Category Archives: High Schools

Get an up close and personal look at district construction progress

[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/229616932″ width=”660″ height=”495″ responsive=”no”]
High School for Law and Justice

Want an up close and personal look at the construction underway at 2012 Bond schools throughout the district? It’s now just a couple of clicks away. Follow the progress from the comfort of your own home thanks to cameras that have been installed at several bond schools.

The cameras, which are mounted on a pole or roof of a taller adjacent building, capture an image once every 15 minutes — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Go online and view individual images or check out a time-lapse video and watch as the building comes together. The views also can be zoomed into and panned for more detail. Continue reading →

HISD Summer graduation ceremony set for Aug. 19 at TSU 

Hundreds of students from as many as 42 HISD high schools will collect their diplomas as part of the district’s annual summer graduation ceremony.

There will be only one ceremony, and it takes place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, at Texas Southern University in the Health and Physical Education Building, which is located on Wheeler Ave. at Ennis St. in Houston, 77004.

HISD Chief Academic Officer Grenita Lathan will emcee the celebration.

The graduating students have successfully completed summer school and/or passed their State of Texas assessments.

Fifth Ward community members tour the new Mickey Leland  

[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000i8rKn3PTXic” g_name=”Leland-Community-Tour” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]

Excitement and nostalgia filled the air as community members from the historic Fifth Ward flocked to the new Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men on Friday to get their first glimpse of the new campus.

Roughly 50 school stakeholders and community dignitaries — including Gaston Leland, brother of late Congressman and school namesake Mickey Leland — crowded into the robotics lab, eager to see and learn about the facility, which is set to open to students for the first day of school on Aug. 28. Continue reading →

Eastwood Academy to open new CTE building by year’s end

[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000vtygk4O3tmc” g_name=”20170810-Eastwood-Academy” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]

Students returning to Eastwood Academy this fall will see plenty of construction activity around the campus as crews work to finish the first addition — known as the blue wing — in time for a December move-in.

“We were hoping that the entire project would be finished by December, but we understand things can change for a variety of reasons,” Eastwood Academy Principal Brandi Lira said. “I see progress every day and will be happy to move into the blue wing in a few months.”

The project has seen delays due largely to unforeseen conditions, including the discovery of a large in-ground swimming pool, which had been filled with dirt and camouflaged with ground cover. Workers also found underground utility lines and storage spaces that were not documented on city site maps. Continue reading →

Ask HISD Superintendent Carranza your back-to-school questions

Parents and community members can have their back-to-school questions answered by the superintendent and learn more about what’s new in the 2017-18 school year by tuning in to a live, interactive broadcast on Monday, Aug. 21.

Superintendent Carranza and his staff will take questions during a discussion that will be streamed live on HoustonISD.org, Facebook.com/HoustonISD, and on HISD-TV (Comcast 18 and Uverse 99).

There will be two opportunities to join in the conversation: from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for Spanish-speaking community members, and from 7 to 8 p.m. for English-speaking community members.

Parents can submit questions ahead of time by emailing Back2School@HoustonISD.org , posting a Tweet with the hashtag #Back2School, or posting a question at Facebook.com/HoustonISD. Questions can also be submitted during the live event.

The live broadcast will also provide an opportunity for the community to learn more about HISD’s initiatives for the new school year, including Achieve180, which is a plan to support the district’s 32 underserved campuses; restorative justice practices; wraparound services; and literacy. There will also be an update on the district’s new bond schools, nutrition in HISD, and fine arts.

Washington HS engineering students travel to White Sands Missile Range to launch rockets 

It’s an annual tradition. Students from Dr. Nghia Le’s High Altitude Rocketry class at Booker T. Washington High School and the High School for Engineering Professions travel to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to attempt to launch a rocket they built themselves during the school year.

The results vary from year to year, but this year, the Golden Eagle 6.5 team considered their launch successful, although the rocket did not reach the required 100,000 feet or deliver NASA’s payload.

Continue reading →

New Westbury HS construction project moving along


The Westbury High School Huskies are seeing significant changes on their campus as construction on their two story addition is nearly halfway complete.

The $40 million dollar project, which is a part of HISD’s voter-approved 2012 Bond, calls for general renovations to the current building, as well as a new addition with 26 classrooms, flexible learning centers, two new gyms, and a dual purpose commons serving as both a dining area and space for students to gather.

“There is great progress being made as far as I can visibly see,” Westbury Principal Susan Monaghan said. “I think it’s going to be awesome for Westbury and the community.”

Continue reading →

Worthing HS undergoing physical and academic transformation


With modern construction underway and a new administration in place, Worthing High School is on the verge of a transformation.

While construction crews work tirelessly to rebuild the 59-year-old school nestled in Houston’s historic Sunnyside neighborhood, new Principal Khalilah Campbell-Rhone is doing the same from the inside out.

“My desire was to come in and put Worthing back on the map,” Campbell-Rhone said, recalling how the school’s academic programs were once highly sought after and school pride was ubiquitous. “We can get back to that.”

Continue reading →

New Washington HS taking shape as construction progresses


Construction is more than halfway complete at Washington High School, where crews have completed installation of the building’s west side structural steel, exterior concrete walls, and exterior brick.

Crews are making steady progress. Installation of the exterior glass on the $51.7 million facility is underway, and the west side of the building is ready for both paint and flooring.

“It’s exciting to see what’s taking place,” Washington Principal Carlos Phillips said. “This will be the face of our school.”

Continue reading →

HISD students see gains in state math, science, writing test scores

Seventy-six percent of Houston Independent School District fifth-graders passed the 2017 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness math test — a six-point boost over the previous year and a slightly higher gain than the state average.

Third-graders also saw a four-point bump on the state math test, bringing their average up to 71 percent, which is a four-point boost over last year and also a higher gain than the state.

The math passing rate for all students together in grades three through eight jumped by three percentage points, with almost every grade level seeing a boost. Only sixth grade remained flat. Continue reading →