These certainly aren’t your grandmothers’ schools.
At least that’s how Dan Bankhead, General Manager for Facilities Design, describes the newly redesigned schools built under the 2012 Bond Program.
A sharp contrast from the original buildings, classrooms are now bright, spacious, and flooded with natural light. Bold colors adorn the floors and walls. Shared spaces are reminiscent of trendy hotel lobbies and cafés.
Continue readingBellaire High School took a significant step toward the next phase of construction last month when the city approved a specific use permit allowing for the build of the high school’s new baseball and softball fields at 6300 Avenue B.
Abatement and demolition of the former Gordon Elementary School will begin soon to make way for the new fields.
The athletic fields are part of the 2012 Bond Program, which called for a rebuild of Bellaire’s existing school, which has been in use since 1955. Design plans for the $141.5 million, multi-phased project included the relocation of the baseball and softball fields to a site about two miles away to maximize space on the existing 18-acre campus.
Continue readingInterim Superintendent Grenita Lathan walked into a sun-drenched classroom situated on the third floor of Austin High School and let out a small gasp.
Drawn in by the view, she made her way towards the floor-to-ceiling windows and took a moment to observe the outdoor courtyard seen below.
“This is beautiful,” Lathan said, as Austin Principal Orlando Reyna stood beside her and shared his vision for the space.
Continue readingRobert W. Lane III was solving multiplication problems, spelling third-grade words, and putting together complicated Lego sets – all at the age of 18 months.
While attending Valley West Elementary School, Robert performed at a post-high school level while maintaining honor roll status, as well as excellent conduct and perfect attendance.
During his years at Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men, he was selected for a pilot program in which he took and excelled at advanced high school math courses. He scored in the top five percentile in the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and was recognized as a Duke University TIP Program medal recipient in math, reading, science, and English.
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District will host its next virtual Parent University workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
The theme of the fourth session will be “College and Career Readiness.” The workshop will begin with a general session followed by virtual breakout sessions that will include information on district programs, parent engagement, and community resources.
Continue readingPartnership with Marek Construction offers dual credits, industry credentials
Houston Independent School District Career and Technical Education students signed commitments on Tuesday to complete a two-year Marek Construction Academy program at Houston Community College.
The commitment ceremony took place during a physically distanced drive-in event in the HCC Southeast Campus parking lot. Students received commendations from executive leadership and then made their way to the stage individually to sign their commitment forms.
“We are proud of all of you. Hone your skills, learn your trade and strive to be the best,” Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “As you grow in this career, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you made a great choice to invest in yourself and an excellent program.”
Continue readingParents who would still like to apply for a school choice program for the 2021-2022 school year have until Friday, Feb. 26 to do so.
After all applications in Phase 1 have been offered, eligible Phase 2 students who meet a program’s qualifications will be considered in the order in which their application was submitted, should the program have space available.
Any applications for students who live outside the HISD boundaries will not be considered until Phase 3, even if the application was submitted during Phase 2.
Continue readingHouston Independent School District employees are sharing in the spirit of the holidays with those less fortunate through the district’s 2020 Holiday Toy Drive.
Donors are encouraged to drop off new and unwrapped toys at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St. Houston, TX 77092) by Dec. 14 at 4 p.m. Receptacles are located at the East and West entrances of the building.
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Program a drone. Track movements of an Amazon delivery robot. Animate greeting cards. These are just a few of the ways students can participate in Computer Science Education Week on Dec. 7-13.
Computer Science Education Week is an annual call to action to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity in computer science education, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners in the field.
HISD’s Office of Career Readiness, along with DroneBlocks, Code Avengers, and Amazon Future Engineer-endorsed BootUp and CoderZ, have created computational thinking activities to inspire future computer science engineers.
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District has been disinfecting schools daily in order to combat the spread of COVID-19, and a $200,000 donation from locally based international energy company Phillips 66 is now supporting those efforts to protect students and staff.
HISD has utilized the donation to outfit schools with state-of-the-art electrostatic cleaning supplies and equipment. The Phillips 66 donation is designed to assist with safe continuation of in-person instruction on district campuses.
“There is no doubt that this generous gift is making our campuses safer,” Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “We deeply appreciate Phillips 66’s desire to help HISD keep our campuses clean and safe.”
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