The Houston Independent School District Board of Education approved two key resolutions Thursday that will affect high school students across the district. A resolution to include a high school level Mexican-American history and culture elective in the state’s graduation plan passed unanimously. Board members also approved a resolution not to double-test middle school students who are taking Algebra I.
Category Archives: Middle Schools
Algebra I students in middle school no longer required to ‘double-test’
Middle school students who take Algebra I as a seventh- or eighth-grader will no longer face the prospect of “double testing.” Until recently, those students would be required to take both the Algebra I end-of-course (EOC) exam and their grade-level STAAR math assessment.
Now, the Algebra I end-of-course exam will satisfy the requirement for a math test for those middle school students.
Notices to go out Friday for nearly 50,000 HISD magnet applications
A new online application process and computer-generated lottery have been completed and nearly 50,000 notifications of the Houston Independent School District magnet programs including Vanguard placements for 2014-2015 will be sent to families by email (after 5 p.m.) and postal service Friday.
More community meetings planned on major changes in high school
Counselors and registrars will be on hand to answer questions about new graduation requirements shaped by House Bill 5
The Houston Independent School District is continuing a series of community meetings this week that will connect middle school parents with high school counselors and other experts on House Bill 5, which is changing high school in a big way for next year’s ninth-graders. Continue reading
Board of Education votes to repurpose Jones and move Dodson
Jones to become specialized Futures Academy; Dodson students will move to Blackshear, Lantrip, and the Rusk School
The HISD Board of Education on Thursday voted 6 to 3 to repurpose Jones High School into a specialized Futures Academy with trustees Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Anna Eastman, and Paula Harris opposed. Trustees also voted 5 to 4 to close Dodson Elementary. Anna Eastman, Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Wanda Adams and Paula Harris were in opposition. These votes come after weeks of debate and conversation including nearly 75 comments from concerned citizens during the board’s meeting and the removal of three schools from the original closure and consolidation proposal.
K-2 ‘Name That Book’ contest encourages reading at a young age
Everyone’s a winner just for competing in the HISD K-2 “Name That Book” contest, which was held March 3-7 at MC Williams Middle School. There were 10 winners — two winners on each of the five days — out of almost 80 participating elementary schools: Askew, Bell, Briargrove, Condit, Lockhart, Lovett, Mandarin Chinese, Valley West, West University, and Wharton Dual Language elementary schools. Each school can enter only one team. Students received medals and certificates for competing.
The annual K-2 competition prepares younger students for upper-level competition, which includes all grade levels and continues through April 17. Unlike the upper-level students, K-2 students only compete on one day. Middle school finalists – Black, Briarmeadow, Energized for Excellence, Energized for Stem Southwest, Grady, Johnston, Pin Oak, T. H. Rogers – compete at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, March 14, at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center. See the full contest schedule here.
I Am HISD: ‘Granola boy’ comes of age; Lee HS alum talks tenacity, transitions
Justin Anderson
Justin Anderson has come a long way since launching a granola-manufacturing company while still a junior at Lee High School.
Since 2003, he has graduated, earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University, and rebranded his entire business.
Anderson talks about what lessons he has learned along the way in this week’s “I Am HISD” profile. You can check out the full edition of eNews online.
Other highlights from the latest edition include:
• Breakthroughs—Learn how Dr. Traci Duck has improved her students’ performance at Deady MS by breaking assignments down into their smallest components.
• HB 5 Spotlight—Find out why it’s never too early to start contacting colleges and universities in this article.
To have eNews delivered to your inbox automatically every week, just visit www.houstonisd.org/subscribe.
Campus meetings put families in-the-know about upcoming changes in high school
Reagan, Washington HB 5 sessions show what’s in store for next year’s ninth-graders
High school is changing in a big way for next year’s ninth-grade students, and dozens of HISD families got a jump on finding out how at two community meetings Monday night at Reagan and Washington high schools.
The changes are coming as a result of state legislation known as House Bill 5 – and HISD has rebranded the process for its students and their families as “Plan Your Path.”
“Plan Your Path” is all about guiding students to “dream big,” explained Alejandro Morua, HISD’s general manager of Family and Community Engagement, by combining career awareness and selection with a rigorous academic curriculum from pre-K through graduation.
Plan Your Path Tip No. 1: It’s never too early to communicate with colleges
Grady students show off their letters to colleges and universities.
How are you Planning Your Path – or guiding your children or students along their way to higher education and careers? We’re anxious to share your activities with others, as HISD moves into implementing the exciting changes brought by House Bill 5. Here’s the first in our series.
Grady Middle School eighth-graders have taken the first step on the path to college and career readiness. In their English class, the students wrote letters to a favorite college or university to request information regarding programs the schools offer in fields that interest them.
“Even though these students have not yet started high school, it is not too soon for them to start thinking about what they’ll be doing after high school,” said Grady Middle School’s eighth-grade IB Language A instructor Dorothy Leahy.
Parents of eighth-graders to get preview of high school under HB 5
Community meetings begin Monday; high school counselors and registrars will be on hand to answer questions about new graduation requirements
What is an “endorsement”? How can my child be eligible for Top 10 percent admissions to college? What does my child do to “supersize” his or her diploma to be more attractive to colleges and employers? Parents of current eighth-graders – who will be the first to graduate under revised state requirements – will face an array of new choices and decisions at the start of the 2014-2015 school year.