Berry Elementary School received a “Green Ribbon Schools” Award recently from a national program of the same name in recognition of its leadership in touting green initiatives on campus.
The school was one of only 63 campuses chosen from among 13 states and Guam to win the award, and Berry was selected for achieving the online community’s highest level of participation during the 2011–2012 school year. Continue reading
The HISD Police Department introduced a new partnership today with ARAMARK Education to promote positive character building in HISD schools. The Kids with Character mentoring program will recognize elementary students who have displayed outstanding citizenship in their classes.
Twice a month, HISD officers will eat lunch with students who have shown strong character. During the lunch the officers will also serve as role models by showing students how to be good leaders. Continue reading
Students and staff at Twain Elementary School celebrated the completion of their campus’ new track with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony held on Oct. 12.
The new track, which encircles the athletic field and playground, lies just inside the perimeter of the fence surrounding the campus at the corner of Braes and Aberdeen.
“Today is the day,” said Principal Melissa Patin. “Our children will finally be able to enjoy our new playground and track. This is a sterling example of what we can accomplish when we work together.”
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The ribbon-cutting ceremony included a performance by members of the strings orchestra and concluded with the entire student body marching around the track for the first time in a ‘Parade of Grades’ led by the tiger mascot.
“This project has been on our radar for many years,” said Parent Teacher Organization President Sydni Mossman. “It was in the original plans of the new school.”
Dignitaries in attendance included HISD Board of Education Mike Lunceford, HISD Special Projects Director Willie Burroughs, Isani Consultants Engineering Manager Vincent Jacobs, and many of Twain’s corporate sponsors and community partners.
HISD’s Curriculum Department hosted a Partnering with Parents to Prepare Students for Algebra workshop at Helms Elementary School recently, and nearly 90 parents attended the event, which was designed to help them learn some of the same instructional strategies used by HISD teachers to convey various mathematics concepts to their children.
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Most of the 44 presidents in the history of the United States appeared Thursday morning for the official dedication of John F. Kennedy Elementary School, even if they were only student portrayals of the chief executives.
Students performed skits and gave even shorter speeches about the importance of education, public service and the historical biographies of a few of the former presidents, including a longer production involving students portraying the school’s namesake and his family.
Throughout the speeches by various HISD staff and community members, nearly all of them spoke of the dedication of Kennedy’s staff and administrators in educating children.
The stage performances were done with accompaniment by the Waltrip High School band.
Students from Kennedy Elementary’s fledgling band program sat and performed with their elders, a point that wasn’t lost on Sam Sarabia, HISD’s chief elementary schools’ officer.
Sarabia said that as he sat earlier watching the band perform, he could see Kennedy’s students absorbing the moment, watching how they played with passion. He implored the older students to recognize and accept their role as models for those who come after them, as parents and community members had done before for them.
The school, which officially opened after winter break earlier this year, serves about 750 students. And the school serves them well, as evidenced by the multiple years of exemplary and recognized status marked on the first wall to greet visitors driving to the school.
The two-story building is a combination of the former Kennedy and Allen elementaries built with approximately $17.2 million approved by voters in the 2007 bond program.
“Where we came from, the building was 48 years old, we had rain falling on us, we had possums in the building some mornings, and now we walk on terrazzo floors… the (air conditioning) works,” said Kennedy Elementary principal Daryl Sherman. “And everyone has technology to use for instruction. I think every child in HISD deserves that.”
The library and media center serve as the hub of the school, drawing students and visitors to its circular center and serving as a catalyst for children to read early and often.
“I’ve not had one tour where people weren’t wowed,” Sherman said. “When we were planning the building, we wanted to do something special. We have the library as the focus of the school. Reading is in everything we do. We know that when students are successful readers, then they’re successful throughout their life.”
The new Kennedy Elementary was built in such a way that it’s expected to require about 20 percent less energy to operate. Nearly every classroom, including special rooms for art, music and computer instruction, has clear views into the rooms for observation as well as windows for natural light and views to the outside.
Near the finale of Wednesday’s official dedication ceremony for Theodore Roosevelt Elementary, at least one parent in the crowd let out a grito — a celebratory yell — during the final performance of a visiting mariachi band comprised of students.
It certainly wasn’t the only rave review at the school this morning.
Roosevelt Elementary, a Vanguard school for gifted and talented students, opened the doors to its new campus building in late November 2011, more than 80 years after the school originally opened.
The two-story school serves about 750 students, and most, if not all of them, Roosevelt principal Armando Lujan said, really enjoy learning with the new technology the school now uses.
“The students love this building,” he said. “They love the SMART boards, they love the technology. They love the fact that we are able to broadcast news over the SMART boards.”
During the celebration, attendees were entertained by three different musical groups, including songs by the school’s Pre-K students and its new choir team, as well as bookended performances by the mariachi band from Jefferson Davis High School.
Inside the school, students have access to a central library and large multi-purpose room, one Lujan said was nearly unusable in the old school. The design of the school allows for more natural light inside the hallways and classrooms, results in a nearly 20 percent reduction in energy use from the previous building.
“It’s come a long way,” said Mary Morales, president of the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization and mother to two students currently at Roosevelt. “It’s like the best thing they could give these kids nowadays that we didn’t have when we were younger.
“It’s wonderful,” she said. “It helps (students) out a lot more. It expands their minds a lot more. I remember when I was little, I wasn’t doing projects. Now they are.”
The school was built with approximately $16.5 million from the bond program approved by voters in 2007. Roosevelt is one of 20 new schools built with funds from that bond program.
Judd M. Lewis Elementary was the scene of a small gathering Monday morning to officially cut the ribbon on a new school that has been serving more than 900 students daily for nearly a year.
A handful of teachers, students, Houston ISD staff and dignitaries heard about the history of the school and its namesake, and a few of the more important features of the school built with funds from the 2007 bond program.
See more photos of the Lewis Elementary dedication ceremony by Damon Jasso of Ortiz Middle School.
Those who were in the school’s new library could only see a few of the major additions to the new two-story Lewis Elementary.
Technology and its assistance in classroom instruction were one of the key features of the new school, said principal Tonya Woods.
“This library!” said Woods. “The reading, the opportunities; we have thousands of resources just in the library alone. We have three mobile labs where (the students) can check out the computers in the classroom.
“We’re technology rich,” she said. “Everything is identical, giving the students the understanding that ‘you’re important,’… your learning is important to us and we value you.”
In addition to the upgraded technology, the school features multiple science and computer labs, as well as both a music and art lab. The school also includes a stage with a training room for drama students.
“The previous school looked nothing like this one, and as one of the young students here today said, it was the nicest building he’s ever been in,” said HISD Board of Education member Manuel Rodriguez Jr.
Rodriguez Jr. used the occasion to mention how the new school was built after voters approved a bond program in 2007. He also talked about how others, including nearby Austin and Milby high schools, would benefit should the electorate choose to support a $1.89 billion bond program on the November ballot.
“We need to have the type of schools that bring and attract new people and new firms to our area to be able to have a quality education for those children coming in, and for our own, because we will have leaders coming out of these schools,” he said. “I never expected to be on the school board when I was in high school, and here I am.”
As you approach the new school on Houston’s southeast side, you expect to see the features of a new school, but it’s some of the subtle touches that stand out first.
Pillars of baby blue hold up wavy, red colored walkways in front of a brick facade. There are multiple bike racks across the campus perimeter to encourage its student population — many of whom live less than a mile from campus — to walk or bike to school, and there’s a large covered play area off to the side.
Even still, you expect touches like that in a new school. It’s the inside of the year-old school that stands out. As you walk in, you’re greeted with a giant mural of a lion resting among a floral garden. The mural, produced by Houston artist Dixie Friend Gay, covers a 14’ by 14’ wall above the second set of double-doors to the school.
The new campus replaced one built in 1958 and named for the first poet laureate of Texas.
In the coming days, four Houston neighborhoods will dedicate new campuses that were built using voter-approved funds from the 2007 HISD bond program.
“These students now have a new campus to call home, and it’s all thanks to the bond program approved by voters in 2007,” said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. “These schools represent the promises we made to the public then, and HISD continues to follow through with each one.”
So far, HISD has opened 20 new schools and renovated 135 others using funds provided through the 2007 bond program. The final three new school buildings included in that program are under construction. The entire program is on track to be completed under budget.
More information about the 2007 bond program is available here. As the 2007 bond program comes to an end, HISD is asking voters this November to consider a proposal to rebuild and renovate 38 campuses, primarily high schools. More information about the 2012 bond proposal is available here.
Dedication ceremonies will be held soon for the following four campuses, which opened during the 2011-2012 school year: Lewis, Roosevelt and Kennedy elementary schools. A dedication ceremony will also be held for the new addition at Grady Middle School. A full Grady rebuild would be completed under the 2012 bond proposal. Each school will be hosting their own dedication ceremony during the upcoming weeks.
These new elementary campuses are “green” schools, built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. Key features in LEED schools include the installation of water-conserving plumbing, energy efficient systems and controls, improved air quality, and use of natural light.
These new campuses also include features such as new libraries, computer labs and Smart Board technology in the classrooms.
Upcoming dedication ceremonies:
Fourth and fifth graders from all across the district are invited to audition for the Houston Independent School District Elementary Honor Choir on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Travis Elementary, 3311 Beauchamp.
HISD’s Elementary Honor Choir was established in 2008 to provide an additional high-level choral experience for musically talented fourth and fifth graders in the district. During the 2011-2012 academic year, 19 elementary schools were represented in the choir.
Choir rehearsals are held after school twice a month from October through January. Music teachers are responsible for teaching the music to students at their home schools, and parents are responsible for transporting their children to and from the rehearsals.
The HISD Elementary Honor Choir presents a spring concert each year. Last year the choir was invited to perform at the 13th Annual Invitational School Choral Festival “Hear the Future” presented by the Houston Chamber Choir. Additionally, the choir has been invited to perform at the upcoming Texas Music Educators Association’s Annual Convention in February 2013.
The audition will consist of a vocalise to determine the singer’s range and a short melody, Jubilate Deo, to be sung alone and in canon with a judge. Click here to view video samples. The schools’ music teachers are available to help the students prepare for the auditions.
To sign up to audition or for more information, contact Katherine Martin at kmartin6@houstonisd.org or call 713-556-6823.
Teachers and staff at Burbank Elementary are gearing up for the first day of school by participating in team building activities. Earlier this week, they participated in a scavenger hunt where teams had to decipher clues at various locations around the city, including Discovery Green and the driving range at Memorial Park. Burbank ES Teacher Robert Wiseman says the winning team members each received $70 to put toward the purchase of new school supplies.
Students attending Burbank ES and hundreds of other HISD schools begin classes on Monday, August 27. Earlier today, we posted links to some of the most frequently sought-after information by HISD parents. These will help make sure your student is ready for Monday and the rest of the 2012-13 school year.
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