Category Archives: Elementary Schools

HISD seeks community input on plan to increase class time

HISD has scheduled 10 public meetings to gather community input on a plan to add 19 minutes to the average student’s school day by coordinating the bell schedule among the district’s 279 schools.

If approved, the extra 19 minutes of daily instructional time would be equal to an extra seven full days of school by the end of the school year. In addition, the plan would save HISD $1.2 million as the district seeks to address a $34 million deficit caused by the Texas Legislature’s decision last year to cut public funding.

Under this plan, every HISD school would have an instructional day that is 7 ½ hours long.  Currently, HISD schools have about 20 different start and end times.  Under the option presented, schools would operate on the following bell schedule:

  • Approximately half of all elementary schools would operate from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Approximately half of all elementary schools would operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • All middle schools would operate from 7:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
  • All high schools would operate from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

The cost savings in this plan would come from a much more efficient school bus operation that would allow many buses to drive more routes than is currently possible.  However before a final decision is made, HISD will be gathering input at a series of community meetings held in locations throughout the district. Principals are also being asked to meet with their communities to gather additional input. 

The public meetings are scheduled for the following dates and locations:

  • April 3 (Tuesday) – 6-7 p.m.  
    • Austin HS (1700 Dumble)
    • Bellaire HS (5100 Maple Street)
    • Chavez HS (8501 Howard)
  • April 4 (Wednesday) – 6-7 p.m.  
    • Lamar  HS (3325 Westheimer)
    • Sharpstown HS (7504 Bissonnet)
    • Waltrip HS – (1900 West 34th )
  • April 9 (Monday) – Noon-1 p.m.
    • Hattie Mae Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th Street)
  • April 10 (Tuesday) – 6-7 p.m.
    • Wheatley HS (4801 Providence)
    • Worthing HS (9215 Scott)
    • Yates HS (3703 Sampson)

HISD has created an online survey for parents, students, and community members to provide feedback for the proposal. The survey also includes an open comment section. It can be found on the website http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HISDTimeSurvey.

HISD administration plans to analyze all of this feedback before making a formal proposal for the Board of Education’s consideration by May 17.  A detailed description of the plan can be found on the district’s website www.houstonisd.org.

HISD Hosts National Education Leaders for League of Innovative Schools Gathering

The Houston Independent School District hosted some of the country’s most innovative education leaders on Monday, March 19 for the second meeting of the League of Innovative Schools.

The League is an alliance of school districts committed to working with entrepreneurs, researchers, thought leaders and leading education companies to dramatically increase student achievement.  The League was launched in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and Digital Promise, the new national center created by Congress to advance breakthroughs in education with technology.  The purpose of this initiative is to spur innovation in education and prepare all students to thrive in a 21st century economy.

HISD is one of 35 school districts across the country chosen to join this initiative.

Monday’s meeting explored the League’s role in transforming the education technology market.  Some of the League’s key initiatives include: accelerating the innovation cycle with real-time evaluations of education technologies, scaling innovation and sharing best practices on how to effectively use technology, and improving the K-12 marketplace by informing consumers and aggregating demand.

Among the speakers were Brad Allan, program manager from Harvard Education Innovation Laboratory; Jonathan Guryan, associate professor of human development and social policy and economics at Northwestern University; and Zoran Popovic, director of the Center for Game Science.

Judge’s life, accomplishments honored at DeAnda dedication ceremony

The friends and family of Judge James DeAnda were joined by noted jurists, community members, elected officials, and HISD Superintendent Terry Grier at the official dedication of James DeAnda Elementary School. The school is one of the district’s new campuses built to LEED specifications and made possible by public support of 2007’s $805 million bond program.

Senators Rodney Ellis and Mario Gallegos presented DeAnda Principal Eduardo Sindaco with an official proclamation commemorating Judge DeAnda’s life and accomplishments.

“We ought to name schools after those whose accomplishments are on the right side of history,” Ellis said. “This school is named for Judge DeAnda because he lived a life worth emulating.”

Attendees included Board of Education Trustee Manuel Rodriguez; former Houston City Council member Felix Fraga; Michael Solar of the legal firm Solar & Associates; U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison; federal judge, Louis De Anda, brother of Judge DeAnda and Michael Olivas, law professor at the University of Houston.

“He was our Thurgood Marshall,” said Olivas, who currently sits of the board of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, which DeAnda founded.

Louis J. DeAnda, Judge DeAnda’s son, thanked Principal Sindaco for his dedication to the school and its students.

“When I finished my tour, one thing I noticed is that as we were leaving the school, Mr. Sindaco greeted each parent by name. It’s not just a job for him, and that let me know that this school is going places.”

Judge James DeAnda was raised in Houston and attended Sherman Elementary School. He was one of the first Mexican American attorneys to argue before the Supreme Court, and was the second Mexican American to serve as a federal judge, nominated by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, and received his commission to the bench on May 10, 1979.

Walnut Bend ES Advances to State Odyssey of the Mind Competition

Students from almost two dozen HISD schools will be competing at the state level of the Odyssey of the Mind contest on April 14—but for two groups of students from Walnut Bend Elementary School, the thrill of advancing past the regional level is particularly sweet, as 2012 marks only the first year that the Apollo 20 campus has ever participated. 

A team of fifth-graders won first place in its division for designing a vehicle with two propulsion systems that could move forward and backward and display four different emotions. 

A team of fourth-graders won first place in its division for building a balsa wood structure weighing less than the combined weight of three nickels (approximately 15 grams) that could support 345 pounds of steel. 

“This is a mathematical engineering problem that uses one of the lightest woods on the planet,” explained Walnut Bend Principal Susan Shenker, “so a structure’s strength comes from its design. The fourth-graders’ structure held more weight at the regional tournament than any other team’s present — including those from middle and high schools.” 

Both of the teams from Walnut Bend were coached by reading teacher Michele Dahlquist. 

Other schools that will advance to the state competition next month are: Burnet, Condit, Herod, Oak Forest, Parker, Poe, River Oaks, Roberts, Twain, and West University elementary schools; Grady, Lanier, Pershing, Pin Oak, and Revere middle schools; Bellaire and Carnegie Vanguard high schools; and T.H. Rogers, the Horn Academy, and Sharpstown International. 

For complete regional results, visit the Odyssey of the Mind website.

Frost Elementary school celebrates milestones at dedication of new building

Houston Independent School District Board of Education trustees Larry Marshall and Paula Harris were on hand at the official dedicatory service of Frost Elementary School, built thanks to the $805 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2007.

“None of this could have occurred without the parents and community who voted for the bond program,” Trustee Marshall said as he commended the HISD facilities team for their hard work. “The support of this community has been integral for the success of this bond program to provide modern, healthy, technologically advanced campuses for the district’s students.”

The new school features science labs, a library, a computer lab and Smart Board technology in every classroom.

Click through the photos below to see scenes from the dedication ceremony and pictures of Frost Elementary School.

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New elementary school features multi-color tower, artistic touches (w/ video tour)

In 2007, Houston voters passed a $805 million bond referendum to build new schools, renovate and repair others, and upgrade and improve campus safety and security districtwide. Since then, HISD crews have been hard at work building over 15 new campuses and renovating over 100 others.

DeChaumes Elementary School is one of 15 new HISD schools that have opened since 2011 as part of the $805 million HISD Bond Construction Campaign passed by voters in 2007.

Every week, a different campus based construction project will be featured here to showcase some of the amazing facility upgrades happening across HISD and to demonstrate the district’s commitment to taxpayers.

DeChaumes Elementary moved into a new campus in the fall of 2012. The HISD neighborhood school serves over 750 students in Pre-k to grade 5. The new building features lots of open spaces, state-of-the-art technology, and is designed to meet LEED standards.

Click here for a video tour of DeChaumes Elementary.

Click here for more information on the DeChaumes bond project.