Category Archives: Green Schools

Rooftop garden inspires learning and excitement at Atherton ES

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Students and staff at Atherton Elementary are excited about the newest addition to their campus – a rooftop garden. And they have big plans for it.

“We can learn how plants grow and change over time,” said fifth-grader Nathaniel Alvarenga.

“It’s helping our ecosystems,” added his classmate Isacc Solis. “Birds and bees come, and the bees pollinate the plants.”

Atherton received a new building as part of the 2007 bond program, but plans for the rooftop garden were put on hold as other items took priority. Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones supported the garden, which is receiving its finishing touches this month. The project also got a boost from IDG Architects’ Ben McMillan, who donated funds last October. Continue reading →

New HISD Chief Operating Officer pledges outreach, assistance to small business owners

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Houston Independent School District Chief Operating Officer Brian Busby pledged more outreach and assistance to small business owners seeking to do business with the district in his first public appearance since being named to lead the district’s business operations division and its 7,000 employees.

“This is not a job for me, but a lifeblood,” Busby told the Greater Houston Black Chamber on Thursday. “I didn’t take this job to get to the next job. I took this job to make a difference in the lives of our students.”

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Wilson Montessori breaks ground on new addition

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new addition and renovations at Wilson Montessori School on Tuesday had all the usual celebratory elements from the obligatory shovels and hard hats to a distinguished list of speakers.

But Principal Beth Bonnette turned the morning into a teachable moment for the school’s more than 500 students when she challenged them to be part of history by contributing to a time capsule that will be placed within the walls of the new building.

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Groundbreaking ceremonies planned for Wilson Montessori, Energy Institute HS

Wilson Montessori and Energy Institute High School will hold groundbreaking ceremonies in November to celebrate the start of construction on their new buildings.

The Wilson Montessori event will be held Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 9 a.m. at their school campus, 2100 Yupon St. The Energy Institute event will be held Saturday, Nov. 19, at 10 a.m. at the site of their new location, 3501 Southmore Blvd. Continue reading →

HISD Department of Transportation honored for use of ‘green’ school buses

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Mahmoud Chami, Transportation Mechanic Team Lead

District is only one in Texas to receive special recognition

The Houston Independent School District Department of Transportation has been honored with the inaugural Leadership with Propane Autogas Award by the Propane Education and Research Council.

HISD is the only school district in Texas, and one of three in the country, to be recognized by the council for creating a cleaner environment for student bus riders by using propane school buses. The award recipients were announced last week in Reno, Nev. at the Green Bus Summit.

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HISD schools receive top accolades in EPA’s Energy Star National Building Competition

School at St. George Place ranked top in nation for energy savings amongst K-12 school buildings

Nine campuses from across the Houston Independent School District were recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for reducing energy consumption by at least 20 percent over the last year.

The schools were recognized in June as part of the EPA’s 2015 Energy Star National Building Competition Battle of the Buildings Team Challenge, which encouraged organizations across the country to compete in their efforts to reduce energy and water consumption.

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Piney Point ES wins inaugural districtwide Earth Month Campaign

HISD’s Energy and Sustainability department has announced the winner of its first districtwide Earth Month Campaign to raise awareness about the environment and promote sustainable actions that reduce campus carbon footprints.

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New Mark White ES accepting applications through March 25

MarkWhiteES_800aHISD’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.

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Grant opportunities still available for eco-campus partnership with Taiwan

The National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA program is looking for HISD schools interested in joining the third year of their USA-Taiwan Eco-Campus Partnership Program.

The program, designed and coordinated by the NWF, U.S. Environmental Program and EPA Taiwan, matches schools in the United States directly with sister schools in Taiwan to work together on a global level to address environmental- or sustainability-related issues.

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