HISD students are invited to attend a series of virtual lunch and learn programs presented by the HISD Office of School Choice in partnership with The Ion of Houston and Pumps and Pipes.
The first event, Careers in Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5, and will feature speakers from Xecta Digital Labs, Plug & Play Tech Center, and The Ion.
Continue readingFor Booker T. Washington High School sophomore Rebecca Stansell, the first day of face-to-face instruction for the 2020-21 school year had some added emotion – and even a few nerves.
HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan was scheduled to visit the historic Independence Heights neighborhood campus on the first day of face-to-face instruction, where she would be greeted by Stansell and fellow engineering students with a customized face shield designed to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
“It was thrilling, but a little nerve-racking because I had never met the superintendent. There was a lot of moving around, and a lot of people.” Stansell said. “We assembled her face shield last week, and I think she was happy – and even a little surprised – to see that we customized it by putting her name on the shield.”
Continue readingFirst of five school choice fairs slated for Sept. 19 via Microsoft Teams
Houston Independent School District parents can begin applying for their child to enter a choice program for the 2021-2022 school year on Saturday, Sept. 19. The district’s first of five school choice fairs will also take place on Saturday, Sept. 19 virtually through Microsoft Teams from 9 a.m. to noon.
HISD offers a comprehensive selection of magnet programs at 112 schools, as well as program choice transfer options to all 280 schools in HISD, to meet every students’ academic needs and interests. HISD magnet programs include College & Career Readiness, Fine Arts, Futures Academy, International Specialty Schools, International Baccalaureate, Language Immersion Schools, Language Programs, Montessori, STEM & STEAM, Single-Gender College Preparatory, and Vanguard. HISD program choice transfer options include Boundary Option, Career/Technology Education, Dual Language, and International Baccalaureate.
Continue readingHISD’s Parker Elementary School Chorus has been selected as a finalist in the 2019-2020 American Prize National Competition in the Performing Arts.
Parker’s advanced chorus, under the direction of Marianna Parnas-Simpson, is nominated for The American Prize in Choral Performance—youth division. The advanced chorus is made up of fourth and fifth-grade students.
“It is a huge honor for our Parker students and their families to be recognized like this on a national level,” Parnas-Simpson said. “It is a testimony to their hard work and dedication to the choral art.”
Continue readingSchool Choice Fair scheduled for Feb. 15 at Northside HS
To enroll students in any HISD pre-K program for 3- and 4-year-olds for the 2020-2021 school year, parents will need to submit an application by Feb. 28, 2020 for Phase 1. Parents can also apply in-person at campuses.
Can’t see this PDF? Click hereFor more information, HISD is holding a School Choice Fair from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Northside High School for space-available campuses.
Continue readingParents and students who submitted an application to a school choice program for the 2020-21 school year during Phase I (Sept. 27-Dec. 6, 2019) can now check the status of their applications online.
Parents who created an online account will be able to find the results posted on their parent dashboards at HISDchoice.com. If you forgot your password and wish to reset it, please contact the office of school choice directly at 713-556-6947 or via email at SchoolChoice@houstonisd.org.
Continue readingParents who would still like to apply for a school choice program for the 2020-2021 school year have until Friday, Feb. 28 to do so.
After all applications in Phase 1 have been offered, eligible Phase 2 students who meet a program’s qualifications will be considered in the order in which their application was submitted should the program have space available.
Any applications for students who live outside the HISD boundaries will not be considered until Phase 3, even if the application was submitted during Phase 2.
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Parents who want their child to attend one of the district’s choice programs for the 2020-2021 school year must apply by Friday, Dec. 6, to be included in the first round of consideration.
Any applications received after the Dec. 6 Phase I deadline will be considered only for schools where space is still available.
Parents who still aren’t sure which school they want their child to attend next year are invited to attend a final school tour this Thursday, Dec. 5. Arrive at 9 a.m. for elementary and K-8 schools, and at 1 p.m. for secondary schools.
Continue readingStudents at Longfellow Elementary School on Friday announced that iPhones and Fidget Spinners are two of the hottest toys this holiday season after polling their classmates for their annual top toy survey.
For the tenth consecutive year, a group of fifth-graders at the school surveyed their classmates to determine what gifts kids would like to receive for the holidays. In a mid-morning press conference, students announced the top five toys for boys and girls. The goal of the survey is to help give parents and relatives an idea of what to buy before they do their holiday shopping.
“Every year fifth-grade students at our school interview students in every grade level to see what the most wanted toys will be for the holiday season,” fifth-grader Chase said. “We are a lighthouse school and we used those ideas to be successful in completing the toy survey.”
Continue readingDressed in a red floral brocade dress and her blonde hair illuminated in lights, Cambry Gerardi, an eighth-grader from the Mandarin Immersion Magnet School (MIMS), stood alone on a stage in Zhengzhou, China and shared her story of learning Chinese.
In near perfect Mandarin, the non-native speaker described to the judges of the Chinese Bridge World Language Competition how a simple, albeit significant, chain of events solidified her love of the Chinese language and led her to that moment.
“My trip to the Chinese Bridge (competition) has helped me improve my Chinese and connect with friends from all over the world,” she told the audience.
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