Category Archives: Achievement/Recognition

HISD Names Top School Leaders for 2012

Reagan High School Principal Connie Berger was one of three campus leaders to be recognized as a 2012 Principal of the Year in HISD. Berger won at the high-school level.

On Wednesday, May 2, HISD recognized more than five dozen school administrators for their outstanding contributions to the district and their school communities by saluting them as nominees for Principal of the Year, First Year Principal of the Year, or Assistant Principal of the Year.

 The administrators were nominated by colleagues, teachers, and students for their instructional leadership and efforts to boost student achievement.

 Here are the 2012 honorees: 

Elementary 

  • Principal of the Year: Elena Martinez-Buley, Rodriguez ES
  • First Year Principal of the Year: Roshanda Griffin, Whidby ES
  • Assistant Principal of the Year: Terrence Sanders, Walnut Bend ES

Middle 

  • Principal of the Year: Noelia Longoria, Ortiz MS
  • First Year Principal of the Year: Corey Seymour, McWilliams MS
  • Assistant Principal of the Year: Geovanny Ponce, Hartman MS

High

  •  Principal of the Year: Connie Berger, Reagan HS
  • First Year Principal of the Year: Jason Catchings, Scarborough HS
  • Assistant Principal of the Year: Lori Lambropoulos, Westside HS

 Superintendent of Schools Terry B. Grier congratulated the administrators during a ceremony at the monthly principals’ meeting. “Any one of you could have been the recipient of these awards,” he said. “That’s just the kind of talented staff we have.”

 Dr. Grier also presented “Team HISD” hats to two other principals—Charles Faust (Fondren MS) and Laquetta Kennedy (Cook ES), for their exemplary efforts to meet students’ needs at their campuses.

Rice School Educator Named HAABE ESL Teacher of the Year

From left, Juanita Soliz, Teresa Barton and Carmen Parra pose with their awards.

Teresa Barton, an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teacher at HISD’s The Rice School/La Escuela Rice, has been named the Elementary ESL Teacher of the Year by the Houston Area Association for Bilingual Education (HAABE).

Barton was selected from a field of 150 finalists from Houston, Fort Bend, North Forest, and Pearland ISDs, 27 of whom were from HISD. She advanced to the citywide competition after earning the same distinction—Elementary ESL Teacher of the Year for 2012—at the districtwide level in HISD. One of her colleagues at The Rice School, Juanita Soliz, was also named HISD’s Bilingual Teacher of the Year for 2012.

School Improvement Officer Debbie Crowe noted how unusual it was to have two districtwide honorees from a single campus. “But I attribute that to the culture of the school,” she said, “and the fabulous teaching and learning that takes place there under Principal Kim Hobbs. La Escuela Rice really caters to every child, and you can see the evidence of differentiated instruction everywhere.”

The other honoree at the district level was Burbank Middle School’s Carmen Parra, who was named HISD’s Secondary ESL Teacher of the Year for 2012.

Barton, Parra, Soliz, and dozens of other educators from the greater-Houston area were recognized on April 27 during HAABE’s thirtieth annual awards banquet.

The organization also awarded college scholarships to two local seniors: Liliana Balboa (Reagan HS) and Thu Anh Nguyen (Chávez HS).

To see a full list of honorees from HISD, please visit the HAABE website.

Meet HISD’s top Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets of 2012

Reviewing officer and keynote speaker Marquis Alexander was on hand when HISD’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program honored its top six cadets from the Class of 2012 on April 21.  Alexander, who was recently selected as the commander for the 2012-2013 Texas A&M University’s Corps of Cadets, and his fellow cadets from Texas A&M University served as the selection board for this year’s HISD JROTC competition.

The top six graduating seniors from the class of 2012 are:

Corps Commander (Top Graduate)
Cadet Colonel Ron-Joseph Lastimosa
Lamar High School

Cadet Colonel Ron-Joseph Lastimosa is ranked in the top three percent of his graduating class with a grade point average of 4.67. The International Baccalaureate diploma candidate is a member of the National Honor Society, French Club, Spanish Club, and Student Council. He is also active in the Boy Scouts of America.

Cadet Colonel Lastimosa placed first out of 25 competitors all four years in the Outstanding Cadet Qualification Board competitions. He has been awarded the Superior Cadet medal four times and he is a two-time recipient of both the George C. Marshall Award for Academic Achievement and Leadership and the Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award. He has been a member of the Junior Leadership and Academic Bowl team that competed at the national finals inWashingtonD.C.twice. At the 2011 competition, Cadet Lastimosa’s team placed fifth in the nation out of 1,710 schools.

Cadet Colonel Lastimosa serves as captain of the Lamar Marksmanship Team. He is also a member of the Lamar Organizational Color Guard and his church’s youth group. He has held a part time job at the Chocolate Bar since his sophomore year.

Cadet Lastimosa plans to major in investment management at theUniversityofTexasinAustin, from which he has already received a Business Honors Scholarship.

First Brigade Commander (#2 Graduate)
Cadet Colonel Veronica Zaragoza
Waltrip High School

Cadet Colonel Veronica Zaragoza has been an active Cadet in the JROTC program for four years. Cadet Zaragoza, with a GPA of 3.83, is ranked number 31 out of 375 students in her graduating class.  Cadet Zaragoza has served as president of the National Honor Society and commander of the Waltrip JROTC Varsity Female Physical Training Team. She volunteers at the K2 Academy of Kids Sports, a facility for special needs children. Cadet Zaragoza plans to attendUniversityofTexasatAustinand major in social work.

Second Brigade Commander (#3 Graduate)
Cadet Colonel Nallely Prudencio
High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

Cadet Colonel Nallely Prudencio is ranked fourth out of 123 graduating seniors with a grade point average of 4.00. She serves as president of the Business Professionals of America and the Student Council. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, the National Latino Peace Officers Association, the JROTC Academic Team, the Battalion Unarmed Drill Team, and the Houston Leadership for Tomorrow (a service organization). Cadet Colonel Prudencio has been awarded the Superior Cadet Medal for the last two years, and has placed in the Military Qualification Board competition two years straight. She plans to attendGeorgetownUniversity, where she will pursue a degree in computer security.

Third Brigade Commander (#4 Graduate)
Cadet Colonel Thesly Imboden
Reagan High School

Cadet Colonel Thesly Imboden scored one of the highest SAT scores ever earned by a student from her campus. She is currently ranked 19th of 456 seniors in her graduating class and she holds a GPA of 4.09. Cadet Colonel Imboden plans to attend theUniversityofTexasto pursue a degree in communications. She serves as chief editor of the school newspaper, and she is a member of the National Honor Society, the Reagan High School Leadership Council. She is also active in the Peer Assistance and Leadership (PALS) program, which performs community service projects.

Fourth Brigade Commander (#5 Graduate)
Cadet Colonel Cristian Buitrago
Bellaire High School

Cadet Colonel Cristian Buitrago has a grade point average of 4.17. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Operation Military Children, and the Army Reserve Team Panel. He also serves as captain of the JROTC Physical Fitness Team, a counselor for Speak Out for Military Kids, and a representative of the US Army 75th Reserve Division’s Family Readiness Group at Ellington Field. After graduation, Cadet Colonel Buitrago will attend theUnited StatesMilitaryAcademyatWest Point.

Fifth Brigade Commander (#6 Graduate)
Cadet Colonel Merline Gonzalez
Scarborough High School

Cadet Colonel Merline Gonzalez has a GPA of 4.1 and is her class valedictorian. She serves as president of the National Honor Society, and she is a member of the Environmental Club, the Student Council, the varsity soccer team, the Lady Spartans Unarmed drill team, and the Spartans Physical Fitness Team. She is also active as a peer tutor and a ninth grade mentor. Cadet Colonel Gonzalez has been awarded the Superior Cadet medal three times. Following graduation, she plans to attend theUniversityofHouston, where she will major in communications.

HISD Schools Dominate Advocacy Group’s School Rankings

Houston ISD boasts the eight-county region’s top three elementary, middle, and high schools, according to the 2012 Texas Public School Rankings announced Monday by Children at Risk. The rankings include schools from 58 school districts, plus charter schools.

The results mark HISD’s strongest showing since the non-profit child advocacy and research organization began issuing the rankings in 2006. The announcement was made during a ceremony at HISD’s High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, which is among the region’s top 15 high schools.

 The news comes on the heels of this month’s announcement that HISD is among four national finalists for the county’s most prestigious public education award – The Broad Prize for Urban Education.  Selected from a field of 75 eligible school districts across America, HISD was chosen as a Broad Prize finalist because of Houston students’ strong academic performance since 2008 and the district’s shrinking achievement gap.

“HISD has a much-deserved reputation for offering some of the best schools in America,” Superintendent Terry Grier said. “These recent accolades show that our work to replicate this excellence in more schools serving neighborhoods throughout Houston is working. HISD is proving that great teachers working in schools led by great principals are more than capable of helping students overcome obstacles and eliminate excuses for failure.”

Half of the region’s top 10 elementary, middle and high schools for 2012 are HISD campuses. For the third year in a row, HISD’s DeBakey High School for Health Professions earned the No. 1 spot. T.H. Rogers took the No. 1 spot on the middle school list for the second straight year, and also earned the No. 1 spot on the elementary school list after coming in fourth in 2011.

HISD’s top 10 schools for 2012

 Elementary Schools

T.H. Rogers (No. 1)

Lyons (No. 2)

River Oaks (No. 3)

West University (No. 5)

Condit (No. 6)

Burrus (No. 10)

 Middle Schools

T.H. Rogers (No. 1)

Project Chrysalis (No. 2)

Energized for Excellence (No. 3)

Lanier (No. 10)

 High Schools

 DeBakey (No. 1)

Carnegie Vanguard (No. 2)

Eastwood Academy (No. 3)

East Early College (No. 8)

High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (No. 10)

Children at Risk also singled out several other HISD schools for special recognition.

Lee High School was named the Most Improved School in the region.  Lee is one of four high schools taking part in HISD’s ambitious Apollo 20 program that uses research-based strategies aimed at turning around schools with a long history of poor performance.  After one year, students in HISD’s Apollo 20 schools produced academic gains on par with the nation’s most prestigious charter schools.

DeBakey High School was named the region’s top high school for math and science.

Lyons Elementary School and Pilgrim Middle School were named Gold Ribbon schools.

The Children at Risk rankings consider multiple factors designed to tell whether schools are not just meeting minimum passing standards, including: percentage of students scoring at the “commended” level on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, SAT scores, graduation rates, and the percentage of students earning college credit through AP, IB or dual credit courses. Student poverty rates also factor into the rankings. The rankings also consider the annual academic growth made by students in math and reading.

Avid Readers Compete to ‘Name That Book’

HISD students were asked to “Name That Book” as part of the district’s annual contest sponsored by the HISD Library Services Department, which has been holding final rounds over the past several months. Avid readers were asked to identify books based on a popular quote from the tomes.

The competition is divided into four levels: lower elementary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school. Students at each campus who joined their school’s Name That Book team started preparing for the spring competition in August, reading 30 or more books that included everything from classics to new fiction and non-fiction.  Click here to see the Name That Book winners for 2012.

Now, let’s see how much you know. Can you guess the following 5 book titles based on one quote? The answers are at the bottom.

1. “Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing.”

2. “Mother died today.”

3. “Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.”

4. “Call me Ishmael”

5. “124 was spiteful.”

Answers below:

1. Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
2. Albert Camus, The Stranger
3. Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
4. Herman Melville, Moby Dick
5. Toni Morrison, Beloved

See photos of MATP Challenge Day with Memorial, Bush and T.H. Rogers ES

Once a year, T.H.Rogers holds a field day or special olympics for students enrolled in the Motor Activities Training Program (MATP) on campus. The fun-filled event gives students with severe disabilities a chance to demonstrate their personal best in a variety of sporting events. A tropical luau served as the theme for this year’s challenge which also included students and staff from Barbara Bush and Memorial Elementary.

Click through the photos below to see more from MATP Challenge Day.

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HISD Board of Education Votes to Continue Advanced Placement Initiative

An initiative that has significantly increased the number of college-level Advanced Placement exams passed by Houston ISD students won unanimous support from the Board of Education on Thursday.

Beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, HISD pledged to pay the AP and International Baccalaureate exam fees for all students enrolled in those college-level courses.  That policy, combined with expanded professional development opportunities that have given more teachers the tools they need to teach the more rigorous courses, has brought the total number of passing AP exam scores in HISD to 6,657, a 35 percent increase over a two-year period.  A score of 3 or higher on an AP exam is accepted by most colleges and universities.

This significant progress in AP exam achievement is among the many reasons why HISD was recently named among four national finalists for the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education.  HISD’s senior class of 2013 is now guaranteed $150,000 in Broad scholarships. That figure would rise to $550,000 if HISD were to beat out the other three finalists.

“Efforts such as our AP initiative demonstrate the HISD Board of Education’s commitment to providing every student in every high school access to classes that will prepare them for success in college and in the workplace,” said Superintendent Terry Grier.  “This $1.6 million investment is saving our graduates and their parents millions more dollars in college tuition bills that they won’t have to pay.”

Providing every student at every school with an academically rigorous education is one of the five Core Initiatives outlined in HISD’s Strategic Direction.

In addition to voting to continue paying students’ AP exam fees, the board agreed to spend as much as $338,800 on summer programs that will train more teachers to prepare students for the tests.

Board Shows Support for Recess

The HISD Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution and policy brought forward by HISD parents that recommends elementary schools offer daily recess in addition to physical education classes (by muanza). The resolution and policy does not mandate that all schools follow this recommendation.  However, all HISD elementary schools are expected to comply with a state law that requires elementary students receive at least 135 minutes per week of physical activity, which may include recess and/or PE.

HISD graduate appointed first black commander of Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets

Texas A&M junior Marquis Alexander, who graduated from HISD’s Barbara Jordan High School in 2007, will become commander of the university’s Corps of Cadets – the oldest student organization on campus. According to the Associated Press report:

Nearly a half-century after African-Americans were admitted to predominantly white Texas A&M University, a black student has finally reached the pinnacle of one of its signature organizations.

Marquis Alexander next school year will become commander of A&M’s Corps of Cadets, a high-profile post that involves establishing the cadets’ dress codes for their military-style uniforms and setting their daily schedule, including physical training that can begin before dawn.

According to the AP, Alexander grew up in Houston’s Third Ward. He applied to Texas A&M but enrolled in the Marines while waiting for his acceptance letter to arrive. (He was accepted, but found out after committing to the Marines. He enrolled in the university a year and a half later.) Michael Graczyk writes:

He acknowledges becoming the “face of the university” and he hopes to participate in efforts to encourage people from areas like his at home to make something positive of their lives. … “I hope to serve as a beacon of hope that: Hey, you can do this too.”

For the complete story and photos of Alexander, click here.

To learn more about Barbara Jordan High School and HISD’s other magnet programs, click here.

HISD Students Selected as National Achievement Scholarship Winners

Five Houston Independent School District students have been named National Achievement Scholarship winners. Each student will receive a $2,500 dollar award. Each year the National Merit Scholarship Corporation awards scholarships to African-American students who have excelled in academics and who have demonstrated the potential for academic success in college.

800 students were awarded scholarships this year totaling more than $2 million dollars. Sixty of those students are from Texas including five students who attend HISD schools.
• Camryn K. Burkins – Carnegie Vanguard High School
• Somtochi I. Okafor – Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions
• Frankie C. Mojekwu- Booker T. Washington High School
• Christopher B. Reed – Booker T. Washington High School
• Nicole C. Syder – Westside High School
Nationally, more than 160,000 students applied for the 2012 National Achievement Scholarships, which were awarded based on several criteria. Students had to demonstrate a consistent record of academic excellence. They had to be recommended by an official from their high school. Candidates had to earn SAT scores that confirmed their Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores, and they also had to write an essay.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 to recognize African-American students who have achieved exceptional scholastic success. This is the 48th year for the National Achievement Scholarships have been awarded. As a result of the program, 32,000 students have received scholarships for undergraduate study worth more than $100 million dollars.