Category Archives: High Schools

Two new Middle College High Schools offer small, personal approach

HISD is recruiting students who can’t engage in a traditional high school environment to explore a new option — two Middle College High Schools on Houston Community College campuses in southwest Houston and east of downtown that will open in August.

The schools will offer personalized instruction through one-on-one support and small classes — averaging 15 students per teacher — that will lead to a diploma while providing opportunities for college credits and workforce certifications simultaneously through HCC. A total of 150 students will be enrolled at each campus.

The middle college concept aims at re-engaging students who feel disconnected from or distracted by the traditional high school culture so that they can proceed with their studies and accelerate their college and career readiness. Continue reading →

Washington HS design internship kicks off with straw bridge challenge

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Engineering students at Booker T. Washington High School cut straws into triangles and fastened them with tape to build a two-foot bridge that could hold a little extra weight.

“We need to build a sturdy platform that can withhold everything,” said student Nakiyah Scott while working with her teammate Monday on a bridge-building challenge that helped kick off a summer-long design team internship program at Washington.

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Chávez HS grad ‘paying it forward’ with EMERGE Class of 2014

As a member of HISD’s inaugural EMERGE class in 2012, Chavez HS alumna and Tufts University sophomore Phuong Ta (far left, front row) helped coordinate the top-tier university tours for this year’s EMERGE students.

When I graduated from Chávez High School two years ago, I was the “first” in many ways—the first one in my immediate family to go to a four-year college (as my family had only moved to the United States two years before that), one of the first students from Chávez to attend a private institution outside of Texas, and one of the first students to graduate from the pilot cohort of the EMERGE program. Along with the immense sense of pride and joy I felt upon my acceptance to Tufts University, I was also under the stressful realization that it was my responsibility to be successful, not just for my family and myself, but also for my community.

Being a first-generation college student was far more challenging than I prepared myself for. Continue reading →

Reagan HS grad’s perfect attendance achievement a miracle twice over

Kody Ford

For recent Reagan High School graduate Kody Ford to even be alive today is nothing short of a miracle.

The Class of 2014 member not only confounded doctors by proving virtually every grim prognosis about him wrong as a baby, he also managed to graduate last month with a perfect 12-year attendance record—less than nine weeks after being ejected through the sunroof of his own car during a collision with a drunk driver.
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Westbury HS band raising money for Pro Football Hall of Fame trip

Westbury High School has been invited to march in the Pro Football Hall of Fame parade in Canton, Ohio, in August, but the musicians and dancers need a bit of help to pay for the trip.

The band was invited because former student and athlete Michael Strahan, who now hosts Live with Kelly and Michael and contributes to Good Morning America, is being inducted this year in recognition of his 15-year career with the New York Giants.
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Westside HS students compete at national Cooking Up Change competition

They didn’t win any official prizes at the recent Cooking Up Change competition, but for the three Westside High School students who participated in the event, the experience of making it to the national finals in Washington, D.C. was its own reward.

“It’s a huge achievement, not only for our school, but for our state,” said student Barrosha Boykin, who participated in the finals on June 9 with fellow rising seniors Santiago Castañeda and Andrew Winkle.

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Eastwood Academy design develops with collegiate model in mind

Eastwood Academy students want their new building to feel more like a college campus with learning commons where students can study independently and lounge with friends.

“Many school buildings look plain and boring,” said Eastwood student Rosemary Lugo. “I would like to see them bridge our building together almost like a mini-college with learning commons for students to hang out or read books by themselves.”

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Computer simulation is helping teachers refine instructional methods

Teachers at eight different HISD schools have been spending more time with avatars this spring—but it’s not because they’re playing on FarmVille, The Sims, or Second Life.

Instead, these educators have been fine-tuning their instructional skills using TeachLivE, a pilot program in which flesh-and-blood teachers deliver actual lessons to virtual students in a computer-simulated classroom. The students are programmed to respond in real time to the actions of the teacher, so instructors can identify ways to improve their lessons almost immediately.
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