As the school year wrapped up in June, rising Lamar High School senior Ariana Valdez pondered her future.
The 17-year-old had been tapped in the spring for a financial internship sponsored by the Smart Financial Credit Union branch on the Lamar campus. As she embraced the program, her perspective shifted.
Continue readingWhen the alarm goes off at 6 a.m., Joshua Martínez gets a quick bite of breakfast and heads onto the freeway to arrive on time at the Hattie Mae White building for his first office job.
Joshua is one of 20 interns working in HISD’s Central Office this summer for six weeks. He is assigned to the Communications department, reporting on new superintendent Millard House II and his campus visits.
“I have held service jobs before, so I know the importance of making good first impressions,” said the 18-year-old who graduated from Heights High School with acceptance to The University of Texas at El Paso in the fall.
Continue readingAs students and staff arrive each morning at Baker Montessori School, they’re cheerfully greeted with a flock of clucking chickens.
The laying hens bob their heads up and down, trilling softly as they make their way around the large, enclosed chicken run safely housed near the gym. Some begin squawking, having laid their daily egg in the nesting area.
They waddle toward the entry and peck at the ground as a small group of students from Baker — formerly known as Wilson Montessori School — comes in to visit.
Continue readingOn sunny weekends, parents and students gather in the Baker Montessori School garden where they pull on gloves and grab rakes and trowels to remove weeds and leaves from the musky soil.
The students at Baker — formerly called Wilson Montessori School — are learning to grow fragrant flowering herbs and study their uses. Once the flowers bloom, students will cut some of the plants and infuse them in oil or dry them to make spices or teas.
Continue readingBellaire High School brimmed with excitement on Saturday as alumni — some of whom hadn’t walked the halls in more than 60 years — joined with current students to say goodbye to their beloved campus.
With the school set for demolition this summer, Cardinals flocked from far and wide for the Final Building Walk Through, co-hosted by the Bellaire Parent-Teacher Organization and the Alumni and Friends of Bellaire High School.
Continue readingWith the first phase of construction 85 percent complete, Bellaire High School is on track to debut three new wings — academic, fine arts, and physical education — when students return for the 2021-2022 school year.
Crews are installing technology in the three-story academic wing, which is nearly complete and expected to be outfitted with furniture in June after students depart for the summer.
Carpet has been installed in the auditorium and ceiling tiles and flooring are now being installed in the remainder of the fine arts wing. Epoxy flooring in the natatorium pool also is underway in the physical education wing.
Continue readingThere are many features that Principal Orlando Reyna finds impressive about the newly constructed Austin High School, but the contemporary courtyard is by far one of his favorites.
“It just looks amazing,” Reyna said, smiling at the thought of it. “I anticipate it’s going to be a popular space for us to utilize and for students to congregate.”
After a semester-long delay due to pandemic-related manpower and delivery issues, Austin High School is finally set to open its doors to students on Wednesday, Jan. 6, following their return from winter break.
Continue readingThese certainly aren’t your grandmothers’ schools.
At least that’s how Dan Bankhead, General Manager for Facilities Design, describes the newly redesigned schools built under the 2012 Bond Program.
A sharp contrast from the original buildings, classrooms are now bright, spacious, and flooded with natural light. Bold colors adorn the floors and walls. Shared spaces are reminiscent of trendy hotel lobbies and cafés.
Continue readingBellaire High School took a significant step toward the next phase of construction last month when the city approved a specific use permit allowing for the build of the high school’s new baseball and softball fields at 6300 Avenue B.
Abatement and demolition of the former Gordon Elementary School will begin soon to make way for the new fields.
The athletic fields are part of the 2012 Bond Program, which called for a rebuild of Bellaire’s existing school, which has been in use since 1955. Design plans for the $141.5 million, multi-phased project included the relocation of the baseball and softball fields to a site about two miles away to maximize space on the existing 18-acre campus.
Continue readingA group of enthusiastic teachers clad in blue Huskies t-shirts cheered as students arrived at the new Scarborough Elementary School for the first time on Monday.
After undergoing temperature checks, the students marveled at their new surroundings and the colorful bilingual welcome signs awaiting them.
Fourth-grader Elizabeth Garza wore a black mask imprinted with the smile of a Cheshire cat, but the sparkle in her eyes made it clear she was smiling just as wide underneath it.
Continue reading