Category Archives: Elementary Schools

Get an up close and personal look at district construction progress

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High School for Law and Justice

Want an up close and personal look at the construction underway at 2012 Bond schools throughout the district? It’s now just a couple of clicks away. Follow the progress from the comfort of your own home thanks to cameras that have been installed at several bond schools.

The cameras, which are mounted on a pole or roof of a taller adjacent building, capture an image once every 15 minutes — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Go online and view individual images or check out a time-lapse video and watch as the building comes together. The views also can be zoomed into and panned for more detail. Continue reading →

Ask HISD Superintendent Carranza your back-to-school questions

Parents and community members can have their back-to-school questions answered by the superintendent and learn more about what’s new in the 2017-18 school year by tuning in to a live, interactive broadcast on Monday, Aug. 21.

Superintendent Carranza and his staff will take questions during a discussion that will be streamed live on HoustonISD.org, Facebook.com/HoustonISD, and on HISD-TV (Comcast 18 and Uverse 99).

There will be two opportunities to join in the conversation: from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for Spanish-speaking community members, and from 7 to 8 p.m. for English-speaking community members.

Parents can submit questions ahead of time by emailing Back2School@HoustonISD.org , posting a Tweet with the hashtag #Back2School, or posting a question at Facebook.com/HoustonISD. Questions can also be submitted during the live event.

The live broadcast will also provide an opportunity for the community to learn more about HISD’s initiatives for the new school year, including Achieve180, which is a plan to support the district’s 32 underserved campuses; restorative justice practices; wraparound services; and literacy. There will also be an update on the district’s new bond schools, nutrition in HISD, and fine arts.

HISD students see gains in state math, science, writing test scores

Seventy-six percent of Houston Independent School District fifth-graders passed the 2017 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness math test — a six-point boost over the previous year and a slightly higher gain than the state average.

Third-graders also saw a four-point bump on the state math test, bringing their average up to 71 percent, which is a four-point boost over last year and also a higher gain than the state.

The math passing rate for all students together in grades three through eight jumped by three percentage points, with almost every grade level seeing a boost. Only sixth grade remained flat. Continue reading →

Register for HIPPY’s Back to School Festival on Aug. 5 

HISD’s Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) will hold its Back to School Festival from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5 at Kingdom Builders Center (6011 W. Orem, 77085).

Parents of children ages 0-11 or in grades pre-K through 5 are encouraged to attend. At the event, parents will be able to learn more about the HIPPY program, connect with HISD and community resources, receive free back-to-school supplies, and have the chance to win prizes. Lunch will be provided.

To register, go to HoustonISD.org/HippyFestival or call 713-967-5298. The registration deadline is July 21.

HIPPY works with parents of 3- and 4-year-old children to help prepare their preschool child for academic success. Instructors visit parents in their homes for an hour a week in a 30-week period and cover early literacy skills, mathematics, science, fine and gross motor skills, and language development. Research shows that HISD kindergarten students whose parents have participated in the HIPPY program significantly outperform their peers in reading and math. Interested families can contact the HIPPY office at 713-967-5298.

Parker ES construction passes halfway mark

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Construction at Parker Elementary School is now more than halfway complete with exterior framing and roofing well underway on the east side of the building.

“I’ve been doing a monthly walk-through in the building, so I’m seeing the progress each time I go,” Parker Principal Lori Frodine said. “I feel good it’s moving along. I’m happy that they’re starting to accelerate the work.”

The construction crew is working diligently at the site to make up some time lost due to previous weather delays. Currently, they are installing the HVAC systems on the first floor along with the chilled water pipes. Installation of the sprinkler system is also in progress.

Continue reading →

Free ‘Camp Adventures’ offered for HISD elementary students  

The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and the Houston Area Urban League are sponsoring two summer Camp Adventures in July and August.

The first camp is July 10 through July 21 at Atherton Elementary School (2011 Solo).  The second camp will take place at Bastian Elementary School (5051 Bellfort) from July 24 through Aug. 4. Each camp registration deadline is open through the end of summer school for all HISD K-5 students. Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis and will be limited to 400 campers per each camp session. Continue reading →

Three classrooms added to Pilgrim Academy expansion

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Three new classrooms are being added to the current expansion of Pilgrim Academy as part of a plan allowing forecasted bond surplus funds to be used for outstanding needs at bond campuses across the district.

The new plan, approved last month by the HISD Board of Education, set aside an additional $842,000 for Pilgrim.

Continue reading →

I am HISD: Brookline ES teacher secures outside support for Title I school

Ted Wills from Brookline ES (left) with Philip Ugalde, Regents Bank; Andrew Arizpe, Mutual of Omaha; and Doug Reinarz, Regents Bank, at an East End Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Brookline Elementary School teacher Theodore Wills wears many hats. Just four years ago, he was working as a fourth-grade transitional reading teacher when Principal Marco Morales asked him to take charge of the library and become the school’s community-engagement and corporate-outreach point person. Wills has a background in fundraising, public relations, and volunteer management, and he went to work raising $100,000 for the school’s library. It took a while, but he reached his goal recently. 

What did you do first after you got the new job? 

Immediately, I began inviting speakers and organizations for school and after-school programming, including Literacy Advance of Houston, Volunteer Houston, Houston Ballet, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, University of Houston’s Graduate School of Education, FotoFest, iWrite, Houston Skyline Rotary Club, and Hahn Gallery. I wrote to groups and foundations like Houston CPAs Helping Schools for grants to enhance our ebook collection. I started networking at local professional events and cultivating new contacts on LinkedIn.  Continue reading →

Lantrip ES winner of Earth Month 2017 contest

 

 

 

 

HISD’s Energy & Sustainability Department has announced Lantrip Elementary School as the winner of the Earth Month 2017 contest.

The annual Earth Month contest encourages schools to participate throughout the month of April in a variety of environmentally friendly activities in exchange for participation points. The group with the largest amount of participation points wins the grand prize – an outdoor classroom.

The contest aims to raise awareness about the environmental impact of HISD campuses and promote sustainable behaviors and actions that can reduce carbon footprints.

Continue reading →

HISD senior “grad walks” help inspire younger peers 

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Cheers, chants, and high-fives echoed through the hallways at HISD elementary schools this week as high school seniors marched single-file past their younger peers – a tradition of “grad walks” that are gaining in popularity every year.

The walks were held not only to give the seniors a sense of pride, but to help inspire the elementary students to follow on their own paths toward becoming Global Graduates.

High schools that held grad walks this year include: Austin HS, Sterling Aviation HS, Northside HS, Sharpstown HS, Sharpstown International School, Wheatley HS, and Westside HS.

Nearly 11,000 seniors from HISD will graduate in dozens of ceremonies across the city starting today.