Category Archives: District I – Elizabeth Santos

HISD names Lyons ES, West Briar MS administrators as 2017 Principals of the Year

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Houston Independent School District Superintendent Richard Carranza, along with school board members, made surprise visits to Lyons Elementary School and West Briar Middle School on Thursday to name the district’s top campus leaders of the school year.

Lyons Elementary School Principal Cecilia Gonzales was named HISD’s Elementary Principal of the Year, while West Briar Middle School Principal Keeley Simpson was selected as HISD’s Secondary Principal of the Year. Both winners will advance to the state’s regional principal of the year competition.

“I am so proud of our principals and the incredible work they do each and every day to ensure the success of their campus, students and teachers,” Carranza said. “The level of student achievement at these schools did not happen by accident.” Continue reading →

Listen & Learn meeting at Northside HS postponed

Update: A new date for the Listen & Learn meeting outlined below will be announced at a later date.

HISD Board of Education Trustee Anna Eastman will host a community town hall meeting for the north region schools with Superintendent Richard Carranza at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Northside High School.

The meeting, part of the continuing “Listen & Learn Tour” will be a way to solicit input from stakeholders about the district’s future and learn about key issues across HISD.

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HISD Trustees and Superintendent heading to Austin to discuss school finance solutions

Members of the HISD Board of Education and Superintendent Richard Carranza will spend two full days in Austin this week, collaborating with top state leaders to address changes to Texas’ school finance system.

Board President Wanda Adams, trustees Anna Eastman, Michael Lunceford, and Rhonda Skillern-Jones, along with Superintendent Richard Carranza will have scheduled meetings on Wednesday and Thursday with state leaders and members of HISD’s legislative delegation in Austin.

“The HISD Board of Education and administration are united in our desire to work constructively with our state leaders to identify funding solutions that put children first,” Adams said. “We all agree that Texas’ school finance system was never intended to take classroom resources from our state’s most needy children.” Continue reading →

New literacy initiatives put more books into the hands of HISD students 

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Two new literacy initiatives – a literacy bus and “My Home Library”– were unveiled by HISD on Tuesday, Jan. 17 with the goal of closing the literacy gap for economically disadvantage children in the district.

The Astros Foundation, Philips 66, and HISD are partnering to send the “Literacy Bus” on the road to distribute age-appropriate books to children in grades K-5 at various city-owned baseball and softball parks renovated by the Astros Foundation as part of its Community Leaders Program. These parks are located within HISD boundaries and serve more than 1,200 Houston-area children each year. The Literacy Bus is a mobile interactive bus that will encourage family reading in Houston-area communities.

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Donors make holiday merry for 178 underprivileged students at Northside HS

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Excitement and anticipation filled the air at Northside High School on Wednesday, as 178 students and their families waited in the school gymnasium, perched in the bleachers above row upon row of Christmas presents.

The students were selected to take part in the third annual Christmas Gifts of Love event at the school, which pairs up students with donors throughout the district and community to provide the underprivileged students with holiday gifts. The event is an example of how the holiday spirit is spreading across district thanks to a multitude of HISD business and community partners.

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Waltrip HS band director receives award plus $1,000 grant for school music program 

espinosa

Jesse Espinosa

Waltrip High School band director Jesse Espinosa was recently selected as one of 20 inspiring music teachers across the country by Give a Note Foundation and 21st Century Fox as part of their “Music Education Idols” competition.

Students, parents, and community members nominated music educators online by describing how a music teacher inspired them to discover their creative potential. Espinosa was nominated by a student’s parents, who submitted a video testimonial about his influence at the school. Espinosa was later selected as a “Music Ed idol” and will receive a $1,000 grant for the Waltrip music program.

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HISD names new deputy superintendent

Samuel Sarabia

Samuel Sarabia

Houston ISD Superintendent Richard Carranza has selected Chief School Officer Samuel Sarabia as the district’s new deputy superintendent.

Dr. Sarabia, a 29-year veteran educator, has spent his entire public education career working at HISD. He currently serves as chief school officer in the HISD Office of School Support for the district’s south area. He previously served as a chief school officer over elementary schools.

“Dr. Sarabia has been a well-respected and dedicated leader at HISD for more than two decades,” Carranza said. “He carries a robust background in public education and school administration with a remarkable track record in leading student-focused learning and increasing achievement for students of all backgrounds. I am excited to work with him closely as we focus on making HISD a world-class school district.” Continue reading →

35 schools to be under construction by year’s end, BOC learns at quarterly meeting

The Houston Independent School District expects to have almost three dozen schools under active construction by the end of 2016, HISD Construction Officer Derrick Sanders told the Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) on Tuesday during their quarterly meeting.boc-oct-2016

Pending board approval of additional contracts, the district will have 35 projects actively underway, leaving just two — Austin and Bellaire high schools — to begin construction in 2017. Up from about two dozen projects in the last quarter, that is more active construction than at any time in HISD’s history, and also believed to be record-setting in Texas and the U.S.

“The quantity of contracts that we’ve moved through the process is incredible,” Sanders said. “We’ve gotten a lot done, but have a lot more to do. We welcome the challenge.” Continue reading →

52 schools take on Family Friendly Schools Challenge

The Family and Community Engagement Department (FACE) is welcoming 52 HISD campuses into its Family Friendly Schools Program for the 2016-2017 school year – twice the number of campuses from the previous school year.

Through a series of research-based activities and strategies to expand and build relationships with families, link family events to student learning, build parent capacity and support efforts for parent empowerment, schools have an opportunity to earn a star toward one of three Family Friendly School Certification levels: Continue reading →

Bond program construction moves at record pace through fall 

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On the heels of an extremely busy summer that included the opening of six new schools, HISD’s bond construction is expected to continue moving forward at a record pace through the fall semester.

Construction is currently underway at more than 20 campuses across the district — more active construction than at any other time in district history. Contracts for most of the remaining schools in the program are expected to be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2016.

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