Category Archives: High Schools

Austin HS Algebra I team produces its own version of the ‘Khan Academy’

Maria Rios, the content manager for the mathematics department of Austin High School, knew that there was already a multitude of resources available online—such as the Khan Academy—to help kids master various math concepts. But something about that just set wrong with her. So she and the school’s Algebra I team produced an online library of web-based instructional videos.

“What we were interested in is continuing to build relationships with our students,” said Rios, “to personalize our instruction by having our voices—the voices of the students’ actual teachers—and our style of delivery available at any time to learners.”

The video library was created both to complement students’ in-class lessons and to maximize the benefits of the PowerUp initiative, but another benefit was that it allowed teachers to “flip” the traditional classroom model on its head. Continue reading →

Online teaching and learning platform launching at 48 schools

HISD teachers at a select group of schools will be utilizing an online tool this school year designed to make their instruction more personalized and collaborative, while at the same time allowing them to do more in less time.  The new online teaching and learning platform is called the PowerUp:HUB, or HUB for short, and is being piloted at 48 K through 12 campuses  during the 2014-2015 school year.

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“The HUB is an LMS, a Learning Management System, that is a one-stop-shop,” said Annetta Modest, senior manager for Teacher Development. “Once teachers in our pilot schools sign on, they will have access to tools, curriculum, and lesson plans.” Continue reading →

J.P. Henderson ES gets teachers’ lounge makeover

J.P. Henderson Elementary has new furniture in its teachers’ lounge, thanks to Gallery Furniture, Univision 45 and Children at Risk.

The furniture store is making over several teachers’ lounges throughout the Houston area. It asked Univision 45 to pick a school, and the TV station asked Children at Risk for a recommendation.

“When Univision called that I had really good news, I ran to my office and said that I need good news – it’s the beginning of school!” Principal Herlinda Garcia said. “This sends a very strong message from the community to the teachers that we do care about you.”

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Community partners pitching in to help students start off the new school year right

Thanks to the generosity of Houston-area companies and community organizations, many HISD students have the supplies they need to start the new school year.

For the fourth year in a row, NRG, formerly known as Reliant Energy, helped local students with a donation of more than $20,000 worth of school supplies. NRG executives were on hand at the Martin Luther King Jr. Early Childhood Center the week before school started to personally distribute the school supply packets to students. Four thousand more backpacks that include grade-specific supplies for students in grades K-12, such as crayons, notebooks, pens, paper, or folders, will be distributed to more than 35 HISD schools.

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Recent grads learn ‘It’s Not Too Late’ to apply for fall HCC classes

Westbury High School graduate Darling Romero’s busy work schedule kept her from registering for fall classes earlier this summer at a local community college.

“The summer went by fast, and I got caught up in work,” Romero said. “The next thing I knew, it was almost time for the (enrollment) deadline.”

The HISD College Readiness team helped students like Romero make the time to register for fall classes during the department’s “It’s Not Too Late” Application Day last week at Houston Community College-Southwest.  A second event was held at HCC-Southeast.

The event, in collaboration with HCC, is part of a new initiative to help 2014 high school graduates who have not enrolled in college apply for community college classes and financial aid. Continue reading →

Linked Learning connects students’ present to future higher education and careers

This is the ninth in a series of stories counting down to the start of school, spotlighting what is new in HISD in the coming year.

So promising is HISD’s new Linked Learning approach, launching this school year, that the federal government gave one of its coveted Race to the Top grants worth $30 million to get it started over the next five years.

The Linked Learning approach — not a program, not an initiative — blends college and career readiness into one unified path from kindergarten through 12th grade. This year, eight HISD high schools and their 32 feeder elementary and middle schools are piloting Linked Learning. The high schools are Chavez, Eastwood Academy, Furr, Lee, Milby, Reagan, Sterling, and Westside. Continue reading →

Your back-to-school questions answered

Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year! We know you may have questions about everything from registration to transportation to dress codes, so we’ve compiled a list of the most commonly requested information. If you have other questions, please let us know in the comments section below and we’ll look into them. Continue reading →

Request a new sport at your school

When you read this year’s HISD Code of Conduct, you’ll see something interesting on the last page – a form to request a new sport on your campus.

According to the district’s athletics department, students and parents have always been able to ask for a sport, and requests for both UIL- and non-UIL sanctioned sports have been requested. Some of those requests have resulted in schools getting a new team, including lacrosse at Lamar High School and volleyball at Carnegie Vanguard High School. Continue reading →

Countdown to 2014-2015: What’s new in HISD #4 — Construction set to start on all Group 1 bond schools

This is the seventh in a series of stories counting down to the start of school, spotlighting what is new in HISD in the coming year.

As campuses head into the new school year, expect to see lots of work going on in HISD, with simultaneous work on two bond programs. Over the next several months, contractors will be busy at several campuses finishing up a variety of projects under the $805 million 2007 bond program, including new air conditioning, mechanical and electrical systems for Hogg Middle School and new classroom lighting at Pugh Elementary.

As those projects are completed, work on the $1.89 billion 2012 bond program is ramping up, with construction set to begin on all the schools in the first group of the program by the end of the year. Those schools include: Continue reading →