Rising juniors at nine HISD high schools have the opportunity to explore different careers without changing schools, thanks to the district’s first regional career and technical education center at Barbara Jordan.
The Barbara Jordan Career Hub is now taking applications from 10th-grade students zoned to Davis, Furr, Kashmere, North Forest, Reagan, Sam Houston, Washington, Wheatley, and Yates high schools to participate in the specialized program at Jordan, where they will get specialized education and training in high-demand fields.
A robotics team made up of students from HISD’s only all-boys and all-girls schools will be heading to Louisville, Ky., later this month to compete in the 2016 VEX Worlds Robotics championship.
The team is made up of five students from the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy and four students from the Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men.
The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday is expected to consider a construction contract for Kashmere High School, which is undergoing significant renovation as part of the 2012 Bond Program.
The bid for the renovation work was submitted by DT Construction in response to a February request for competitive sealed proposals. The proposal — one of three submitted — includes a base bid of $13 million with a construction contingency of $1.1 million, meaning the total costs would not exceed $14.1 million. Continue reading →
The Orange Show’s 29th annual Art Car Parade will be rolling through downtown Houston on Saturday, April 9, and almost a dozen of the mobile artworks on display will be the work of HISD students.
Booker T. Washington High School celebrated a big milestone Tuesday morning with a festive groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on a new $51.7 million campus.
More than 100 parents, students, staff, alumni, and community members attended the event and were joined by HISD Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones, State Sen. John Whitmire and Houston City Councilwoman Karla Cisneros.
Students at Dogan Elementary School enjoyed a special celebration held just for them on April 4, after winning HISD’s Read to the Final Four literacy challenge last week. The students logged more than 922,464 minutes of reading over the past six months to cement their victory, and the reward for their perseverance was sweet.
The multi-purpose room thumped to the sounds of hip hop music, provided courtesy of DJ GT Mayne and 97.9 The Box radio station, as students showed off their dribbling skills, shot hoops at the portable basketball nets, and challenged each other with the latest dance moves. A lunch of chicken fettuccine, fresh fruit, and garlic bread was served by HISD Nutrition Services.
Third-grader Karla Gonzalez received a brand new bicycle from CYCLE Houston for having read the more than any of her classmates at Dogan. CYCLE donated the bikes to every top reader in each of the 68 participating schools.
Her favorite book during the competition? “I really liked ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’,” said Karla, grinning.
The NCAA Read to the Final Four Literacy competition, which supported the HISD Literacy By 3 initiative, challenged HISD third-graders to read at least 30 minutes a day and attempt to read more books than other competing schools. Nearly 6,800 third-graders participating in the literacy competition logged a total of 9,128,176 minutes of reading time.
“This group of third-graders has worked extremely hard. And for many of them at home, reading wasn’t always a priority,” said Dogan coordinator/teacher specialist Ben Gibb. “But they really teamed up together to work hard and win the competition.”
Dogan students were also presented with t-shirts, pencil cases, cups, notepads and other goodies thanks to sponsors NCAA Final Four, and the Houston Public Library.
“We really wanted to give them a chance to enjoy their win,” said Gibb. “How often in life do you get a chance to have hard work pay off in such a concrete way as what they’re getting right now?”
The competition was fierce down to the final buzzer, but Dogan ES came out victorious after scoring a whopping 922,464 minutes in reading time during the NCAA Read to the Final Four Literacy competition.
Dogan ES Principal Tarrieck Rideaux beamed with pride Friday amid cheering, hand-waving, and fanfare at NRG Stadium, where 10,000 HISD students, some representing the Final Four schools – Browning ES, Carrillo ES, Dogan ES and Janowski ES, gathered for the announcement of the winner. Rideaux said six months of intensive reading had paid off for his third-graders.
“It has actually helped their reading growth,” said Rideaux. “Stronger growth over the last few months – more than we’ve ever had.”
The top four schools read a total of 2,695,728 minutes since the competition began in September, and all schools netted 9,128,176 minutes read.
Dogan ES was awarded a Final Four trophy and a $5,000 cash prize. On Monday, there will be a celebration at the campus.
“I was excited when they announced our name, and I screamed.” said Dogan fourth-grader Luigi Marquez. “I was proud that we won.”
Courtside VIPS on hand to celebrate the students’ accomplishments included HISD Board of Education Trustees Wanda Adams, Diana Dávila, and Anna Eastman, as well as HISD Chief Academic Officer Andrew Houlihan and Houston Final Four Local Organizing Committee Chairman Tony Chase.
“I am so excited to be here and to rock the ‘Road to the Final Four.’ I want to personally thank all 68 schools for reading over 9 million minutes. You all need to be applauded,” said Trustee Adams. “And congratulations to Dogan Elementary School for reading all those hours. So again, congratulations Team HISD.”
Early in the program, Team HISD enjoyed performances by the Waltrip HS band and the Atherton ES drum line, as well as a quick game between the Cancer Hardwood Heroes and their coaches.
The NCAA Read to the Final Four Literacy competition, which supported the HISD Literacy By 3 initiative, challenged HISD third-graders to read more books than other competing schools and started with 68 schools. Nearly 6,800 third-graders helped kick off the bracket-themed reading contest that encouraged students to read at least 30 minutes a day.
Carrillo Elementary School students learn they are in the lead for the Read to the Final Four challenge in November 2015.
Nearly 10,000 HISD elementary school students will fill NRG Stadium (Reliant Parkway, 77054) on Friday, April 1 for the district’s announcement of the winner of the NCAA Team Works Read to the Final Four Literacy Program at Reese’s Final Four Friday event.
The program begins at 11 a.m., but prior to that, Waltrip HS’s band will play as students arrive, and Atherton ES’s drum line will perform before the announcement of the winning school at 11:40 a.m., which will receive a $5,000 cash prize, Final Four trophy, and campus celebration. The final four elementary schools in the competition are Browning, Carrillo, Dogan, and Janowski. Additionally, the top readers from each of the 68 schools will receive a bike from CYCLE. Attendees are welcome to stay for the remainder of the day and watch special practice games and tributes. The day’s activities are free and open to the public, including parking in the stadium’s Blue Lot beginning at 9 a.m. Anything brought into the stadium during all Final Four events must be in a clear bag, due to security. Some 125,000 clear bags are being given away at Houston hotels and the George R. Brown Convention Center, as well as on METRORail platforms. Find full details here.
Students at schools across HISD have been participating in everything from pep rallies to skate parties over the past few weeks to build awareness around the next administration of the STAAR test, which begins on Tuesday, March 29.
Lovett ES fifth-grader Bryan Moore poses with his mother, Tonyamas Moore, who won the spelling bee at that campus back in 1986.
Five boys and five girls from 10 different HISD schools will be testing the limits of their vocabulary on Saturday, April 2, when they take part in the finals of the Houston Public Media spelling bee. The top two winners of the Houston-area competition will be eligible to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee near Washington, D.C., in May.
This year’s local contest is particularly meaningful for two HISD students: fifth-grader Bryan Moore (Lovett ES) and eighth-grader Christine Bowyer (Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan).
