of the League of Innovative Schools.

Fondren Middle School Principal Charles Foust (far left) explains to members of the League of Innovative Schools how his campus is using technology to drive instruction.

Designed to give educators a chance to dramatically increase student achievement through the wise use of technology, the league was launched by President Barack Obama in 2011 in tandem with Digital Promise, a new national education center created by the Congress and the U.S. Department of Education.

Superintendents from across the country attended the Houston meeting, where they—along with dozens of respected researchers and entrepreneurs—adopted the league’s membership charter, took part in break-out sessions on various topics, and toured one of five Apollo 20 campuses to see how HISD is using technology to drive instruction.

“Mr. McNairy, one of our history teachers, can get instant assessments and download data to his grade book immediately using the Classroom Performance System,” explained Fondren Middle School Principal Charles Foust, “while Ms. Perry can be anywhere in the classroom and her writing will appear on the SMART Board up front.”

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Weather alert: After-school athletics activities scheduled for today are canceled

UPDATE 9:35 a.m.:

After-school athletics activities (including baseball, softball, soccer, and track and field) scheduled for today at all HISD schools are canceled because of heavy rains.

UPDATE 9:08 a.m.:

Houston ISD officials  are closely monitoring the storm system that has brought heavy rains into the region today. So far, no HISD schools have reported any significant weather-related problems. District officials will be keeping a close eye on weather conditions as we approach dismissal time to determine whether any action is necessary to protect the safety of our students and employees. HISD will be posting any weather-related updates here, so be sure to check back often for updates.

UPDATE 9:04 a.m.:

The National Weather Service has just issued a Tornado Warning for Harris County until 8:15 AM.  At 7:41 AM NWS Doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado.  This storm was located near Bunker Hill and moving NE at 30 mph.

UPDATE: 8:05 a.m.:

NWS has issued a Flood Advisory for Harris County until 10:45 AM.  NWS Doppler radar indicated very heavy rain was falling over SW Harris County to Jersey Village to the Woodlands.  An inch of rain has fallen in last 30 minutes and another 1 to 2 inches will fall in next 90 minutes. 

Per Transtar there are no current road closures due to high water of the major thoroughfares.

Judge’s life, accomplishments honored at DeAnda dedication ceremony

The friends and family of Judge James DeAnda were joined by noted jurists, community members, elected officials, and HISD Superintendent Terry Grier at the official dedication of James DeAnda Elementary School. The school is one of the district’s new campuses built to LEED specifications and made possible by public support of 2007’s $805 million bond program.

Senators Rodney Ellis and Mario Gallegos presented DeAnda Principal Eduardo Sindaco with an official proclamation commemorating Judge DeAnda’s life and accomplishments.

“We ought to name schools after those whose accomplishments are on the right side of history,” Ellis said. “This school is named for Judge DeAnda because he lived a life worth emulating.”

Attendees included Board of Education Trustee Manuel Rodriguez; former Houston City Council member Felix Fraga; Michael Solar of the legal firm Solar & Associates; U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison; federal judge, Louis De Anda, brother of Judge DeAnda and Michael Olivas, law professor at the University of Houston.

“He was our Thurgood Marshall,” said Olivas, who currently sits of the board of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, which DeAnda founded.

Louis J. DeAnda, Judge DeAnda’s son, thanked Principal Sindaco for his dedication to the school and its students.

“When I finished my tour, one thing I noticed is that as we were leaving the school, Mr. Sindaco greeted each parent by name. It’s not just a job for him, and that let me know that this school is going places.”

Judge James DeAnda was raised in Houston and attended Sherman Elementary School. He was one of the first Mexican American attorneys to argue before the Supreme Court, and was the second Mexican American to serve as a federal judge, nominated by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, and received his commission to the bench on May 10, 1979.

HISD to Break Ground on Worthing High School Expansion

Administrators, staff, alumni, students and Sunnyside neighborhood residents will be joined by HISD Board of Education District IX Trustee Larry Marshall for the official groundbreaking ceremony  for Worthing High School’s renovation and expansion on Wednesday, March 21 at 10 a.m. at 9215 Scott Street.           

            “Sunnyside is a proud community with close-knit ties to successful people across the United States,” Marshall said.  “We are delighted to be able to welcome them to the site of the new and improved Worthing High School.  It’s been a dream for these residents for a long time.”

            State Senator Rodney Ellis, a distinguished graduate of Worthing, and State Rep. Borris Miles will be joining the Worthing community for this special ceremony. 

            The project includes a new two-story classroom addition, safety and security upgrades, technology improvements, and roof repairs, in addition to repairs of the athletic track.

“This new school building, with the renovated commons and auditorium, will definitely be a source of pride for the residents of Sunnyside,” said Worthing Principal Tod Nix.  “Most importantly, this is something our students are going to be proud of and enjoy every school day.”

            The $805 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2007 has helped make this Worthing project possible. The expanded and renovated campus will include:

  • New library;
  • Additional technological resources;
  • New science labs; and
  • New commons area.

            The campus’ old life skills building will become the new Worthing Community Learning Center, a student union-type structure that will include study rooms, recreation areas, and meeting space.  This center will serve all the children of Sunnyside, including those attending some of the area elementary and middle schools.

For more information about other school construction projects district wide, visit www.hisdprojects.org.

All-student TV crew covers Lovett dedication ceremony

Principal Amy Simson welcomed HISD Board of Education President Michael Lunceford, Chief School Officer Sam Sarabia, and the grandson of E. O. Lovett at the elementary school’s official dedication held March 8, 2012.

Edgar Odell Lovett Elementary School was named for the first president at Rice University. Both the university and elementary school share the same mascot and school colors. Principal Simson thanked the community, parents and volunteers for helping build a solid foundation for the children to excel, using both technology and art.

A student on Lovett's WHO TV crew works with Aaron Casares from HISD's Multimedia Services team.

“We are delighted to welcome you to this lovely new space,” she said. “There is so much we have been able to do, we now have special practice rooms for our band, choir and orchestra programs, and through the window wall in our new band room, we can give outdoor performances.”

Lovett’s all-student WHO TV crew worked with HISD TV to cover the event, including holding the cameras, and shooting footage.

Chief Elementary School Officer Sam Sarabia congratulated Principal Simson for Lovett’s continued achievements, and recognized longtime band director Ginny Croft, whose 30-year tenure has earned numerous performing arts accolades, at both the district and state level.

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HISD Receives ‘Leadership in Action’ Award

HISD’s Green District Challenge energy conservation program was recognized with the 2012 Leadership in Action Award for Environmental Improvement earlier this week during the Leadership Houston awards luncheon.  The annual award recognizes Houston corporations and nonprofits that have made extraordinary contributions to the greater Houston community, through programs and projects in 10 different categories, including Environmental Improvement.

 “We are proud of our efforts to model for our students what it means to be good stewards of our financial and natural resources,” said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. “Our schools are long term investments, so it’s important that we build facilities that use less energy. And through our Green School Challenge, our students are learning the important role they play in energy conservation.”

HISD Chief Operating Officer Leo Bobadilla accepted the award on the district’s behalf.

The District earned the Leadership in Action award for its precedent-setting  implementation of  a three-pronged initiative and comprehensive approach to energy efficiency, including capital improvements, process improvements, and behavioral change programs.  The District initiative features energy-efficient building designs, green building practices, fuel-efficiency initiatives, and behavioral change programs at the school campuses, and is complemented by a new energy performance contracting program that will allow district wide retrofits of facilities with emerging technology in energy-efficient lighting, building controls, HVAC equipment, and other building systems.

 HISD is also committed to building new facilities to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance “green” buildings. 

In 2011, HISD’s transportation department was named as the top school district green fleet by Government Fleet magazine, a first for HISD. HISD’s energy-efficient programs in transportation include outfitting special GPS equipment for idle reduction and route efficiencies, the use of alternative fuels such as biodiesel and propane, and the installation of emission reduction devices on 490 buses. 

This January, HISD implemented the Green School Challenge, a competition among schools, designed to inspire students to track their school’s energy use, and form campus ‘Green Teams’ to increase single stream recycling and decrease energy use.   

For more information about the district’s single stream recycling program, and other information on energy efficiency, visit www.houstonisd.org/greenschoolschallenge.

Walnut Bend ES Advances to State Odyssey of the Mind Competition

Students from almost two dozen HISD schools will be competing at the state level of the Odyssey of the Mind contest on April 14—but for two groups of students from Walnut Bend Elementary School, the thrill of advancing past the regional level is particularly sweet, as 2012 marks only the first year that the Apollo 20 campus has ever participated. 

A team of fifth-graders won first place in its division for designing a vehicle with two propulsion systems that could move forward and backward and display four different emotions. 

A team of fourth-graders won first place in its division for building a balsa wood structure weighing less than the combined weight of three nickels (approximately 15 grams) that could support 345 pounds of steel. 

“This is a mathematical engineering problem that uses one of the lightest woods on the planet,” explained Walnut Bend Principal Susan Shenker, “so a structure’s strength comes from its design. The fourth-graders’ structure held more weight at the regional tournament than any other team’s present — including those from middle and high schools.” 

Both of the teams from Walnut Bend were coached by reading teacher Michele Dahlquist. 

Other schools that will advance to the state competition next month are: Burnet, Condit, Herod, Oak Forest, Parker, Poe, River Oaks, Roberts, Twain, and West University elementary schools; Grady, Lanier, Pershing, Pin Oak, and Revere middle schools; Bellaire and Carnegie Vanguard high schools; and T.H. Rogers, the Horn Academy, and Sharpstown International. 

For complete regional results, visit the Odyssey of the Mind website.

2012 Spring Break Schedule for HISD Offices, Schools

All HISD campuses and offices will be closed for Spring Break from Monday, March 12, through Friday, March 16, 2012. Schools and offices will reopen for normal business on Monday, March 19, 2012.

HISD employees should consult the duty schedules posted here.

The HISD Police Department will be patrolling district facilities all during the holiday break.

Emergencies may be reported by calling 713-892-7777.

Official Agenda for March 8, 2012, board meeting now available

The HISD Board of Education will hold its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, March 8, 2012. Click here to view the Board Agenda.

Following each meeting, the Official Agenda and Meeting Notice (summary agenda) is updated online to indicate the action taken on each agenda item.

You can also watch video clips related to specific agenda items here.

Archived Official Agendas and Official Meeting Notice and Summary Agendas are available on the Policy Administration website.

Transcript from today’s live chat on STAAR

 
11:54
HISD: 

Thank you for joining us for a live chat about STAAR. Our panelists are ready to take your questions. We have with us Mark Shenker (High School Office), Richard Blair (Middle School Office), Angela Borzon (High School Office) and Angela Miller (Curriculum). We will make every effort to answer your questions today – if we experience technical difficulties, we will switch to Twitter and replace the chat window with a live feed.
 
11:59
 
[Comment From HISD parentHISD parent: ] 

Is it better to guess on a question or leave it blank if you don’t know the answer?
 
11:59
HISD: 

Wrong answers are not counted against a student; they simply do not get credit for the question. The raw score for multiple choice items reflects the total number of correct responses. There is no downside to guessing if a student does not have time to review answer choices.