Hundreds of HISD employees participated in a Coding Bash and Technology Showcase at Hattie Mae White Education Support Center on Friday, Dec. 8, in support of Computer Science Education Week.
Microsoft and HISD’s Advanced Academics Department partnered on the event, which demonstrated the importance of coding as a way to develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. The district is leading by example to show students, teachers, and staff members that coding impacts everyone.
A team from the Houston Independent School District will travel to Florida this month to recruit and interview teachers for positions in critical shortage areas.
The district is looking for elementary bilingual education teachers who are fluent in both English and Spanish, as well as secondary math, science, and English/Language Arts teachers. Also needed are special education teachers with experience in autism education and deaf education at all levels.
Interviews/Job Fairs will be held in both Orlando and Miami. Candidates must pre-register and bring their teaching certificates, college transcripts, and/or a copy of their bachelor’s degree. Continue reading
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Representatives from the National Wildlife Federation visited Piney Point Elementary School this morning to present the campus with the Eco-Schools USA Green Flag Award.
The Green Flag is the highest honor a school can receive from the NWF. Piney Point is only one of two schools in Houston to be recognized this year and one of three elementary schools in the state of Texas to receive the honor.
“Here at Piney Point, we truly live by our motto – Everyone Learning, Everyone Leading,” Principal Bobby Swaby said.
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HISD kicked off Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on Thursday, May 4, at Kim Son restaurant with an extravaganza of color and entertainment. The Asian-Pacific American Heritage Celebration featured performances, awards, and the traditional dragon dance.
The Houston Independent School District’s efforts to increase the number of teachers trained in computer science and to immerse all students in computer programming from elementary to high school have earned the White House’s attention.
The White House computer science fact sheet outlines President Barack Obama’s plan to give all students across the country the chance to learn computer science in school. The fact sheet titled A Year of Action Supporting Computer Science Education for All (#CSForAll) shows the progress various states have made in computer science by adopting higher standards to better prepare students for success in careers and college since the initiative first launched in January.
The factsheet highlights HISD for its plans to double the number of computer science certified teachers over the next two academic years; expand advanced computer science courses by offering Advanced Placement computer science programming and computer science courses at 38 HISD high schools by the end of the 2017 school year; and adopt computer science standards that will provide for teaching computational thinking skills to 215,000 HISD students in grades pre-K to 12. Continue reading
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The Mandarin Immersion Magnet School (MIMS) on Monday held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of the school’s new Galleria-area building.
The $32.2 million school, part of HISD’s 2012 bond program, is one of six new campuses that opened across the district for the start of the 2016-2017 school year.
More than 100 supporters of the school, including State Rep. Gene Wu and Houston City Council Member Mike Laster, turned out for the event, which featured student performances, special presentations, a reception, and a tour of the new 119,000-square-foot facility.
Mandarin Immersion Magnet School will host a grand opening on Oct. 24 to celebrate the completion of its new building, which was built as part of the 2012 Bond Program.
The new school — the first of its kind in Texas when it was first launched in 2012 — formally opened its doors to students in August. Located just west of the Galleria on West Alabama Street, the $32.2-million, 120,000-square-foot facility is designed to accommodate up to 950 students.
The school was designed around a sun and moon concept. In accordance with the concept, bright colored learning spaces and academic areas are located in the sun wing, which represents energy. Common areas and community spaces — such as the cafeteria and gym — are in the moon wing, which represents reflection. The building also features a soaring, three-story atrium housing the central library and learning commons areas.
The grand opening will be held at the new school on Monday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m.
Mandarin is among 40 schools — including 29 high schools — being renovated or rebuilt as part of HISD’s voter-approved 2012 Bond Program. By the end of 2016, construction will be underway on nearly three dozen campuses — more than at any other time in the district’s history. Once all work is complete, HISD will boast of one of the most modern portfolios of urban high schools in the nation.
The HISD College Readiness Dept. works closely with HISD high schools to create and maintain a college-bound culture. The district saw a major increase in college applications and FAFSA completions this past school year, with a 23-percentage-point increase in college applications over last year and a 10-percentage-point increase in financial-aid applications.
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Twenty-eight new College Success Advisers (CSAs) and 15 new College Success Managers (CSM) were definitely a factor in the increases. Last summer, thanks to a Houston Endowment grant of $3 million, the college advisers and managers were hired and trained to assist district seniors with applying for college and scholarships.
Once construction is complete, the new Wharton Dual Language Academy will feature new learning spaces and labs, a new gym and library, an interior courtyard preserving heritage trees, and a grand, three-story, glass entryway.
Designs plans for the school’s renovation and new addition were detailed to nearly 100 Wharton parents and community members Thursday night during community meeting at the Wharton campus.
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The project is part of the Houston Independent School District’s 2012 Bond Program, which calls for renovation or replacement of 40 schools across the district. Construction at Wharton is expected to start later this year, with the Montrose-area school expected to re-open its doors in fall of 2018.
The project will expand the school’s capacity up to 900 students and eliminate all the temporary buildings from the site.
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Work on the bond project to rebuild Davis High School is slated to begin this summer when construction gets underway on a parking lot off Tackaberry Street.
That new lot is part of an expansion plan for the Near Northside campus, and the first step in a three-phase project that will bring two additions and renovations to create a newly modernized school for 1,500 to 1,700 students.
“We’re basically working from the left of the campus to the right,” Architect Mark French of the IBI Group, told more than 40 people who turned out Thursday for a meeting to get the latest updates on the historic school.
Davis Principal Julissa Alcantar-Martinez opened the meeting by thanking the school community, especially the Project Advisory Team, for working together to move the project forward and to advocate for the best facility possible for students.
“They have stuck with this for three years even when it hasn’t been easy,” she said, noting that the school received $19 million in additional funding in December because of that support.
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