Category Archives: District IV – Patricia Allen

HISD announces partnership with Kennedy Center to expand student access to the arts

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Thursday that the Houston Independent School District together with the City of Houston would serve as the 19th site for their national arts education program.

The Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child program will take existing resources from HISD, local arts organizations, the City of Houston, and the Kennedy Center and combine them to increase arts opportunities and provide high-quality arts education for 7,000 students at 11 schools.

The schools include Atherton, Benbrook, Eliot, Hartsfield, Hines-Caldwell, Kashmere Gardens, Memorial, Mitchell, Scarborough, and Whittier elementary schools, and Hamilton Middle School. Additional schools are expected to be added in the coming years. Continue reading →

New programs, new construction, new opportunities at Sterling HS

Students at Sterling High School are greeting the new school year with excitement, energy, and optimism. The school’s new principal, Justin Fuentes, is enthusiastic about his school’s programs and the opportunities it offers students.

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Besides Sterling’s resident aviation program and an aviation engineering and designing program through the Michigan Institute of Aviation Technology, it also offers a Futures Academy in logistics and global supply chain management, as well as law enforcement forensics, automotive, and dual-credit courses towards a certificate in welding. Continue reading →

Principals thank HISD bus drivers, attendants for their hard work

Before bus drivers and bus attendants set off to transport HISD students to and from school for the first week of classes, HISD Transportation managers and a group of principals showed their gratitude and appreciation for employees during a welcome back program at Key Middle School on Friday.

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Drones taking students on flights of STEM fancy

Rice camp introduces students to careers related to these devices

Drones are making headlines more and more often in the news these days, and about a dozen HISD students have been learning about these high-tech devices — and the careers they’re used in — during a camp held at Rice University.

The sixth- to ninth-grade students, who attend DeBakey High School, HSPVA, Lanier Middle School, Revere Middle School, the T.H. Rogers School, and Valley West Elementary School, spent three days learning how to design, engineer, and pilot drones in mid-August.

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South Early College HS, Mandarin Chinese building projects go vertical

The new campuses for South Early College High School and Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School have reached a major milestone in the construction of both buildings as work crews have begun erecting steel columns and beams, taking the projects into the vertical phase of construction.

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Preparing today’s high school graduates for the future

HISD recognizes the need to instill in students the skills they will need to be successful after high school, in college, or the workplace, and to compete in today’s global economy. In this month’s edition of Up Close, HISD Board of Education President Rhonda Skillern-Jones discusses the skills and characteristics of the Global Graduate with HISD Secondary Curriculum and Development Officer Annie Wolfe, Davis High School Principal Julissa Alcantar-Martinez, Chief Elementary Curriculum and Development Officer Lance Menster, and Shadydale Elementary School Principal Tammie Daily.

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“HISD engaged industry leaders, educators, university professors, community leaders, parents, and students to determine what knowledge, skills, and dispositions are critically important to have in place when a child graduates from HISD,” explained Menster. “Interestingly, they all focused on the six characteristics that form HISD’s Global Graduate profile.” Continue reading →

YWCPA stakeholders briefed on initial design plans for renovated school

One of HISD’s oldest school buildings is undergoing a $27.1 million makeover that will preserve its historic past while integrating modern learning spaces designed to prepare students for the future.

“This is a magnificent building,” said Architect Carolina Weitzman during a community meeting Tuesday at the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy, located at 1906 Cleburne. “It’s got great bones.”

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Phase 3 of PowerUp begins

Monday was an exciting first day of duty for teachers at DeBakey High School for Health Professions. They received their laptops in the third phase of HISD’s PowerUp initiative.

“I’m excited about how I’m going to use it in my classroom,” said math teacher Wilson Chavez. “Sometimes it’s difficult to implement technology in math, but I have exciting plans to use it for various projects.”

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The teachers are currently receiving training on their laptops, including how to use web-based tools in their daily instruction through the HUB. Continue reading →

Sterling HS to add welding to course offerings

Sterling High School will offer a new course in its airframe engineering and design program in the 2015–2016 school year: welding.

The school is able to offer welding through a new partnership with Houston Community College. Students who successfully complete all of the necessary courses will earn a certificate as a welder’s helper. If they go on to study at Houston Community College, they will be able to take advanced welding courses there. Continue reading →

Summer STEM Institute helps teachers infuse learning with fun

More than five dozen HISD science, technology, engineering, and math teachers took part in a summer institute recently that was designed to help boost students’ math and science scores by incorporating more fun into their lessons.

The educators came from 23 HISD elementary and middle schools that received part of a TIF4 STEM grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant also provides resources such as equipment and technology, and participating teachers will receive additional training opportunities throughout the school year and share what they have learned with other faculty members at their campuses.

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