Category Archives: District VI – Kendall Baker

Literacy By 3 gets a boost at Neff with donation of 4,500 books

HISD’s Literacy By 3 movement got a big boost on Oct. 31, when four organizations joined forces to help students at Neff Early Learning Center start or build a home library.

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The Greater Houston First Book Volunteer Board (GHFB), partnering with Disney, First Book National, and the Rotary Club of Sharpstown, distributed 4,500 books to Neff students that day, with each student receiving seven books to take home. Continue reading

Pin Oak MS wins first UIL middle school tournament of year

More than 500 middle school students spent their Saturday at Hamilton Middle School on Oct. 25, competing in the first University Interscholastic League (UIL) Middle School tournament of the 2014–2015 season.

Students from 15 schools competed: Attucks, Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan, Black, Burbank, Clifton, Cullen, Fondren, Hamilton, Johnston, Pershing, Pin Oak, Revere and Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men.

Pin Oak Middle School was declared the sweepstakes champion, with Mickey Leland College Prep winning second place and Black MS taking home third.

Here are the individual results: Continue reading

Sharpstown Int’l School nurse named tops in Texas for 2014

Karen Adams

Sharpstown International School (SIS) Nurse Karen Adams has already been honored once this year for her work with HISD students. Now, HISD’s Secondary Nurse of the Year for 2014 is getting recognition at the state level: the Texas School Nurse Organization has named her its 2014 School Nurse of the Year.

“It’s very gratifying,” said Adams of receiving the award, “but I was shocked. What I do here is for my kids. I don’t do it for recognition; I do it because I want to and the kids need it. That’s the most important thing to me, that the kids get what they need.” Continue reading

Sharpstown seniors get help with college applications

Workshop guides students through ApplyTexas, HCC processes

While 9-11th graders were busy taking the PSAT College Board exam Wednesday, seniors at Sharpstown High School huddled over their PowerUp laptops and created an account on ApplyTexas, an online college application that allows students to apply to every Texas public university, plus some private and two-year schools.

“A lot of our students are low-income, first-generation, underrepresented, said College Guidance Administrator Aaron Rodriguez. “If there’s not someone there to guide them, to push them to apply, I think [the college application process] would be really challenging for them. That’s what we’re here for.”

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Construction activity ramping up for Group 1 schools in 2012 bond

Bond WaltripThe construction phase for the 17 schools in Group 1 of the 2012 bond is gearing up, and this means that all of the work, previously being done behind the scenes, will move front and center.

To prepare sites for construction, a number of schools are undergoing demolition, utility work, and installation of fencing and other safety measures. Throughout this part of the project, construction firms have committed to implement strict safety procedures and to minimize the impact on students and the community.

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444 students compete in season’s first UIL Academics tournament

Four hundred forty-four elementary students spent their Saturday at Welch Middle School for the first competition of the 2014-2015 UIL Academics season.

Students from Condit, Cornelius, DeChaumes, Highland Heights, Horn, Law, Twain, Piney Point, and Windsor Village elementary schools, along with Energized for Excellence Academy, competed.

Horn Elementary claimed first place in sweepstakes. DeChaumes Elementary won second place in sweepstakes, and Twain Elementary took home third place.

Here are the individual results: Continue reading

Westside teachers putting the HUB to the test

Students at Westside High School won’t be getting their PowerUp laptops until January, but that’s not stopping teachers on campus from using the PowerUp:HUB with their students.

With the help and encouragement of their campus instructional technologist, Westside teachers are starting to use the online teaching and learning platform for various instructional routines with their students including homework assignments and tests.

“Initially I had negative thoughts about the HUB, but now I like it because I and I am not so scared of it,” says Westside Advanced Placement World History Heather Barrow, who is using the HUB for homework assignments that she previously would have assigned to her students to do from a textbook. Continue reading

Family Learning Academy offers parents resources for college and career planning

Houston ISD wants to help parents be ready for when their children graduate and go on to college or join the workforce. The district’s Family and Community Engagement Department is holding a Family Learning Academy to give tips and let parents know about the options available.

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Patricio Dominguez attended the first Family Learning Academy Super Saturday, which was held at Jones Futures Academy, to find out how to save money.
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Parents, students explore variety of educational options at School Choice night

Middle school parents learned about more than 40 high school programs their children can choose from at a Parent Information Night organized by the district’s Office of School Choice on Thursday at Burbank Middle School.

“It’s good to see that our students have so many opportunities at HISD,” said Rubin and Laura Precella, who attended the program with their daughter and nephew, both eighth-graders at The Rice School. “We just want to learn more about the different programs so that we can choose one that will help our children make their mark on the world.” Continue reading

Community teams up with HISD schools for Walking Towards Literacy event

Over 300 students, families, HISD staff and community members gathered on Saturday to promote literacy across Houston during the 3rd annual Walking Towards Literacy event at Tidwell Park. The Making It Better organization, a HISD community partner for Read Houston Read, sponsored the event.

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