Category Archives: Achieve 180

Kashmere HS celebrates grand opening of renovated campus

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Kashmere High School stakeholders gathered Tuesday to celebrate the grand opening of their new 21st century campus, which underwent major renovations as part of HISD’s voter-approved 2012 Bond Program.

Students, staff, alumni, and various dignitaries crowded into the large, brightly lit, central commons area as the nationally acclaimed Kashmere Alumni Reunion Stage Band joined with the dance team and cheerleaders to kick off the festivities. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education approves turnaround plans for schools in year two Improvement Required status

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday approved turnaround plans for the campuses designated Year Two Improvement Required by the Texas Education Agency.

Schools with this designation have not met state standards for two years. These four campuses – Bonham Elementary School, Gregory-Lincoln Education Center (prekindergarten through grade 8), Madison High School, and Washington High School – are required to develop and submit a two-year plan to improve student outcomes. Continue reading →

New year, new building for Sharpstown HS

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Lining the sidewalk outside the school, Sharpstown JROTC members lifted their ceremonial swords to the sky while band members played celebratory music to officially welcome their fellow students to their new campus.

Built as part of HISD’s voter-approved 2012 Bond Program, the new school formally opened its doors on Monday. To celebrate the occasion, students and teachers gathered first at their old building and then ceremoniously walked together to the new school. Continue reading →

A day in the life of a Wraparound Resource Specialist 

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HISD spotlights its newest role that supports the needs of the whole child

To describe a wraparound resource specialist’s day as “busy” would be an understatement. The newly created role at HISD is part of Every Community Every School, a districtwide initiative that focuses on providing students with non-academic support that improves their well-being and academic achievement.

Meet Kirkland Hall, who serves in this unique position at Achieve 180 and Superintendent School, Highland Heights Elementary School. Hall’s work day is anything but typical. In the morning, he might be networking with a group of prominent community leaders to encourage support on his campus, and in the afternoon, he’s assisting a student who is struggling with an incarcerated parent. No two days are ever the same.  Continue reading →

Superintendent surprises HISD staff affected by Harvey

Nearly 400 staff members receive relief grants 

HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza and the Houston ISD Foundation are making the holidays a little merrier for several hundred members of Team HISD affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Earlier this week, about 400 staff members received an email and video from Carranza informing them that they were the recipient of a special grant to help them recover from the storm.

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“When I got the email, I just started crying,” said Booker. T. Washington High School clerk Kimberly Grover. “We lost everything in the storm, and I didn’t think my kids and I would even be able to have a Christmas, but because of this we will.”   Continue reading →

Professional Learning Communities driving effective instruction at Worthing HS 

Before Worthing High School teacher Mike Judge sits down and begins to map out a classroom lesson for his students, he meets first with a group of teachers and administrators from his campus to examine data, collaborate and share expertise. The group meeting is called a PLC or a Professional Learning Community.

“Our PLCs are the foundation of effective teaching here at Worthing,” Principal Khalilah Campbell told HISD trustees at a board presentation Dec. 5. “When we sat down as a team and really examined our campus data to determine the root cause of our school’s struggles, it became clear to us that is was planning.”

Continue reading →

Instruction at Mading ES gets a practice run to ensure quality lessons

Before delivering a lesson to his students at Mading Elementary School, fifth-grade teacher Marques Guillory often first presents his lesson to a group of teachers on his campus. The practice, called “at bats,” gives Guillory a chance to have a few swings at instruction before presenting in front of his students.

“It’s kind of like a pre-game or pre-lesson, and you get feedback from your colleagues,” Guillory said.

 

Mading, which is part of the district’s Achieve 180 initiative, is using the at-bats strategy to ensure every teacher delivers effective and quality instruction to students the first time. Mading Principal Nicole Haskins explained the at-bats strategy and other instructional techniques her campus is using to HISD Board of Education members during a presentation on Dec. 5. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education approves revised turnaround plan for Kashmere High School

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education approved a revised turnaround plan for Kashmere High School during a special meeting on Thursday.

This is the eighth consecutive year for Kashmere High School to be deemed as “improvement required” — one of the designations used by the TEA to determine whether schools are meeting state standards. As a result, the district is required to submit to the state a plan detailing how it will improve student achievement at the school.

HISD submitted an initial turnaround plan on Oct. 19, but it was rejected last week by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, who asked the district to resubmit the plan with a more detailed description of the budget, staffing, and financial resources required to implement the turnaround. Continue reading →

Achieve 180 schools using new resource for student interventions

Universal screener allows teachers to identify struggling students and provide targeted plan of action

All HISD schools are using a new resource to ensure students who need interventions in reading and/or math receive the support they need.

The resource, called a universal screener, allows teachers to measure the current skillset of a student using a brief assessment that is conducted three times per school year. The data gathered from those assessments allows teachers to identify students who need interventions, plan a course of action to target their academic needs, and monitor their progress throughout the school year.

“By using the universal screener and the immediate data it provided, we were able to start interventions week one, we didn’t have to wait,” said Lysette Cooper, principal of Cook Elementary. Cook is one of 45 schools that is part of Achieve 180, a research-based action plan to support the district’s most historically underserved and academically challenged schools. Continue reading →

Achieve 180 campuses providing literacy and wraparound supports for students 

Leaders from Dogan ES and Henry MS provide progress update to board 

Students at Patrick Henry Middle School are getting intense support and specialized interventions to improve their literacy skills as part of the district’s Achieve 180 initiative. The campus has added a literacy specialist, is utilizing a universal screener to determine student reading levels, and is providing literacy report cards for every student.

“We will be having meetings for all of our parents to go over the report cards so they can understand what level their child is at,” said Principal Kenneth Brantley. “Plus we are going to provide them with free resources and things they can do at home to directly support their child in reading and writing.”  Continue reading →