When Gov. Greg Abbott outlines his emergency items as governor in a new video, early education takes the top spot, along with one of HISD’s elementary schools. Abbott toured pre-K, kindergarten, and first-grade classrooms at the School at St. George Place on Feb. 26, 2015, and met with district leaders afterward. Read more about his proposal to allocate $200 million to fund half-day pre-K programs throughout Texas here.
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HISD students kicked off Go Texan Day and Houston’s rodeo season by meeting some real cowboys and their horses. The trail ride tradition was brought to life for the students as Horseshoes from the Heart drove their wagons, along with wagons from the Los Vaqueros Rio Grande Trail Ride Association, the Bellaire FFA and the Alabama Coushatta Dance Troupe, past seven southwest Houston schools. Continue reading
Tweet your photos, tips using #Discover15 and #LiteracyBy3
March is National Read Aloud Month, and HISD is teaming up with the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation to raise awareness among our families about the importance of reading aloud to children each and every day.
Independent reading and reading aloud are important strategies of Literacy by 3.
Reading aloud, for 15 minutes a day, is critically important during a child’s earliest years of life, and the benefits of reading aloud through the elementary years has been shown to instill a love of reading. In a recent study, researchers found that not only does reading aloud throughout elementary school years expose children to more complex words or stories than when they read alone, but they are also more likely to read more books independently in later years.
In addition to reading a book with a child at bedtime, here are five tips parents can use “on the go” to ensure their children are reading aloud for 15 minutes a day. Continue reading
Teachers “blending” face-to-face instruction with technology
During the month of February, all HISD teachers are being encouraged to try something new in their classrooms, as well as share ideas, resources, and lessons learned by posting their experiences and photos on social media using the hashtag #HISDdigital. Each week during the month, we are profiling a teacher or campus that is using technology to break up rows in classrooms, engage students, and innovate instructional practice. This week’s profile features McNamara Elementary.
Earlier this year, McNamara Elementary School teacher Carlos Rosario started videotaping some of his lessons instead of delivering them in front of the class. The result has been somewhat surprising.
“I find that many of my students are more engaged watching me deliver a lesson on video than when I do it in person,” said Rosario. “Plus, I have built in questions with the videos to check for understanding. At the end, I also get a report, so if I need to pull anybody out to reteach or focus on small group instruction, I can do that.”
Dr. Roslyn Stiles Vaughn, principal of Anderson Elementary Dual Language School, was honored by the Houston Area Alliance of Black School Educators (HAABSE) with the 2015 Living Legend Award. Dr. Vaughn has served the district for 36 years, 28 of those at Anderson ES. She began her career as a teacher at Scarborough, Brookline, and then Anderson elementary schools, before serving as principal for 16 years.
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Parents get answers to questions about proposed changes to attendance boundaries
Thousands of parents and community members turned out at a series of community meetings this week to provide parents with an overview of proposals designed to reduce classroom overcrowding at certain elementary schools.
The proposal for each school was discussed during regional meetings that took place on Tuesday, Feb. 17, and Thursday, Feb. 19. District officials will use the feedback to finalize the proposals and present them to the HISD Board of Education in March. If approved, the changes would be implemented for fall 2015.
Options under consideration include attendance boundary adjustments, program enhancements, and limiting the number of students each school may accept from outside its own neighborhood. District officials are also considering ways to improve internal practices such as adding a layer of additional scrutiny to the waiver request process and eliminating waivers for district charter schools.
The proposals would primarily affect new, incoming students. Current students would be grandfathered and allowed to stay at their current schools when possible.
The move is a result of a directive from the Texas Education Agency, which requires kindergarten through fourth-grade classes to have no more than 22 students per classroom. Classes that exceed that number must request a state waiver.
This school year, HISD had to submit nearly 1,500 class-size waiver requests to the TEA. District officials aim to cut that number in half by the 2015-2016 school year, with plans to continue the decrease incrementally through 2019.
Here is a list of the meetings that took place and the schools that may be affected by proposed boundary changes:
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 6 to 8 p.m.
Briar Forest Area Community Meeting
Location: Revere MS, 10502 Briar Forest
Affected Schools: Ashford, Askew, Bush, Daily, Emerson, Shadowbriar, Walnut Bend
Northwest Area Community Meeting
Location: Waltrip HS, 1900 West 34th St.
Affected Schools: Crockett, Highland Heights, Love, Memorial, Sinclair, Smith, Stevens
288 Corridor Community Meeting
Location: Attucks MS, 4330 Bellfort
Affected Schools: Bastian, Kelso, Young
Thursday, Feb. 19, 6 to 8 p.m.
Northline Area Community Meeting
Location: Sam Houston MSTC, 9400 Irvington Blvd.
Affected Schools: Burbank, Lyons, Northline
Tinsley and Halpin Area Community Meeting
Location: Tinsley ES, 11035 Bob White Dr.
Affected Schools: Anderson, Tinsley, Halpin ECC
Medical Center Area Community Meeting*
Location: Pershing MS, 3838 Blue Bonnet Blvd.
Affected Schools: The Rice School, Roberts, Twain, West University
*Only programmatic changes under consideration.
The proposals for each school are available online: http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/125328
Anne Eisner from the Nature Discovery Center acquaints Red ES STEM magnet students with wildlife.
Students at HISD’s Red Elementary School welcomed naturalist Anne Eisner from Bellaire’s Nature Discovery Center on Feb. 4-5 — along with a veritable menagerie of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.
The creatures helped impart new facts about vertebrates and invertebrates, and students learned a valuable lesson about how to interact safely with wild animals. While all the animals were popular with the students, a black rabbit named Licorice stole the show.
Red ES is a STEM magnet school that emphasizes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math by providing extra classes and presentations by organizations such as the Nature Discovery Center.
Creative HISD teachers couldn’t let the 100th day of school Tuesday pass without using the occasion as an opportunity for learning and fun.
From teachers and students pretending to be 100 years old to math counting lessons to making posters, HISD students celebrated being 100 days smarter than they were on the first day of school.
Alex Jones works with students on a geography lesson using both old (the globe) and new (iPads) technology.
Alex Jones, a science lab teacher at Gallegos Elementary School, has been named one of only three finalists (.pdf) for Texas Computer Education Association’s (TCEA) Classroom Teacher of the Year. The award is presented annually to the educator who best recognizes the importance of technology in school and actively tries to promote its use in his or her classroom.
Jones previously served as an education specialist, a special projects coordinator, and an educational technologist, “but my love for children brought me back to HISD and the classroom” this year. His passionate lobbying also persuaded Principal Jessica Tejeda to purchase iPads especially for the science lab.
“I am extremely passionate about teaching young children and enhancing my lessons through the use of technology,” explained Jones, “especially with iOS devices.”
Chase Roberts of Cornelius Elementary School took home top honors in the 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Competition sponsored by Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP in Houston. This is the second year in a row a student from Cornelius has won the competition.
Every year since 1996, fourth- and fifth-graders from two dozen HISD schools have competed in the annual contest, which challenges students to write and present a short original speech on a subject related to the slain civil rights leader. The topic this year was, “”If Dr. King were to win the Nobel Peace Prize today, what would he say in his acceptance speech?”
Watch the winning speech and videos of all the finalists below.
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