Category Archives: Elementary Schools

Mitchell ES celebrates a ‘powerful’ return

As Mitchell Elementary School students arrived for the first day of in-person instruction, there were plenty of bright eyes and broad smiles, evident even underneath their masks.

The students entered the new school and looked on in amazement at their new surroundings. Teachers stood nearby reminding them to walk while observing physical distancing.

With their backpacks filled, the students made their way to their classrooms, greeted teachers, and quickly found their seats, ready to begin the school day.

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For one HISD family, a new school building to call home

A day before Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, Tiffany Irving and her son Grant eagerly delivered school supplies to his kindergarten classroom at Mitchell Elementary, just south of Hobby Airport.

Little did they know then that Grant’s supplies — along with the rest of his building and three other elementary schools across the district — would be destroyed in the coming days as the storm dumped unprecedented amounts of rain on the city.

Unfortunately, the damage wasn’t limited to the school. The Irving’s home just around the corner from the school also flooded.

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Braeburn ES students head ‘home’ to new school

Students couldn’t hold back their delight as they entered the new Braeburn Elementary School for the first time on Monday — the district’s first day of in-person learning.

The long-awaited day marked not just a return to classrooms, but also the first time since 2017 that Braeburn students have been able to settle into a permanent home.

Teachers offered a friendly ‘hello’ and ‘welcome back’ to students as they entered the main hallway, were positioned in physically distant single-file lines, and then led to their new classrooms.

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Kolter ES welcomes students to new campus for in-person instruction

Kolter Elementary School Principal Julianne Dickinson began to feel the weight of Monday morning before the sun went down the day before.

For Dickinson, Monday was different for a few reasons — the start of in-person instruction, the return of students to classrooms after eight months, and the required use of masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the most special reason was that it was her students’ first day in their newly constructed school.

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Highland Heights ES welcomes students back with Family Resource Center

HISD campuses may have been closed for months, but the team at Highland Heights Elementary School has been working around the clock to make sure their school community is safe, clothed, fed, and supported.  

The Highland Heights Resource Center officially opened its doors on Monday, welcoming new and old Honeybees to the first-of-its-kind center, which offers families much-needed items such as food, clothes, shoes, and toiletries.

Highland Heights Wraparound Resource Specialist Brendella Chavis has worked diligently to make sure students were supported.

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Mark White ES nurse helps foster healthy, safe atmosphere for students

Nurse Janda Jelks’ first year as a school nurse has been unusual and challenging, but she has leveraged her creativity and enthusiasm to excel in her new role.

Jelks, who worked in a hospital before coming to Mark White Elementary School, said her goal is to foster relationships between parents, teachers, and students and ensure the return to face-to-face instruction is as smooth as possible.

“Our priority is making sure kids are getting as much instruction time as they can, either virtually or in person,” Jelks said. “I would hate for something that I’m doing, even though it’s state-mandated, to cut into that. So instead of the students coming to me, I come to them.”

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Unique masks help students innovate, adapt at T.H. Rogers

Asusena Gonzales’ 9-year-old son, Brandon Martinez, is deaf and attends the Region 4 Regional Day School Program for the Deaf (RDSPD) at HISD’s T.H. Rogers School.

Brandon has been at Rogers since the age of 3, growing and learning like any other student. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The school closed and went fully remote in March, and Gonzales worried that virtual school would be a challenge for her son and that he could fall behind, but Brandon exceeded all expectations.

“He was able to learn multiplication through virtual learning, and that was shocking to me because I thought he would be delayed but … it has been really great,” she said. “Actually, we’ve been learning with him, and learning the signs to assist him, which has been really good.”

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With return to face-to-face instruction, Sanctuaries of Learning program comes to a close

The Houston Independent School District partnered with several churches throughout the city for the Sanctuaries of Learning program, which offered hundreds of students a safe place to participate in virtual learning.

Now, as the district returns to face-to-face instruction this week, the program is ending, but not before having served an important purpose for HISD students and staff alike.

The program served students who had a device but were not old enough to stay home alone or lacked internet access. Participating students spent their school days in the church buildings, supervised by HISD staff and church volunteers and receiving breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

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HISD to hold Virtual Multilingual Parent Leadership Conference on Oct. 24

The Houston Independent School District’s Office of Multilingual Education will hold its annual 4th Annual Virtual Parent Leadership Conference for parents to learn supports and strategies that will help students to be successful while learning from home.  

The conference will be held virtually from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, October 24. The conference is designed for parents and guardians of HISD students.  

This year’s conference will feature a variety of workshops on how parents can work with their children at home. The conference will feature recognized speakers who will inform and inspire parents of English Learners to become advocates for their children’s education. Sessions will be offered in English and Spanish. Translation will be available.

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D.A.R.E. program returns to district with HISD PD training program

The Houston Independent School District announced the return of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program to select HISD schools at a press conference on Monday.

“I am so very excited about D.A.R.E. returning to HISD,” Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “We are determined to ensure that all students not only receive a quality education but that they come to school not under the influence and prepared to receive that quality education.”

In partnership with state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D.A.R.E. America, the HISD Police Department, and the Houston Police Department, the program will initially train 35 HISD PD officers and seven HPD officers on teaching evidence-based prevention education curricula to students.

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