Category Archives: High Schools

HAIS principal honored with outstanding school leadership award

The Houston Academy for International Studies (HAIS) was officially recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School at an awards ceremony on Nov. 11 in Washington, D.C., and Principal Melissa Jacobs-Thibaut was also presented with the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership.

The award recognizes campus leaders who are committed to doing whatever it takes to help their students meet high standards. The award’s namesake served as secretary of education from 1981 to 1985. Continue reading →

Endurance sport training builds fortitude and fraternity at Sharpstown HS

The Aramco Houston Half Marathon is still about ten weeks away, but excitement is building at one HISD school, courtesy of a science teacher with a penchant for endurance sports. Sarah Kingston and a group of like-minded students and staff members at Sharpstown High School have been training together now for about five weeks in preparation for that annual event.

“Our students and staff ran a 5k race on Nov. 2,” said Kingston, “and it was an amazing experience. Last week, students ran the same two-mile loop that they did during the first week of training, and they were really able to see changes in their running.” Continue reading →

HISD schools awarded STEM grants from ExxonMobil

Samuel Saenz

A proposal submitted by East Early College High School recently won the school a grant from ExxonMobil that will help fund science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs for girls.

Science teacher Samuel Saenz applied for the company’s Southeastern Consortium Minorities in Engineering (SECME) mini-grant by submitting a proposal entitled “G-3 (Girls, Gears & Gadgets): A Program to Encourage Girls from Economically Disadvantaged Families to Consider STEM Related Career Choice.” The proposal outlines a plan to form a girls’ robotics and engineering team that will not only program robots for competition, but encourage younger students from feeder schools to explore STEM career possibilities. Continue reading →

HISD announces district’s holiday greeting card artwork for 2014

Designs are also available for purchase by the general public through Friday, Dec. 5

Each winter, HISD sends out holiday greeting cards to hundreds of people and organizations, including school principals, board members, legislators, local leaders, parent groups, and community partners. Since 2003, these cards have featured the artwork of district students, and this year, three designs were chosen to showcase their creative talents.

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Video highlights design for new Davis HS with ‘eye toward the future’

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A new video released by HISD highlights the planning and final design images for the new 21st century Davis High School. The campus is one of 40 facilities being rebuilt or renovated under the $1.89 billion bond program approved by voters in 2012.

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Educational website helps students build their vocabulary while having fun

Friendly online competition also promotes team spirit, as schools band together to beat their cross-town rivals

HISD’s Bellaire and Chávez high schools usually face off against each other on the football field or the basketball court, but this year, those campuses are taking their rivalry to the Internet, and fighting for dominance in a more ethereal realm.

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eNews Highlight: Meet the Carnegie senior who’s applying to 23 colleges

Read why this EMERGE student is keeping her options open in this week’s edition

While most seniors are fine-tuning a short list of colleges and universities they might want to attend, one student at HISD’s Carnegie Vanguard High School is doing exactly the opposite. Learn why Olaide Sode is pushing herself to apply to almost two dozen different schools, and how the EMERGE program is helping Olaide and other economically disadvantaged students to reach for the stars in the Nov. 7, 2014, edition of eNews.

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Former ACP Teacher of the Year now has his eyes on the Fishman Prize

Physics teacher Adeeb Barqawi works with his students at Kashmere High School, April 14, 2014. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

Physics teacher Adeeb Barqawi works with his students at Kashmere High School on April 14, 2014.

When Adeeb Barqawi first started teaching during the 2012–2013 school year, he had no idea how quickly success would come to him.

But in June of 2013, he was named the Alternative Certification Program Teacher of the Year for the entire State of Texas, and the following February, his approach to instruction was highlighted in a Breakthroughs feature of the district’s eNews publication. This led to accolades from the mayor and Houston City Council in April of 2014, and now, the high school physics instructor is hoping the combination of his teaching philosophy and his students’ achievements will bring him recognition on the national stage. Continue reading →

Video: An inside look at the design process for Lamar HS

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In a new video, members of Lamar High School’s Project Advisory Team (PAT) discuss the planning and design process of the new Lamar High School, which will combine 21st century educational strategies with 21st century architecture.

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