Chief Technology Information Officer Lenny J. Schad (left) and Superintendent Terry B. Grier (right) —Photo by Swikar Patel/Education Week
HISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier and Chief Technology Information Officer Lenny Schad are being recognized for their leadership in education technology by Education Week, a leading nonprofit provider of news, information, and analysis in K-12 education. Continue reading
Three other HISD students also earn perfect scores on college-readiness tests this year
From left, Zachary Kortum, Connor Burwell, Camille Potts, and Claudia Heymach
Zachary Kortum, a senior at the DeBakey HS for Health Professions, cemented his status as “college-ready” this year by bringing home perfect scores on both the ACT and the SAT.
“I was very excited and surprised to find out that I’d scored so well,” said Zachary. “My parents bought me two prep books, and I worked through those outside of school, but DeBakey did a lot to help me get ready for the tests, too. The great Advanced Placement classes I took really prepared me, and the school offered a practice SAT before the real test.”
HISD’s Angela Miller accepts the Star Award from Robert (Bob) H. McPherson, dean of University of Houston’s College of Education, on Nov. 7.
A talent for obtaining federal grants that have benefitted both HISD teachers and the institution where they studied has earned Secondary Social Studies Curriculum Manager Angela Miller recognition this year from the University of Houston (UH). Miller was recently named the sole “dean’s choice” Star Award winner for 2014 by that school’s College of Education.
“The Star Awards are an opportunity for us to shine a light on our best and brightest alumni, faculty, and students,” said UH College of Education Director of Advancement Brandie Cleaver. “The Dean’s Recognition Award is to honor those individuals who have made an impact on the UH community but don’t necessarily fit into one of those categories.” Continue reading
HISD has already been recognized twice in 2014 (once in April and again in June) for its efforts to transform teaching and learning through the PowerUp initiative. Now, those efforts are getting even more attention on the national stage, with both HISD and its CIO being named recipients of additional awards. Continue reading
Karen Adams
Sharpstown International School (SIS) Nurse Karen Adams has already been honored once this year for her work with HISD students. Now, HISD’s Secondary Nurse of the Year for 2014 is getting recognition at the state level: the Texas School Nurse Organization has named her its 2014 School Nurse of the Year.
“It’s very gratifying,” said Adams of receiving the award, “but I was shocked. What I do here is for my kids. I don’t do it for recognition; I do it because I want to and the kids need it. That’s the most important thing to me, that the kids get what they need.” Continue reading
Four hundred forty-four elementary students spent their Saturday at Welch Middle School for the first competition of the 2014-2015 UIL Academics season.
Students from Condit, Cornelius, DeChaumes, Highland Heights, Horn, Law, Twain, Piney Point, and Windsor Village elementary schools, along with Energized for Excellence Academy, competed.
Horn Elementary claimed first place in sweepstakes. DeChaumes Elementary won second place in sweepstakes, and Twain Elementary took home third place.
Here are the individual results: Continue reading
Five Houston ISD seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2015 National Achievement Scholarship Program.
The program, which is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, awards scholarship to academically promising black students. About 700 of the 1,600 semifinalists will go on to receive scholarships worth $2,500 each. Continue reading
Keeping HISD students safe as they walk or bicycle to school daily cross busy streets is the top priority for crossing guards throughout the district, including for veteran crossing guard Raul Valdez. Named “Crossing Guard of the Year” for 2014 by the Houston Independent School District Police Department, Valdez’s professionalism and dedication to the safety of students, parents, staff and community members didn’t go unnoticed by his supervisors and peers who nominated him for the honor.
When did you first start working for the district?
Back in 2003, I started working at HISD. Right now, I have 22 schools that I supervise. Continue reading
Fifty-six students from six Houston ISD high schools are semifinalists in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
The students, who attend Bellaire HS, Carnegie Vanguard HS, Challenge Early College HS, DeBakey HS, The High School for Performing and Visual Arts, and Lamar HS, are eligible to receive part of the $33 million pot of scholarships that will be awarded in the spring. There are nearly 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, and about 7,600 will receive scholarships. More than 22,000 students applied by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Continue reading
12 schools earn recognition for both high performance and progress
The Texas Education Agency has recognized several HISD schools for high performance and high progress for the 2013-2014 school year. Seventeen HISD schools were included on the agency’s list of Title I High Performing Schools and 17 schools were named as High Progress schools.
“The students and staff of the schools included on this list are focused on implementing innovative programs to affect student outcomes in a positive way,” said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. “Their successes are models that can be used by all schools across the district to ensure that each of our students are not only receiving good grades and scoring well on tests, but are exposed to an academically rigorous education that creates learning leaders.”