Category Archives: High Schools

LyondellBasell, Junior Achievement give HISD seniors lesson on money management 

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Nearly 50 seniors from Energized for STEM High School traveled to LyondellBasell‘s Houston Engineering Center in East Houston this week to take part in a personal financial planning and career exploration seminar presented by Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas.

Students from Chavez and other area high schools also participated in the seminars, which reached more than 300 students over four days.

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Anthony Bourdain show to feature Wisdom HS, diversity of HISD 

bourdain_wisdomhsNearly two years ago, Wisdom High School Principal Jonathan Trinh was featured in a local newspaper story about adults who immigrated to the United States as a child and how they adjusted to life here.

So when producers for Anthony Bourdain’s show on CNN, Parts Unknown, were doing research for their upcoming show on Houston, they read the story and wanted to include the Trinh family.

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HISD-HCC Transition Program helps students with disabilities find gainful employment

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HISD has several programs to help young adults with significant disabilities transition successfully from high school to a productive adult life. In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we are featuring three of these programs. This is the third in the series. Read the first in the series, about students at the Houston Food Bank, here, and the second in the series, about students working with Texas Children’s Health plan, here.

HISD teacher Jilianne Barzilla begins her HISD-Houston Community College Transition class each morning with physical warm-up exercises to get her students’ blood flowing. After that, she grabs a large purple ball and asks them to think of three words to describe themselves. She tosses the ball to a tall young man named Patrick.

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Program trains students with developmental challenges to thrive in office environment

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HISD has several programs to help young adults with significant disabilities transition successfully from high school to a productive adult life. In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month , we are featuring three of these programs. This is the second in the series. Read the first in the series, about students at the Houston Food Bank, here.

Eleven interns arrive at their classroom in the administrative offices of the Texas Children’s Health Plan at 8:30 a.m. every morning and spend an hour with their teacher, Lisa Mangum, before fanning out to work in various departments – collating documents, making phone calls, and manning copy machines.

These young adults, ages 18-22, attended HISD high schools before being accepted into a Project SEARCH program that is training them to work in an office environment.

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HISD and MD Anderson partner for youth tobacco prevention program   

Dr. George Wilding, Vice Provost, Clinical & Interdisciplinary Research MD Anderson; from left, Angela Borzon, HISD Director of Instructional Technology; Felicia Ceaser-White, HISD Manager of Health and Physical Education; Maureen Cagley, Vice President, Academic Operations MD Anderson (and HISD graduate and HISD parent); Dr. Grenita Lathan, HISD Chief Academic Officer; Dr. Dmitrovsky, Provost and Executive Vice President MD Anderson; Annie Wolfe, HISD Officer of Secondary Curriculum and Development; Dr. Alex Prokhorov, Professor, Behavioral Science; pose for a photograph after announcing a partnership during a Houston ISD Board of Trustee meeting, October 13, 2016.

All middle and high students will be provided with smoking prevention curriculum developed by cancer center

HISD and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have reached a first-of-its-kind agreement to provide access to an evidence-based, youth-oriented tobacco prevention and cessation program for all 110,000 HISD middle and high school students.

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HISD trustees accept $7.5 million gift for HSPVA

The HISD Board of Education on Thursday accepted a $7.5 million gift from the Kinder Foundation that will pay for construction upgrades and equipment for the new High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

The vote was 7-2, with trustees Manuel Rodríguez Jr., Wanda Adams, Michael Lunceford, Anna Eastman, Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Harvin Moore and Greg Meyers in favor. Trustees Jolanda Jones and Diana Dávila were opposed.

The new campus, which is now under construction in downtown Houston, will be renamed the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in recognition of the gift.

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Students learn valuable life skills through H.E.A.R.T. internships at Houston Food Bank 

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HISD has several programs to help young adults with significant disabilities transition successfully from high school to a productive adult life. In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, we will be featuring three of these programs. This is the first in the series. Read the second in the series, about students thriving in an office environment, here.

Gracie, 19, is an outgoing Sharpstown International High School student. She gets up early, dresses in a purple or grey HISD polo shirt and khaki pants, and catches the school bus to the Houston Food Bank. She has a job to do.

Gracie is one of 17 HISD students with developmental disabilities working as interns at the Houston Food Bank through a partnership with H.E.A.R.T (Housing, Entrepreneurship, and Readiness Training). The students, ages 18-22, officially will graduate once their internships are complete.

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Number of overcrowded classrooms cut in half

The number of Houston Independent School District elementary classrooms that exceed the state limit of 22 students has been sharply reduced over the past two years.

On Thursday, the HISD Board of Education will consider asking the Texas Education Agency to grant waivers for 755 elementary classrooms that have more than 22 students this school year. During the 2014-2015 school year, 1,499 HISD classrooms were over the limit, which applies to classes in kindergarten through the fourth grade.

Over the past two years, HISD has worked to bring more classrooms in compliance with the law. This fall, HISD opened the new Mark White Elementary School to relieve crowding in schools located on the district’s west side. Mark White Elementary’s construction was funded by the 2012 voter-approved bond program.

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52 schools take on Family Friendly Schools Challenge

The Family and Community Engagement Department (FACE) is welcoming 52 HISD campuses into its Family Friendly Schools Program for the 2016-2017 school year – twice the number of campuses from the previous school year.

Through a series of research-based activities and strategies to expand and build relationships with families, link family events to student learning, build parent capacity and support efforts for parent empowerment, schools have an opportunity to earn a star toward one of three Family Friendly School Certification levels: Continue reading →

South Early College HS hosts ceremony, ribbon-cutting ceremony for new building

More than 100 South Early High School community members gathered Saturday to celebrate the grand opening of their new facility, which was built as part of the 2012 Bond Program and opened to students in August.

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The $13.5 million, 57,000-square-foot facility built adjacent to the Houston Community College-South Campus features modern, flexible learning spaces specifically designed to support the school’s robotics, computer technology and software engineering programs.

“This is an exciting opportunity we have here at 1930 Airport Road,” South Early Principal Steven Gourrier said to the audience. “It took a long time for us to get here, but now we’re here and excited about what’s to happen from this point forward at South Early College High School.”

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