Category Archives: High Schools

Longtime HISD baseball coach retires after 35 years

Bellaire High School Baseball Head Coach Rocky Manuel announced this week that he will retire after 35 years coaching baseball at HISD.

Rockys RetirementNicks Announcemnt

Principal Michael McDonough, Coach Nick Ozuna, Coach Rocky Manuel

Manuel led the Bellaire baseball team for 25 years. The team went to the state championship tournament three times, while winning the state championship in 1994 and 1999. In 1999, USA Today named Manuel as National Coach of the Year and the Bellaire team was recognized as national champions. Under Manuel’s leadership, over 200 Bellaire baseball players graduated and moved on to play Division I baseball at colleges and universities throughout the country. Seven of those former players continued on to play professionally at the major league level.

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HISD Police Department to host public forum as part of national re-accreditation process

The Houston Independent School District Police Department and a team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies will host a public forum next week as part of the department’s re-accreditation process.

It has been 13 years since the department first achieved accreditation, becoming the only school district police department in the nation to achieve such a feat. This summer, the department is seeking its fourth renewal of the designation, and they need your input.

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HISD to test schools for lead in water

Amid national concerns about lead in municipal water supplies, HISD has begun random lead testing and plans to test all schools not being rebuilt within the 2012 bond program by the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

In March 2016, HISD conducted a test for lead at five schools that were selected at random. The schools tested were: Wharton Dual Language Academy, Hogg Middle School, Henderson Elementary School, Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men, and McReynolds Middle School. Lead levels in all water samples were within acceptable standards.

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Mickey Leland robotics clubs end year on top, winning national championships 

Mickey Leland Preparatory Academy's middle-school and high-school teams at the SECME VEX nationals with SECME staffer Anthony Bowser. Students (left to right) are Evert Guzman, Brandon Chuor, Danny Medina, Anthony Bowser, Marcellus Jordan, Luis Torres, and Jarmel Brown.

Mickey Leland Preparatory Academy’s middle school and high school teams display their awards at the SECME VEX nationals with SECME staffer Anthony Bowser (center). Students (left to right) are Evert Guzman, Brandon Chuor, Danny Medina, Marcellus Jordan, Luis Torres, and Jarmel Brown.

Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy’s high-school robotics club won first place at the 40th annual SECME Summer Institute’s VEX nationals in June at Tennessee State University in Nashville, and the middle-school team took second place.

This summer event brings together STEM educators and students for learning, collaboration, and dialog.

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Lamar students prepare for intensive IB program in the fall 

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Lamar High School’s International Baccalaureate Summer Academy got underway this past week. Every summer, incoming ninth-graders are introduced to the IB Middle Years Programme through an interactive interdisciplinary blending of English, math, science, technology, arts and humanities, and physical education in a project-based, non-graded curriculum.

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Topping Out Ceremony marks milestone for new Wisdom High School

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Workers on the site of the new Wisdom High School paused last Friday to celebrate as the last structural steel beam was placed atop the building, an important milestone in construction of the $74 million project.

Satterfield & Pontikes, Inc., the construction manager at risk for the new facility, organized the “Topping Out” Ceremony to thank subcontractors for their hard work and safety record. The group was treated to a barbecue lunch before they watched a large crane lift and place the final beam.

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HISD boasts half of 8-county region’s top elementary, middle and high schools

District is home to No. 1 schools at every level in statewide rankings

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Houston Independent School District campuses occupy half of the top 10 slots on the 2016 Children at Risk public school rankings of the region’s best public schools.

Additionally, HISD schools took the statewide No. 1 ranking in every category, with River Oaks No. 1 among elementary schools, T.H. Rogers No. 1 in the middle school category, and DeBakey High School for Health Professions No. 1 at the high school level.

The rankings were publicly released Monday at a ceremony conducted at HISD’s Pilgrim Academy, which received special distinction as a Gold Ribbon school, recognizing the region’s highest-performing, high-poverty campuses. Continue reading →

Schools’ Office Organizational and Staffing Changes

As HISD prepares for the 2016-2017 school year, the district is taking the necessary steps to align the central office team in a way that best supports teaching and learning. Also, as a result of the $165 million recapture payment HISD must make to the state, the district is making changes to the organization and staffing structure at the cabinet level and throughout central office departments. Continue reading →

South Early College HS selected as state STEM academy by TEA

South Early College High School was named one of 23 new Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (T-STEM) Academies for the 2016-2017 school year by the Texas Education Agency.

T-STEM academies are rigorous secondary schools focusing on improving instruction and academic performance in science and mathematics-related subjects, with a goal of increasing the number of students who study and enter STEM careers. Designated T-STEM campuses serve students in grades 6-12 or 9-12. Continue reading →

Yates High School to hold groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate new school

Yates High School will hold a groundbreaking ceremony this morning to officially mark the start of construction on the school’s new $59.4 million facility.

Scores of students, staff, alumni, elected officials, and district and community leaders are expected to attend the groundbreaking for Yates, which is among 40 schools across the district being renovated or rebuilt as part of HISD’s voter-approved 2012 Bond Program.

The groundbreaking is being held at 9 a.m. oat the Yates High School campus, 3703 Sampson St.

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