HISD’s brand new Mark White Elementary School (2515 Old Farm Road, 77063) will be opening its doors for the first time in the fall of 2016, and interested parents have until Friday, March 25, to submit their applications for admission.
The school, which is located just north of Westheimer on the district’s west side, will offer a French-language immersion program to students in prekindergarten and kindergarten during its first year of operation, and expand the program by one additional grade each year until 2021.
Biology teacher Demond Carter was “Caught in the Act” of delivering outstanding instruction to his students during a recent lesson on how to dissect a pig.
An HISD video crew, along with Secondary Curriculum and Development Officer Annie Wolfe, surprised Carter and his students and captured the video below.
The “Caught in the Act”— or CIA — video campaign was started by HISD to recognize highly effective teachers who are delivering instruction that will lead to students become Global Graduates: young men and women who possess the skills necessary to ensure success in college and the ability to compete in today’s global workforce.
Pilgrim Academy students pose with retired Jones Day attorney Jim Teater during a “Pathways to Law” exercise on Feb. 22.
Students at HISD’s Pilgrim Academy have been exploring the intricacies of the Fourth Amendment’s search-and-seizure clause as part of an ongoing partnership with the international Jones Day law firm.
Founded in 2013 by former Jones Day attorney Jim Teater (now retired), the “Pathways to Law” program is designed to help eighth-grade students develop a better understanding of the law and expose them to possible careers in the legal field.
These students from Condit ES were two of the more than 1,000 that attended HISD’s Winter UIL Meet.
HISD has been offering students the chance to compete in University Interscholastic League (UIL) activities for years, but the district recently hit an attendance milestone, when more than 1,000 elementary school students participated in a single UIL competition.
The UIL A+ Academics Winter District Meet, which took place at Davis High School, had students from more than 40 schools competing, making it the most-attended UIL A+ Academics Meet in district history.
Briarmeadow Charter School students raised enough money at this bake sale to buy prosthetic limbs for two Cambodian amputees.
Two Cambodian amputees are now enjoying a better quality of life due to increased mobility, after students at HISD’s Briarmeadow Charter School completed a project that provided them with new prostheses.
Hea Yoeung, who lost her lower left leg in a motorcycle accident, and Dork Savorn, who lost his lower right leg after stepping on a landmine during a soccer game, both have new artificial limbs, thanks to a donation of $600 from the school’s first-graders. The students raised the money during a single bake sale, after learning about the needs of amputees around the world.
A group of 20 students at HISD’s Tinsley Elementary School is getting a head start on middle school, as well as a chance to build their leadership skills, thanks to a new council created by the principal.
Twice each month, 17 fifth-graders and three fourth-graders meet with the principal and faculty sponsors to discuss qualities of the Global Graduate and other subjects of interest, and once a month, they host a dinner for families and distinguished community members. The most recent dinner, held on Jan. 28, featured a special guest — Board of Education First Vice President Wanda Adams.
Digital Learning Day was created to showcase schools’ best practices and promote a new educational venue for students that is fun and interactive. In honor of that event, which takes place on Feb. 17 this year, HISD is declaring February “Digital Learning Month.”
Principals and teachers have been invited to participate by trying out new digital tools and innovative instructional practices, then showing how their schools are leveraging digital learning by posting content to social media using the hashtag #hisddigital. Students are also welcome to join the conversation.
Selected students will demonstrate their projects during a Digital Learning Day Expo scheduled for Feb. 11, 2016, at Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th Street, 77092). The expo will take place just before the Board of Education meeting, which starts at 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The sounds of students hard at work — plotting, drilling, and making deals — filled the room at Houston Community College-Southwest during the Independent Petroleum Association of America/Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association (IPAA/PESA) Petrochallenge. Nearly 400 students participated in the annual four-day competition, which challenges young people to become leaders in the oil and gas industries through a simulation-based training tool called OilSim.
Students from different schools in Houston and Fort Worth not only predicted and acquired valuable blocks for oil and gas production, they were tasked with making deals among the different teams to test their business acumen. In the process, students learn about the methods used in the real world of oil and gas, the terminology used, and maybe even a new career option.
“I’ve learned about water depth and geometrics and all this stuff I didn’t know about going in,” said Westside High School student Jason Levine.
When all was said and done, three teams of students from Milby and Westside high schools, as well as the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy (YWCPA), took home the top prizes. Each winning team received a monetary prize, but students say they gained so much more.
“I knew I wanted to be a petroleum engineer,” said YWCPA student and second-place team member Alyssa Dorelus. But coming here just reaffirmed what I already knew.”
The Petrochallenge is sponsored by Schlumberger, NExT, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and IPAA/PESA.
More than 30 professional volunteers took time out of their busy careers to speak to Mading Elementary School students, parents, and community members during the school’s second annual Career Day on Jan. 14.
Mading Principal Nicole Haskins said the event began last year as a community job fair in an effort to get more parents and community members involved. This year, after extending the event, the number of community involvement increased significantly.
“This is an opportunity not only for the students to see different careers, but the teachers, community members, and parents as well,” Haskins said. “It also affords our parents the opportunity to perhaps find a job just by coming to our Career Day.”
First day of class at the Arabic Immersion Magnet School, August 24, 2015.
Arabic-speaking parents in HISD will now be able to access various resources on the district’s website in the Arabic language. The new section will be accessible from the top right corner of the district’s website, in the same way that resources in Spanish and Vietnamese can be accessed.
HISD’s brand new Mark White Elementary School (2515 Old Farm Road, 77063) will be opening its doors for the first time in the fall of 2016, and interested parents have until Friday, March 25, to submit their applications for admission.
