Category Archives: Middle Schools

Three schools eliminated from HISD closure, consolidation proposal

The Houston Independent School District Board of Trustees will review proposals to close Jones High School and Dodson Elementary School during the March 13 board meeting. Three of the five schools – Nathaniel Q. Henderson Elementary School, Port Houston Elementary School, and Fleming Middle School – originally proposed for closure have been removed from consideration by Board President Juliet Stipeche. This authority is provided to the president through board policy.

“I respect our board president’s request to remove these schools from consideration,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said. “I also appreciate her input, the input of all trustees, and the community-at-large in this process.”

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Find out how high school is changing at HISD ‘Plan Your Path’ meetings

Ten community sessions will introduce families to new requirements, resources

Houston ISD will launch a series of 10 community “Plan Your Path: House Bill 5 and You” meetings Monday, March 10, to introduce eighth-graders and their families to major changes in high school planning that will blend academics with higher education and careers.

One session is set for each trustee’s district, with one at the HISD headquarters at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center. Families may attend any of the meetings, and all HISD students and parents are invited to get a first look at this new model for learning.

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Grady MS community gets progress update for new building addition under 2012 bond

Temporary buildings used for classroom instruction at Grady Middle School could be gone as early as the summer in preparation for a two-story building addition that will connect to the campus’ existing facility.

“Temporary buildings are great, but the whole point is that they’re temporary,” said Principal Gretchen Kasper-Hoffman during a community meeting Monday night at the school. “We have to do what’s best for our students now and for our future students to ensure we have a sustainable building that will be here for years to come.”

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Decisions, decisions: School Choice Week celebrates variety

Kolter ES students are excited about School Choice Week!

The fourth annual National School Choice Week (NSCW) kicks off its Whistle-Stop Tour across the nation in Houston at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at Union Station at Minute Maid Park, 501 Crawford St. The event provides an opportunity to learn more about HISD’s School Choice program and the portfolio of educational programs offered by the district’s many magnet and vanguard, International Baccalaureate, Montessori, and early college high schools, Futures academies, and charter schools. Despite the December deadline for first-round consideration for magnet applications, there are still many openings in great schools across the district.

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District reviewing literacy plan in the new year

HISD will be reviewing and modifying the district’s literacy plan known as CLASS over the next several months and evaluating individual school programs for effectiveness.

“It really comes down to coherence at the district level,” said Chief Academic Officer Dan Gohl. “In math, there are very few programs and there is a great deal of coherence, so when a child moves from one school to another, they can quickly adapt. This is not true of our literacy programs.”

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Score! Houston Texans Award NFL Play 60 Grants to 4 HISD Schools

Houston Texans President Jamey Rootes congratulated HISD personnel for their winning NFL Play 60 grants. Left to right, they are Ines Brost, Sutton ES; Lisa McManus, J.P Henderson ES; Lindsey Pollock, Garden Oaks ES; and Sarah Stafford, Patrick Henry MS.

Four HISD schools have scored big with the Houston Texans, winning NFL Play 60 grants from the team to supply campuses with playground or gym equipment that broadens physical education and afterschool programs.

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Board of Education to Consider Policy Update Banning Offensive Mascots

HISD also scheduled to honor outgoing Trustee Larry Marshall for his service

Dec. 11, 2013 — Houston Independent School District Superintendent Terry Grier on Thursday will recommend the Board of Education take the first steps in approving a policy update that would prohibit offensive or culturally insensitive mascots.

The proposed policy would affect four HISD high schools — Lamar High School Redskins, Westbury High School Rebels, Hamilton Middle School Indians and Welch Middle School Warriors. The measure must be approved on Thursday and then again in January after its second reading.

The new policy would allow schools to respectfully retire their existing mascot while also acknowledging the important role their related traditions and symbols have played in their community.

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Pumps and Pipes give STEM Schools Taste of Real World

It’s not every day that a freshman in high school gets to talk one-on-one with a former astronaut and current NASA chief, but for Energy Institute High School students Chisom Anyanwu, Matthew Brack, Timothy Chung, and Avin Passalar, meeting NASA Director Ellen Ochoa was beyond comprehension.

“I just can’t believe it,” said Passalar. “I could have talked to her for hours. She had such amazing things to say about being a woman in the space industry.”

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Televisa Foundation to Help English Language Learners ‘Live the Dream’

Latina entertainer, neuroscientist kick off new partnership at Burbank MS 

English language learners at HISD’s Burbank Middle School got a lesson in the importance of aiming for the stars recently, when a neuroscientist and a popular entertainer came to that campus.
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