Editor’s note: This profile is part of an occasional series on minority- or women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs) that do business with HISD. The district’s minimum M/WBE goal levels are 20 percent for all levels of purchasing and construction, and 25 percent for professional services. In the 2007 bond program, that commitment reached nearly 34 percent. In the 2012 program, contracts awarded are expected to top 53 percent. Continue reading
Category Archives: District VIII – Judith Cruz
Legendary ballerina, HISD alumna exposes dance students to fine arts careers
Houston Ballet’s first black principal dancer Lauren Anderson talked to dance students about her 20-plus-year career as a ballerina on Nov. 11 at Gregory-Lincoln Education Center.
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“When I first started dancing, I didn’t like it,” said Anderson. “But I never gave up…I’ve been in the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty…I’ve been all of the fairies and the birds, and I’ve danced in almost every continent.” Continue reading
Eastwood Academy students become CyberPatriots
Students from Eastwood Academy are learning how to keep personal data safe, protect it from vulnerabilities, and “black hat” hackers and malicious software, all while having fun in the process. This is the second year that teams from Eastwood Academy are competing in the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.
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The competition positions middle- and high-school students as newly hired IT professionals who must manage the network of a small company, utilizing their knowledge of networking, switches, routers, firewalls, TCP/IP protocols and architecture, and administration of various operating systems. During the competition, students will have to identify network vulnerabilities within a six-hour window. Continue reading
HISD schools awarded STEM grants from ExxonMobil
Samuel Saenz
A proposal submitted by East Early College High School recently won the school a grant from ExxonMobil that will help fund science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs for girls.
Science teacher Samuel Saenz applied for the company’s Southeastern Consortium Minorities in Engineering (SECME) mini-grant by submitting a proposal entitled “G-3 (Girls, Gears & Gadgets): A Program to Encourage Girls from Economically Disadvantaged Families to Consider STEM Related Career Choice.” The proposal outlines a plan to form a girls’ robotics and engineering team that will not only program robots for competition, but encourage younger students from feeder schools to explore STEM career possibilities. Continue reading
District’s Petroleum Academies show off their talents at the Shell STEM Showdown
Do you think you can build a geodesic dome from plastic straws and masking tape that will not only stand up, but also hold weight? Students from Milby HS, Westside HS, Energy Institute HS and the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy, along with Fort Worth ISD’s Southwest High School, did just that in the spirit of competition at the Viva Technology™ Shell STEM Showdown at the University of Houston.
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Three teams from each school teamed up with university students from UH, UH Downtown, Rice University, Texas A&M, and Texas Christian University. Guided by their college counterparts, the high schoolers competed throughout the day in a series of hands-on exercises designed to stimulate interest in the applications of technology. Continue reading
An ‘Up Close’ look at HISD’s magnet programs
The November edition of HISD Up Close with Board President Juliet Stipeche features a closer look at the robust portfolio of HISD schools that allows families to choose the campus that best meets their child’s academic needs and interests. In the video segment below, Manager of HISD Grant Development Jennifer Todd walks parents through the magnet application process and explains the variety of school choice options available at HISD, including Montessori, Vanguard, International Baccalaureate, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and fine arts programs.
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HISD announces district’s holiday greeting card artwork for 2014
Designs are also available for purchase by the general public through Friday, Dec. 5
Each winter, HISD sends out holiday greeting cards to hundreds of people and organizations, including school principals, board members, legislators, local leaders, parent groups, and community partners. Since 2003, these cards have featured the artwork of district students, and this year, three designs were chosen to showcase their creative talents.
eNews Highlight: Meet the Carnegie senior who’s applying to 23 colleges
Read why this EMERGE student is keeping her options open in this week’s edition
While most seniors are fine-tuning a short list of colleges and universities they might want to attend, one student at HISD’s Carnegie Vanguard High School is doing exactly the opposite. Learn why Olaide Sode is pushing herself to apply to almost two dozen different schools, and how the EMERGE program is helping Olaide and other economically disadvantaged students to reach for the stars in the Nov. 7, 2014, edition of eNews.
Video details how designs are coming along for a new HSLECJ
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A new video released by HISD gives an inside look into the design process for the new High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. As part of the district’s 2012 bond program, $40 million has been budgeted to build a new 21st century facility for the school.
Don’t overlook your neighborhood campuses when shopping for a school
Crockett ES is not a magnet school for fine arts, but its program is top-notch due in part to art teachers like Geetha Thomas, pictured here with some of her students. Parents are encouraged to check out the offerings at their neighborhood schools first, before shopping for alternatives.
It’s fall in Houston, and that means many HISD parents are already thinking about which campuses to send their children to for the 2015–2016 school year.
But while the attraction of the district’s many magnet programs is undeniable, parents are encouraged to take a closer look at the “zoned” schools located in their neighborhoods, as sometimes a hidden gem can be right around the corner.
Continue reading