Category Archives: Achievement/Recognition

HISD wins five Golden Achievement Awards, multiple other NSPRA honors

The Houston Independent School District has received 14 National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) awards, including five Golden Achievement Awards.

The Golden Achievement Awards, the highest honor given by the organization, were for the following:

  • 2017 HISD State of the Schools communications campaign, which included a dedicated website, invitation, program, and other materials.
  • Listen and Learn Tour to introduce new HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza to the community, complete with branding, flyers, online survey, and signage – as well as a live “virtual” town hall meeting streamed on district’s website, social media, and TV channel.
  • Family-Friendly Schools Certification, including a video, branding materials, and a dedicated website.
  • Social Media Scorecard to provide schools with feedback on their social media channels and school websites. The Communications team created a rubric for grading and provided the feedback in customized reports for each school, as well as resources and best practices.
  • 2016 Educators of the Year, including branding for the superhero-themed event, signage, and a social media campaign.

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HISD named District of Distinction for dual language program

The Association of Two-Way and Dual Language Education has named Houston ISD as the recipient of the 2017 District of Distinction award for the district’s dual language program.

“This national award is presented to schools and districts that have been trailblazers in establishing powerful school programs that ensure the opportunity of bilingualism and biliteracy for their students,” said Rosa Molina executive director of ATDLE. “The dual language programs started in HISD over 20 years ago, and recognition for HISD’s commitment to this work is long overdue.”

The national award will be presented during 25th Annual Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Conference in Palm Springs, Calif. on June 27.  Continue reading →

HSPVA receives ‘Exemplary School’ designation from Arts Schools Network 

HISD’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts has been designated a 2017–2019 Exemplary School by Arts Schools Network, the nation’s largest professional membership organization of specialized arts schools.

The Exemplary School designation is presented to Arts Schools Network member schools that follow the ASN Principles of Exemplary Practice in strategically evaluating the school’s purpose, operations, and educational programs. ASN will honor HSPVA at the ASN 2017 Annual Conference in the Twin Cities, Minnesota on Oct. 25.  Continue reading →

HISD nutrition services officer serves as keynote speaker at Healthy Food Fuels Hungry Minds conference   

Nutrition Services Officer Betti J. Wiggins served as a keynote speaker during the Healthy Food Fuels Hungry Minds conference at Harvard University last week.

The conference was organized by a partnership between Let’s Talk About Food, the Massachusetts Health Council, and Harvard University Dining Services.

Wiggins was invited to speak about her experience as the executive director of school nutrition at Detroit Public Schools, where she adopted and implemented key principles that allowed students to receive the healthiest food available. Her work included creating community gardens and implementing the first CEP (Community Eligibility Provision) program that allowed 100 percent of students in the district to eat lunch at no cost.   Continue reading →

I am HISD: Brookline ES teacher secures outside support for Title I school

Ted Wills from Brookline ES (left) with Philip Ugalde, Regents Bank; Andrew Arizpe, Mutual of Omaha; and Doug Reinarz, Regents Bank, at an East End Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Brookline Elementary School teacher Theodore Wills wears many hats. Just four years ago, he was working as a fourth-grade transitional reading teacher when Principal Marco Morales asked him to take charge of the library and become the school’s community-engagement and corporate-outreach point person. Wills has a background in fundraising, public relations, and volunteer management, and he went to work raising $100,000 for the school’s library. It took a while, but he reached his goal recently. 

What did you do first after you got the new job? 

Immediately, I began inviting speakers and organizations for school and after-school programming, including Literacy Advance of Houston, Volunteer Houston, Houston Ballet, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, University of Houston’s Graduate School of Education, FotoFest, iWrite, Houston Skyline Rotary Club, and Hahn Gallery. I wrote to groups and foundations like Houston CPAs Helping Schools for grants to enhance our ebook collection. I started networking at local professional events and cultivating new contacts on LinkedIn.  Continue reading →

Houston Real Men Read leads to lasting mentoring, friendship 

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Scholastic President Greg Worrell first met Bradford Tanner when Tanner was a fourth-grader at Young Elementary School.

As part of Houston Real Men Read, Worrell read the book “Wings” to Tanner’s class shortly after former HISD Trustee Paula Harris established the program in partnership with Scholastic in the spring of 2009. During that visit, Worrell told the students about his background and asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. Tanner raised his hand and said, “I am going to be the president of Scholastic one day.” Worrell was so moved he gave Tanner his business card and asked him to keep in touch. And then Tanner gave the man who would become his mentor a thank-you note that Worrell carries in his wallet to this day.   Continue reading →

DeBakey leads Children at Risk’s list of top high schools for seventh straight year

Children at Risk announced its annual list of the top schools in the greater Houston area, and for the seventh consecutive year, HISD’s DeBakey High School for Health Professions was listed as number one among high schools.

Four other HISD high schools were included in the top 10 and dominated the top five: Challenge Early College High School (#2), the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (#3), Eastwood Academy (#4), and Carnegie Vanguard High School (#5). Continue reading →

District’s technology efforts honored

A4E and PowerUp receive gold and bronze award

HISD’s efforts to innovate the use of technology to support and improve learning for both students and staff were recently recognized by the IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS Global), the world leader in edtech interoperability and innovation.

Representatives from HISD’s Student Assessment Department, Curriculum, and IT Information & Analytics were on hand May 18 as IMS Global announced the winners of its Learning Impact Awards. Continue reading →

Lantrip ES winner of Earth Month 2017 contest

 

 

 

 

HISD’s Energy & Sustainability Department has announced Lantrip Elementary School as the winner of the Earth Month 2017 contest.

The annual Earth Month contest encourages schools to participate throughout the month of April in a variety of environmentally friendly activities in exchange for participation points. The group with the largest amount of participation points wins the grand prize – an outdoor classroom.

The contest aims to raise awareness about the environmental impact of HISD campuses and promote sustainable behaviors and actions that can reduce carbon footprints.

Continue reading →

Winners of HISD digital literacy video campaign announced 

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Each spring, HISD students produce short educational videos about technology safety for the Spring 2017 Digital Literacy Moments Video Campaign. The videos are judged by the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that focuses on issues of data privacy, and HISD’s Educational Technology team. The nine winning videos are published on the HISD website.

The goal of the campaign is to prepare students to be global graduates by teaching them basic 21st century skills: learning to use technology safely, knowing how data is handled by apps, and adhering to intellectual property and copyright laws. Learning these skills helps to make them responsible and effective technology users in school and in their chosen careers.    Continue reading →