The Houston Independent School District has announced the launch of Let’s Stay Connected, a mental health hotline for students and parents to provide emotional, social, and psychological support to students and parents who feel the need for assistance.
Students and parents may call the Let’s Stay Connected Hotline at 713-556-1340 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan on Wednesday hosted the first in a series of three virtual roundtables with PTA/PTO parent leaders to share feedback, provide insight, and address questions regarding distance learning efforts and information about the coming 2020-2021 school year.
During this first Virtual Parent Connection session, much of the conversation centered around HISD’s pursuit of the District of Innovation designation, resources to engage students and families, as well as ways that parent organizations can support their schools while the district is operating remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lathan said students, parents, and staff have done a remarkable job adjusting to distance learning and asked parents to share some of the needs they are experiencing. She also asked parents to share what would they need from her and HISD team as they prepare for the 2020-21 school year, and what assistance families need to navigate HISD virtual platforms.
Continue readingFood distribution efforts led by the Houston Independent School District in partnership with the Houston Food Bank will continue Saturday at NRG Stadium and throughout next week at 25 campuses around the district.
Saturday’s event at NRG is the fourth mass community food distribution. The site is expected to distribute 8,500 food packages. The site will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Continue readingHISD’s Office of Special Education has launched a YouTube channel to help special education students and their parents as they adjust to learning at home.
The channel will be used as an instructional resource for teachers and parents and will offer engaging educational content for students. It includes videos for grade levels K-12 that focus on science, reading, and math.
Continue readingFood distribution efforts led by the Houston Independent School District in partnership with the Houston Food Bank will continue this Saturday at NRG Stadium and throughout next week at 25 campus sites throughout the district.
The Saturday event at NRG is the third mass community food distribution. The site is expected to distribute 10,000 food packages — each weighing 80 to 100 pounds — in about five hours. To accommodate the increase, the site will open from 2 to 7 p.m.
Continue readingAs a line of cars stretched down the block of Houston’s Woodland Heights neighborhood, Travis Elementary second-grader Kai Teste eagerly waved his hands from the car window at his teachers’ smiling faces.
For the past six years, the HISD school has participated in the One Book, One School event in which the entire campus community reads one book together at the same time.
Because the districtwide closure due to COVID-19 happened before the books could be delivered, the campus created a drive-thru parade so students could pick up the book while simultaneously saying hello to their teachers.
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District is committed to providing instructional resources to parents of students with disabilities during this time away from school buildings as well as multiple ways to engage children in meaningful learning experiences.
HISD has updated the special education section of the HISD @ H.O.M.E page to enhance the organization of resources and tools for virtual instruction.
For example, if a student is accessing learning in a Structured Learning Class (SLC), there is a section with resources specific to students being served in this setting. There are also sections for additional placements to include: Preschoolers Achieving Learning Skills (PALS), Preparing Students for Independence (PSI), Skills for Learning and Living (SLL), and Structured Learning Class- Alternative (SLC-Alt).
Continue readingIn accordance with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement today for all Texas schools, the Houston Independent School District will stay closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
This decision comes in response to a new executive order by Gov. Abbott to continue safety measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 and that all public and private schools should not reopen for the current school year. Through the end of the school year on June 1, the district will continue online learning and virtual operations at the district level.
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District is extending its food distribution program through the week of April 20 and announcing 25 new food distribution sites throughout the district.
Nutrition Services staff will continue to pack food bags at the Hexser T. Holliday Food Services Support Facility and deliver them to the distribution sites. Each site can distribute up to 500 bags — or 15,000 pounds of food — per day.
HISD, Houston Food Bank partner for massive community food distribution effort at NRG on Saturday
As families arrive at sites, nutrition staff minimize contact by filling out the required Emergency Food Assistance Program forms for families and placing food in the trunks of their vehicles. Participants who walk to the sites also must adhere to social distancing requirements.
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District is partnering with the Houston Food Bank to organize a mass food distribution site from 4-7 p.m. on Saturday in the parking lot of NRG Stadium.
The goal is to accommodate working families who are unable to visit HISD-sponsored distribution sites during the weekday. The site is expected to distribute 3,000 food bags — or 90,000 pounds of food — in three hours.
New food distribution sites announced for week of April 20
“Every week at our other food distribution sites we have been able to serve hundreds of families in need,” Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “Our mission is to continue to help as we partner with the Houston Food Bank and other entities to ensure our students and their loved ones do not go hungry.”
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