Category Archives: High Schools

EMERGE Students See Significant Gains in SAT Scores

Although HISD will not receive SAT results from the College Board until later this year, individual seniors who retook the SAT in October after attending the EMERGE SAT Boot Camp in July are getting their scores and seeing significant improvement – more than 300 out of 2,400 possible points in some cases.

“We are very pleased with the results,” said Assistant Superintendent for College Readiness Richard Cruz, who launched EMERGE in 2011 and continues to oversee it. “We are about to expand the program from 100 to 300 students.” EMERGE is a districtwide initiative aimed at getting high-achieving HISD students in underserved communities into Ivy League and other Tier 1 schools.

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Open House to Showcase HISD’s Portfolio of School Choices

Options include magnet programs, Montessori, early colleges and Futures academies

The Houston Independent School District provides families with a vast portfolio of educational programs, and parents and students will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from many of them this weekend.

Representatives from more than 100 schools will be on hand during the HISD School Choice Open House on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Northwest Mall, 9500 Hempstead Highway.

“Our goal is to ensure parents can select the right school to adequately meet their child’s unique needs and talents,” said HISD Assistant Superintendent for School Choice Dave Wheat. “We are committed to providing all students a high-quality education that prepares them to be college-ready, regardless of which program they choose.”

Representatives from HISD’s Magnet programs, Vanguard Magnet programs, Montessori, early colleges, Futures academies and charter schools will be ready to assist parents in making the best school choice for their children. Parents will also have the opportunity to learn more about the online option to submit their applications. Applications for Magnet programs will be accepted from Nov. 4 to Dec. 20, 2013, for guaranteed consideration in the first round.

“At this event, parents will find all the resources and assistance they need to explore their options for the next school year,” Wheat said. “The representatives will be there to assist them with every step of the application.”

HISD’s school choice options are available to all children, including those who live outside HISD.

For more information about the HISD School Choice Open House, contact the Office of School Choice at 713-556-6947.

HISD Senior Gets Unexpected Halloween ‘Treat’ from Nordstrom

Halloween brought a special “treat” to one student at HISD’s North Houston Early College High School. The Nordstrom Prize surprised senior Evelle Young on Oct. 31 with a scholarship check for $10,000 in front of dozens of family members and cheering classmates. Young, who also accepted a MacBook Air laptop from Nordstrom representatives, was one of only 80 students from across the country to be selected as a prize recipient this year through the retailer’s TEN4U program.

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Texas to Practice Medicine Distribution During Mock Emergency

HISD schools to host three distribution sites

The Texas Department of State Health Services will host an exercise Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 in the Houston area to test the ability of state and local partners to work together to provide medical supplies during an emergency.

The exercise focuses on the distribution of medical supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile, a store of large quantities of medicine and other items that can be deployed quickly to help protect the public in an emergency. Three HISD campuses — Jones, Scarborough and Westside high schools — will serve as distribution sites on Saturday, Nov. 2, the final day of the exercise.

Exercise activities may include the movement of large trailers, law enforcement vehicles and volunteers across multiple sites in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers and surrounding counties. These activities are for exercise purposes only and do not represent a real emergency.

Formally called the Regional Allocation, Dispensing, and Distribution Strategic National Stockpile Full-Scale Exercise, the event will test public health and hospital preparedness during a mock widespread public health emergency. The exercise will include coordination with 19 regional and local health agencies, 50 hospitals and 17 dispensing sites.

iWatch Harris County Mobile App to Provide HISD Another Tool to Further Promote School Safety

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office, (HCSO) in partnership with the Houston Independent School District (HISD), is launching iWatch Harris County, a new tool that allows Houston students to report crimes in and around their campuses via an application on their mobile phones.

i-Watch Harris County, now in its second year, is a free mobile app that lets users send anonymous tips, images and videos reporting crimes or suspicious activities directly to law enforcement.  HCSO has formatted the app to support HISD as it monitors reports made specifically about any of the district’s 282 campuses.

“We are excited to be partnering with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to make iWatch available to HISD’s students,” HISD Chief of Police Jimmy Dotson said.  “iWatch will allow students to report any suspicious activity they see while maintaining their anonymity.”

In addition to HISD, the HCSO is also collaborating with other school districts within Harris County to roll out this app on their campuses within the next six weeks.

What:             Press conference to launch iWatch Harris County at HISD schools

Who:               Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, HISD Chief of Police Jimmy Dotson,                         iWatch Harris County App Developer Dan Elliott

When:             Monday, Oct. 28 at 10 a.m.  

Where:            Austin High School, 1700 Dumble St.

HISD College Fairs Help Students Make Big Decisions

Whether to stay in state or go out of state for college is a big decision for HISD seniors, and an upcoming college fair may help students and their parents make that important choice. College fairs are a great way to collect information about potential schools – students can meet face to face with college representatives, ask pertinent questions, and even get insider tips on how to get admitted to the school of their choice.

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Students Fleshing Out Mars Plans Thanks to 3-D Printer, Fuel Your School

Students in Dr. Nghia Le’s engineering classes display some of the three-dimensional objects they created with equipment purchased through Chevron’s Fuel Your School program.

Students at HISD’s Booker T. Washington High School are giving three-dimensional form to their imaginings, thanks to a new 3-D printer, a powerful new laptop, and Chevron’s Fuel Your School program, which helped fund the equipment’s purchase.

The students are involved in an exciting challenge to design an extraterrestrial colony on Mars with their contemporaries in England, and the new computer will allow them to Skype more effectively with their peers overseas. The new Afinia 3-D printer will enable them to generate scaled-down models of the buildings and other facilities they plan for the colony.

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College Readiness Month Encourages Students to Plan Now for the Future

It doesn’t matter if your child is 4 or 14, it’s never too early to start planning for college.

That’s the message Houston Independent School District College Readiness Manager Yolanda Norman is spreading this October as the district celebrates College Readiness Month.

College Readiness Month is designed to get students thinking about college and prepare them to not just gain admission, but complete a degree and graduate. The goal, Norman said is to get students thinking critically about their future and long-term plans.

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