Category Archives: District VIII – Judith Cruz

Eastwood Academy High School breaks ground on new building addition 

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Eastwood Academy High School stakeholders gathered at the campus on Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on a new addition being built as part of HISD’s voter-approved 2012 Bond program.

    U.S. Congressman Gene Green, HISD Board of Education Trustee Diana Dávila, and HISD Chief School Officer Esther Omogbehin joined Eastwood Academy Principal Brandi Lira and nearly 100 students, parents, staff, and community members who turned out to celebrate the milestone.

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Two groundbreakings, a renaming, and a ribbon-cutting scheduled for first week in October

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Four HISD schools are celebrating significant milestones next week. Eastwood Academy and the High School for Law and Justice will both hold groundbreaking ceremonies to mark the start of construction on their new school buildings. 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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Superintendent, Board of Trustees hosting series of town hall meetings in HISD communities 

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HISD Board of Education trustees are hosting a series of community town hall meetings with newly appointed Superintendent Richard Carranza as a way to introduce the new leader to the community, solicit input from stakeholders about the district’s future, and learn about key issues across HISD.

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Furr High School awarded $10 million grant

HISD’s Furr High School has won a $10 million Super School Project grant, beating out thousands of other schools who applied from across the nation.

The five-year grant, awarded by the XQ Institute, began with a call for innovative ideas for redesigning traditional American high schools to prepare students for college and the workforce. Only 10 schools were awarded grants. Continue reading →

Summit connects schools with wrap-around services in Houston community 

Principals network with more than 120 city, county, and nonprofit service providers to help serve their students and families

HISD principals were able to connect with more than 120 different city, county, and nonprofit service providers available to their students and families as part of the district’s first ever Wrap-Around Services Summit.

The summit, held at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Sept. 7, was designed as a networking opportunity for campuses to identify resources available to their school communities in the areas of behavior and medical related services, parent education, vocational/workforce training, and other social services.

“Some schools may not even know what exists out there,” said District V Trustee Mike Lunceford. “There is an assortment of organizations who have the ability to help our children, and we need to reach out and make sure that all of our schools benefit from these services.”  Continue reading →

Organizations team up to offer reading incentive for Sherman ES students

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LyondellBasell and Changing Young Children’s Lives through Education (CYCLE) led Sherman Elementary School students in a pep rally to celebrate the organizations’ donation of $30,000 to the school.

CYCLE rewards students with new bicycles for achieving better academic performance in the classroom. The donation will support Sherman’s early childhood reading program, and the students will participate in CYCLE’s reading program throughout the 2016 fall semester. Students who reach their reading goals will be awarded one of several bicycles in December donated by LyondellBasell.

High School for Law and Justice project moves into next phase of construction

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Construction crews are beginning to mobilize at the site of the new High School for Law and Justice after receiving a “notice to proceed” from HISD earlier this month.

The notice followed the completion of comprehensive site demolition work and starts the clock ticking on an approximate 17-month construction timeline.

“The planning and preparation takes much longer than the actual construction,” said Spencer Wingate, HISD’s project manager overseeing HSLJ’s new construction. “Everything’s looking good at this point, and we’re on track to meet our target completion date in December 2017.”  Continue reading →

Superintendent Carranza goes on whirlwind tour of district on first day of classes

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Click image for an interactive tour.

Click image for an interactive tour.

New HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza embarked on a whirlwind tour today of six HISD campuses – which took more than six hours and spanned 60 miles – on the first day of classes in the district.

Carranza’s itinerary covered each geographical area of HISD, and he visited with students, school staff, and community members at each location.

His first stop was at Law Elementary School on the south side, where he had the opportunity to visit a dual language classroom. Next up was Stevenson Middle School to the southeast, where he observed the launch of the district’s Literacy in the Middle program, which aims to improve middle school reading skills. Carranza then traveled to the Third Ward to Yates High School to learn about the school’s communications and maritime magnet programs. The tour then took him to Carnegie Vanguard High School near downtown, which is one of the district’s nationally acclaimed magnet schools. Next up was Wisdom High School (formerly Lee) to the west, HISD’s most diverse comprehensive high school. Carranza wrapped up the tour at Fonwood Early Childhood Center, where he observed pre-K students on their first day in a brand-new building.

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Superintendent Richard Carranza to welcome HISD students back to school

New HISD leader will travel 60 miles while visiting 6 schools in 6 hours on Monday

Newly hired HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza will welcome students back to school on Monday as he crisscrosses the city on a six-campus tour.

A unanimous HISD Board of Education hired Carranza on Thursday, and Monday’s visits will be his first chance to get a glimpse of the district’s size, diversity, and variety of educational programs. Members of the HISD Board of Education will join Carranza along the tour, and members of the news media are welcome to cover all of his stops.

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