Houston Independent School District employees are sharing in the spirit of the holidays with those less fortunate through the district’s 2020 Holiday Toy Drive.
Donors are encouraged to drop off new and unwrapped toys at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St. Houston, TX 77092) by Dec. 14 at 4 p.m. Receptacles are located at the East and West entrances of the building.
Continue readingHuman Resources had a busy Friday morning, surprising the Associate and Achieve 180 Dedicated Associate Teacher of the Month winners for November with gift baskets and festive balloons.
Associate Teacher Maria Gonzalez-Hatton at Burnet Elementary School was named the Associate Teacher of the Month for going above and beyond her duties as an intervention teacher.
Burnet Principal Ana Cantu said Gonzalez-Hatton takes the time to truly know her students and is dedicated to them.
Program a drone. Track movements of an Amazon delivery robot. Animate greeting cards. These are just a few of the ways students can participate in Computer Science Education Week on Dec. 7-13.
Computer Science Education Week is an annual call to action to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity in computer science education, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners in the field.
HISD’s Office of Career Readiness, along with DroneBlocks, Code Avengers, and Amazon Future Engineer-endorsed BootUp and CoderZ, have created computational thinking activities to inspire future computer science engineers.
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District has been disinfecting schools daily in order to combat the spread of COVID-19, and a $200,000 donation from locally based international energy company Phillips 66 is now supporting those efforts to protect students and staff.
HISD has utilized the donation to outfit schools with state-of-the-art electrostatic cleaning supplies and equipment. The Phillips 66 donation is designed to assist with safe continuation of in-person instruction on district campuses.
“There is no doubt that this generous gift is making our campuses safer,” Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “We deeply appreciate Phillips 66’s desire to help HISD keep our campuses clean and safe.”
Continue readingDeBakey HS for Health Professions named best public high school for 14th consecutive year
Park Place ES, T.H. Rogers each ranked number one in two different categories
Nearly 100 campuses in the Houston Independent School District have received high rankings on Children at Risk’s annual list of best public schools in the city’s eight-county region, with DeBakey High School for Health Professions once again declared the best public high school in the area.
Park Place Elementary School and T.H. Rogers School each received number one rankings in two different categories.
Park Place is number one on the list of Consistent Gold Ribbon elementary schools. It is also number one on the list of Pandemic Proof elementary schools because it has received high marks from Children at Risk for three consecutive years.
Continue readingFifth-grade language arts and social studies teacher Molly Lashway thought she was finishing up a conference with her principal when she saw a parade of decorated vehicles coming around the corner outside.
As cars covered in colorful balloons and streamers rolled past to the sound of happy music, Walnut Bend Elementary School Principal Michele Dahlquist revealed to Lashway that she had been named the district’s November Teacher of the Month.
“I had no idea that this was happening this morning,” Lashway said. “I’m just glad I didn’t come to school dressed like a pilgrim today, because that was something that I considered for the day before Thanksgiving Break. But I’m really grateful for all of this.”
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HISD is inviting all students to celebrate the 12 Days of Code in December with interactive calendars that allow them to engage in a new coding experience every day.
Coding helps students solve problems, use logic, and think creatively, and it gives them a foundation for success in 21st-century careers. The activities in these three calendars for elementary, middle, and high school include Block-based coding, Python, and JavaScript, developing skills in computational thinking, sequences, loops, and debugging programs.
Activities are made fun and engaging incorporating characters from StarWars, Frozen, and the Grinch with music from some of the industry’s top artists. To access the 12 Days of Code calendar of activities, go to HoustonISD.org/12DaysofCode
Continue readingIn a virtual ceremony with participants, HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan on Wednesday unveiled the winners of its annual holiday greeting card student art competition from nearly 100 entries across the district.
“This event presents a special opportunity for the district to share our students’ artwork with the greater community,” Lathan said. “It is my pleasure to help showcase the work of our student artists and the fantastic work our fine arts teachers are doing to cultivate these talents across the district.”
The winners for 2020 – fifth-grader Ediel Chávez of Crespo Elementary School, seventh-grader Michell García of Wharton Dual Language Academy, and senior Viviana Pérez of Sam Houston MSTC – were among 18 finalists from elementary, middle, and high schools. All finalists received a boxed set of their holiday cards. The winners received gifts from sponsors Raising Canes, Jerry’s Artarama and the Glassel School of Art. All finalist holiday card designs will be available online for purchase.
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The Houston Independent School District will hold its 2020 Special Education Fall Virtual Parent Summit on Saturday, Dec. 12, providing parents with the opportunity to meet with Special Education professionals and attend online learning sessions.
This event serves as an opportunity for HISD to better support families and empowers them to be a partner in their child’s education. The theme of the event is “Supporting Educational Success During a Pandemic” and will address topics such as transition, instruction, compliance, and evaluation.
Continue readingTo shed the negative image that often comes with wearing a badge, HISD Police Chief Pedro Lopez Jr. is following the lead of police chiefs nationwide to bring relational policing into HISD classrooms and neighborhoods.
That idea, along with a recent significant boost in department funding, paved the way for the district’s new police community outreach team CORE (Community Outreach Responsive Engagement).
“We are determined to go out into the communities, build back those relationships and bridge that gap that has increasingly widened with what has been happening throughout the country,” said HISD Police Officer Steven Bennett, who is one of the six officers serving on the CORE team. “We just want to get out there and do everything we can to repair this relationship between the community and law enforcement.”
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