Category Archives: High Schools

HISD National Signing Day ceremony to recognize top student athletes

Ninety of HISD’s top performing student athletes will commit to taking their academic and athletic talent to the college level on Wednesday as part of National Signing Day.

The HISD ceremony aims to recognize the students’ formal commitment to continue their education and sports careers at colleges and universities around the country. During the event, students will sign symbolic certificates of intent to continue their careers in baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling.

Traditionally, National Signing Day has been reserved for senior high school football players completing their letters of intent with colleges and universities. But, for the past seven years, HISD has included both female and male athletes from all sports to showcase the district’s athletic talent. Additional athletic commitments also are expected after Signing Day.

The event is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, at The Pavilion, 7525 Tidwell Road located on the Forest Brook Middle School campus.

DeBakey HS holds beam-signing event to celebrate new campus

Students, staff and community members from DeBakey High School for Health Professions gathered on the construction site for its new school on Wednesday to sign a steel beam that will be used in the building.

The new $64.5 million building project is being built under HISD’s current bond program located on the western side of the Medical Center complex on land donated by the Medical Center.

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DeBakey will receive a new 198,000-square-foot building five-stories high to  accommodate 900 to 1,000 students. The facility will feature state-of-the-art medical training equipment with teaching labs for dental, rehabilitation, and patient care. These will include mock hospital rooms and science labs designed to mimic real-world research labs.

“It’s pretty impressive,” said DeBakey ninth-grader Lucy Zhang. “It’s going to be amazing once it’s completed, and we’re able to move in and go to school here. It’s much bigger, and I feel that it gives an opportunity for larger classrooms and preferably more room to do hands on activities.”

After the beam-signing, workers will transport it to the construction site to install in the new building, scheduled to open for students in August 2017.

College success advisor corps highlighted by Houston Public Media

Last April, HISD’s Board of Education voted to accept $8.5 million in grants to support the district’s college readiness programs. One of the initiatives those funds made possible was the creation of a 28-person corps of college success advisors, whose ambitious goal is to boost college application, attendance, and completion rates among HISD graduates.

After just one semester of having the corps in place, HISD is already seeing a significant increase in the number of students applying to college — and that has caught the attention of local news media.

The corps’ success is the subject of a Jan. 22 article on Houston Public Media’s website, in which reporter Laura Isensee notes the district’s college application rate has jumped the most among Hispanic students.

“The program so far is making a pretty significant difference,” said Ruth Lopez Turley, a Rice University professor quoted in the article.

Click here to read the full story.

Students in final phase of PowerUp initiative receive their laptops

Washington HS sophomore Karla Bueno displays her new laptop.

Washington HS sophomore Karla Bueno displays her new laptop.

Students at a dozen HISD high schools will soon be making the most of 21st-century technology, thanks to HISD’s PowerUp program. The districtwide initiative to transform teaching and learning enters its third and final phase during the 2015–2016 school year, and students in the last group of 12 high schools began receiving laptops this month for use in the classroom and at home.

Noah Brown, a tenth-grader at Booker T. Washington High School, said he was excited to be receiving the device on Jan. 20. “It will make classwork easier,” he said. “Up ‘til now, I’ve been doing research on my phone.”

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HISD, UH offer free tuition to students who choose to get degree in education, work in HISD

The Houston Independent School District and University of Houston are joining forces to offer a new teacher preparation program that aims to bring HISD’s brightest students back into the classroom upon their college graduation.

Through the Teach Forward Houston fellowship program, HISD graduates interested in obtaining a degree in education are eligible for free tuition at University of Houston in exchange for teaching four years in HISD after graduation. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education approves resolution beginning process of renaming certain schools

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday approved a resolution that formally begins the process of renaming four schools in order to represent the values and diversity of the school district, in accordance with the district’s non-discrimination policies.

The resolution affects Henry Grady, Richard Dowling and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson middle schools, and Lee High School. Continue reading →

64 HISD students named National Hispanic Recognition Program finalists

Sixty-four seniors from 15 Houston Independent School District high schools were recognized for their academic excellence as part of the College Board’s 32nd annual National Hispanic Recognition Program.

The HISD seniors are among about 5,000 students from across the country and abroad to be named finalists in the program, which colleges use to identify academically exceptional students of Hispanic or Latin descent to receive scholarships. The district more than doubled the number of honorees this year, up from 26 finalists last year. Continue reading →

HISD principal named finalist for Texas High School Principal of the Year

Angela Lundy Jackson poses for a photograph, September 2, 2015.

Angela Lundy Jackson poses for a photograph, September 2, 2015.

North Houston Early College High School Principal Angela Lundy-Jackson is among three finalists for the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (TASSP) High School Principal of the Year award.

Committed to excellence in school administration, the TASSP recognizes outstanding principals and assistant principals from across the state each year. Nominations, bestowed by fellow school administrators, are based upon exemplary performance and outstanding leadership in secondary education.

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