Category Archives: Achievement/Recognition

Teachers of the Year will be announced during recognition ceremony

The Houston Independent School District will announce the 2011-2012 Teachers of the Year tonight during a Celebration of Excellence recognition ceremony. The winners will receive $5,000, a plaque, and a custom made ring from Herff Jones Graduation Center. The Principals of the Year and the Employees of the Month will also be recognized.  View live coverage of the event at houstonisd.org

Who:  HISD Board of Education Trustees, Superintendent Terry Grier,2011-2012 Principals of the Year, Employees

of the Month, Elementary Teacher of the Year Nominees for 2011-2012:

  • Ashley Moteil – Lyons Elementary School
  • Ana Lentz – Pilgrim Academy
  • Nanette Musters – Mark Twain Elementary School
  • Selene Rogers – Windsor Village Elementary School
  • Maria Godoy – Port Houston Elementary School
  • Lindsey MacLeod – Oak Forest Elementary School
  • Benjamin Glover – Gallegos Elementary School
  • Susan (Kim) O’Reilly – Roberts Elementary School
  • Alaster Gaines – Crawford-Sherman Elementary School
  • Cecily Stevens – The School at St. George Place
  • Martha Garcia – Herrera Elementary School
  • Ernie Bainbridge – Walnut Bend Elementary School

Secondary Teacher of the Year Nominees for 2011-2012:

  • Timothy Daponte – Reagan High School
  • Qian Zhang – DeBakey High School
  • Tarhonda Greer – Jones High School
  • Modesto Mendoza – Devry/CLC
  • Mildred Williams – Hope Academy
  • Margarita Castro – Madison High School
  • Darryl Tricksey – Fondren Middle School
  • Brian Gaston – Hogg Middle School
  • Neda Khan – Black Middle School
  • Camula Stanfield – Pershing Middle School

             

What: Team HISD Celebration of Excellence recognition ceremony honoring 2011-2012 Teachers of the Year, Principals of the Year, and Employees of the Month

When: Thursday, May 24 at 6:45 p.m.

 Where: Hilton Americas Hotel
                  Ballrooms of America
                  1600 Lamar Street

National Broad Prize Education Panel Tours HISD Schools

 What: National educational experts will tour the Houston Independent School District on Wednesday to gather information for a jury of former U.S. secretaries of education, governors, university presidents and CEOs to decide whether HISD will win the 2012 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the nation’s largest education award that carries with it $550,000 in college scholarships. This four-day “site visit” will include interviews with district officials, principals, teachers, staff, parents, students and community representatives, as well as classroom observations. Best practices collected during the site visit will also be shared with urban districts nationwide.

 
When:

 

 Wednesday, May 23

10:30 a.m. School and classroom tour with Superintendent Terry Grier, panel of national education experts, and Principal Herlinda Garcia.

11:15 a.m. Media availability, Q&A with researchers, Broad Foundation rep and superintendent

 
Where:

 

 J.P. Henderson Elementary School, library
1800 Dismuke Street
713.924.1730

 
Why: HISD is one of only four urban school districts nationally to be in the running for the 2012 Broad (rhymes with “road”) Prize for Urban Education and $550,000 in scholarships. Houston was chosen as a finalist in April for having topped 71 other large urban districts nationwide in making student gains. This is HISD’s first time returning as a Broad Prize finalist since winning the inaugural award in 2002.The Broad Prize is awarded annually by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a national education philanthropy based in Los Angeles that seeks to ensure that every student in an urban public school has the opportunity to succeed. The award honors urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement in the nation while reducing income and ethnic achievement gaps.

The winning school district, which will be announced on Oct. 23 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, will receive $550,000 in college scholarships for high school seniors who graduate in 2013. Each finalist district will receive $150,000 in scholarships. Seventy-five large urban school districts nationwide were eligible for the 2012 Broad Prize. Other finalist districts this year are: the Corona Norco Unified School District in Southern California, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the School District of Palm Beach County, Fla. For more information, please visit www.broadprize.com.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation was founded by self-made entrepreneur Eli Broad and his wife Edythe, both graduates of Detroit Public Schools. Bringing together top education experts and practitioners, the foundation funds system-wide programs and policies that strengthen public schools by creating environments that allow good teachers to do great work and enable students of all backgrounds to learn and thrive.

HISD Celebrates Academic Excellence and Outstanding Achievements for the 2011-2012 School Year

Beginning this week there will be several recognition events held for Houston Independent School District students, faculty, and staff honoring exceptional academic achievements and contributions during the 2011-2012 school year.

  • Tuesday, May 22nd: 2012 Scholars Banquet will be held at 7 p.m. at the Westin Oaks Galleria (5011 Westheimer).  The event will honor the Class of 2012 valedictorians and salutatorians.  Gary Tuma, President and CEO of Smart Financial Credit Union, will be the keynote speaker.  Since its inception 78 years ago, Smart Financial Credit Union has been a valued community partner of HISD offering scholarships for graduating seniors.
  • Thursday, May 24th: Team HISD Celebration of Excellence will be held at 7 p.m. at the Hilton Americas Hotel (1600 Lamar Street).  At the event the 2012 Teachers of the Year will be named.  The Principals of the Year and each Employee of the Month will also be recognized.  This is the first time all of the honorees will be recognized during one celebration.
  • Wednesday, May 30th: Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) Recognition Breakfast will be held at 8 a.m. at Kingdom Builders’ Center (6011 West Orem).   This celebration will recognize parents, students, and community partners that volunteer their time at HISD schools.

HISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier will also be making remarks at all of the events.

HISD High Schools Win More National Accolades

Houston ISD high schools are well represented on two national lists issued today that seek to identify the top high schools in America.

The strong showing on the Washington Post High School Challenge rankings and Newsweek’s America’s Best High Schools of 2012 are the result of HISD’s Advanced Placement initiative that began with the 2009-2010 school year.  That was the year Superintendent Terry Grier called on all high schools to expand student access to college-level AP courses and the district agreed to pay the exam fees for all students in those classes.

“This is great recognition of the hard work being done by teachers and students at high schools across the Houston Independent School District,” said Superintendent Terry Grier.

Today, all HISD high schools offer a minimum of 10-15 AP classes, and the number of exams earning a score of 3 or higher, which is the score most colleges require for course credit, is up 35 percent.

HISD’s strong AP progress is one reason the district is among four finalists for the Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes the top urban school district in America. This week, a Broad Prize panel of experts is touring HISD schools as part of the evaluation process.

Washington Post High School Challenge

Twenty-one HISD high schools earned recognition in the Washington Post High School Challenge, a list of 1,800 schools representing the top 9 percent in the nation when it comes to preparing graduates for college. Only 125 Texas high schools made the list, and HISD campuses – Carnegie Vanguard, Eastwood Academy, and DeBakey High School for Health Professions – represent three of the national top 100.

HISD high schools that made the Washington Post list include:

2012 Rank      School Name

10                         Carnegie Vanguard

23                         Eastwood Academy

96                         Challenge Early HS

114                       DeBakey HS for Health Professions

153                       Bellaire

161                       High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

168                       East Early College

194                       Furr

228                      High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

267                      Lamar

275                      Westside

548                      Westbury

553                      Lee

833                      Chavez

1,001                  Milby

1,062                  Reagan

1,121                   Scarborough

1,158                  Washington

1,205                  Davis

1,377                  Waltrip

1,571                   Austin

Newsweek’s list of America’s Best High Schools 

HISD high schools also occupy 9 out of 1,000 positions on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best High Schools.  Only 86 Texas high schools made the Newsweek list. HISD schools on the list are:

2012 Rank       School Name

13                           Carnegie Vanguard

72                          Eastwood Academy

75                          DeBakey HS for Health Professions

162                        High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

439                        Bellaire

446                        Challenge Early College

685                        High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

883                        Lamar

957                        Mount Carmel Academy

Burbank Middle School Places Second in School of Year Contest by Spanish Ministry of Education

HISD’s Burbank Middle School placed second in the USA/Canada School of the Year Contest sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education. 

Burbank is now nationally recognized as one of the premier dual language middle schools in North America. The USA School of the Year contest highlights instructional excellence in both English and Spanish language programming.

As the second place winner, the school will receive a $2,500 award, a library of Spanish language books and a scholarship for one of Burbank’s dual language teachers to study in Spain this summer. 

Burbank Middle School participates in the prestigious International Spanish Academy Program with seven other HISD schools providing dual language students with a wide range of enrichment programming.

News around the district

Seniors from Houston Academy for International Studies met former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

Every month, schools across the district hold special events and celebrations, or honor employees, students and alumni.  Here’s a snapshot of what happened at HISD during the months of April-May:

  • Sherman Elementary honored their Gifted and Talented students at the 3rd Annual GT Expo on May 3. More than ninety gifted and Talented students worked individually or in groups to prepare projects for viewing by parents and community members.
  • Seniors from the Houston Academy for International Studies attended the World Affairs Council luncheon with former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.  Two students, Benjamin Brooks and Juana Martinez, were specially chosen for a round table discussion with former Secretary Rice where they were allowed to ask questions ranging from her view on U.S. relations with Pakistan to recounting her own days as a high school student.  Ms. Rice signed a copy of her recent book, No Higher Honor, as a gift to the school.
  • Dallas Cowboys football player Lawrence Vickers (#47) visited Whidby Elementary to promote the importance of education through athletics. Mr. Vickers spoke about his own experiences, including the teacherw who helped him succeed and why staying in school is important.

High Marks for HISD in U.S. News’ Best High Schools Rankings

Eight Houston ISD high schools are among Texas’ top 100 in U.S. News’ Best High Schools Rankings issued today, and six HISD schools are listed among the nation’s top 400.

The magazine produced the rankings based on an analysis of data from nearly 22,000 U.S. high schools.  The rankings’ methodology gives considerable weight to the percentage of graduates who are considered college-ready based on students’ performance on college-level Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams. Using the magazine’s standard, 27 of HISD’s 33 rated high schools – 82 percent — meet or exceed the state average when it comes to college readiness.

The rankings are based on data from the 2009-2010 school year, when the Board of Education and Superintendent Terry Grier launched an aggressive expansion of the district’s AP program in all high schools.  Since then, the number of AP exams scored 3 or higher (the generally accepted passing score) has increased 35 percent.

“This is great news as we celebrate National Teacher Day,” Dr. Grier said. “Teachers across HISD are proving that the AP program is not just for the academically elite students. AP is for prepared students.”

The news also comes on the heels of the latest Children at Risk rankings of Texas high schools that included eight HISD campuses among the top 50.

In addition, the strong all-around performance of HISD students has placed the district among four national finalists for the coveted Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes the top urban school district in America. As a finalist, HISD is guaranteed a minimum of $150,000 in college scholarships for students graduating in 2013. The scholarship total will climb to $550,000 if HISD wins the award.

 The nine HISD schools that earned spots in the magazine’s national rankings were:

 Carnegie Vanguard (U.S. rank: 33; Texas rank: 3)

DeBakey High School for Health Professions (U.S.: 36; Texas: 4)

Eastwood Academy (U.S.: 121; Texas: 14)

Bellaire (U.S.: 349; Texas: 29)

Lamar (U.S.: 376; Texas: 32)

The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (U.S.: 377; Texas: 33)

High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (U.S.: 950: Texas: 81)

Challenge Early High School (U.S.: 1,069; Texas: 90)

Empowerment College Prep (U.S.: 1,947; Texas 159)

Clifton MS Student Engineers a Win at Statewide TAME Competition

Victoria Rodriguez

Victoria Rodriguez and four of her peers from across the state engineered a victory at the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) Statewide Math & Science Competition recently, using nothing more than four toothpicks, two rubber bands, a clothespin, and a few dozen other small items.

Dubbed “The Tower of Power,” the crane the Clifton Middle School eighth-grader and her teammates constructed with these materials could successfully pivot 90 degrees and lift 83 marbles up to six-and-a-half inches.

“We came up with our design by trying to imagine an actual crane and used the tools we had to make a smaller version,” said Victoria, who acted as her team’s project manager. “Our crane was successful because it did everything it was built to do.”

The team’s accomplishment is even more impressive when you consider that it got a late start. “We only had 10 minutes or so to build it,” she said.

Nevertheless, Victoria’s team took home the prize, and she was one of a dozen HISD students to place at the 27th annual competition, which was held at Texas A&M University on April 14.

Other students who received awards at the event were: Moises Tacam (Challenge ECHS), Desmond Titus (Jordan HS), Samantha Gomez-Mora, and Emmanuel Onochie (both from DeVry Advantage Academy), who closed out the second through fifth-place prizes in the Integrated Physics and Chemistry category; Jessica Salazar (Challenge ECHS), who won fourth place in Physics; Nicolas Xiong (East ECHS) and Jayvian Green (Jordan HS), who won fourth and fifth place, respectively, in Advanced Placement Physics; and four others who also placed with their teams in the design challenge.

The event brought together more than 300 winners in grades 6–12 from 11 regional competitions across Texas. In addition to testing student knowledge of math and science concepts, the competition promotes teamwork, leadership, and academic achievement.

HISD a Finalist for the National Association for Pupil Transportation’s Larson Quality Award

The Houston Independent School District Transportation Department has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious national Larson Quality Award.  The Leland E.G. Larson Quality Student Transportation Program was developed to spotlight school bus operations that provide high quality customer service in safety centered operations.

“We are honored to be one of two districts nationally under consideration for this award,” said HISD’s Chief Operating Officer Leo Bobadilla. “Our bus drivers, mechanics and all of our transportation staff deserve the credit for achieving this prestigious recognition and for their commitment to safely transport our students to and from school every day.”

There are three phases to the program.  The Houston ISD Transportation Department received “exemplary” assessments in the first two phases of the program, which qualified the department to move to the third phase.  Phase three of the program involves an unannounced two-day site evaluation conducted by representatives of the peer review committee, which the HISD Transportation Department recently completed.  The HISD Transportation Department is one of two districts nationwide selected as a finalist for the Larson Quality Award.

“The passion, commitment, and dedication of every single bus driver, attendant, shop team member, and support staff has brought the transportation team to this incredible accomplishment,” said Nathan Graf, HISD’s transportation general manager . “Just being selected as a finalist is reason for everyone here to be proud.”

The HISD Transportation Department has earned three previous national awards.  In May 2011, the HISD Transportation Department was listed among the 100 best fleets in the country ranked by Government Fleet, a leading transportation industry magazine.  In October 2011, the HISD Transportation Department ranked as the top school district green fleet in the nation.  The department was chosen based on documentation of key performance measurements.  In April 2012, the HISD Transportation Department was listed again among the 100 best fleets in the country by Government Fleet, the only school district to make the list two consecutive years.

Each day, 875 HISD school buses travel 80,000 miles as they transport 30,000 students to and from school.