HISD students had the opportunity to meet with admissions representatives from nearly 260 colleges and universities at the Houston National College Fair on Thursday, April 12 at Reliant Center. Info on financial aid, virtual campus tours, and advice on writing college essays was provided.
Click through the photos below to see more from the fair.
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HISD Board of Education Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones will address a crowd of students, parents, community members, alumni, and HISD staff at the dedication ceremony for the new Berry Elementary School (2310 Berry Road) on Monday, April 16th at 9 a.m.
“I am so thrilled for the Berry Elementary community! This lovely new school was designed to create a positive learning environment and to inspire students to want to learn and to grow,” said Skillern-Jones. “With these excellent teachers and this beautiful, technology-driven environment, I know we will see more great leaders emerge from Berry Elementary.”
Berry is among many schools taking part in the Houston Independent School District’s Green School Challenge in which students track how much energy is used on campus and suggest ways to make us even more energy efficient.
“Our students are studying the connection between the environment and they way we live, and this new energy-efficient campus is a huge part of the learning process,” said Principal Deborah Silber, referring to the school’s environmental science magnet program. “It is no accident that we are dedicating our campus during National Environmental Education Week.”
The new Berry facility is built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards – Gold level and is projected to have a 38 percent reduction in water use, and a 24.5 percent reduction in energy use. The district has committed to build all new construction projects to LEED standards.
The $805 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2007 made the project possible. The new school includes:
For more information about other school construction projects district wide, visit www.hisdprojects.org.
The first of 11 public meetings to gather input on a plan to add 19 minutes to the average school day with a uniform bell schedule for all Houston Independent School District campuses will be held tonight at three high schools.
Upcoming meetings:
HISD is looking for more ways to reduce spending as the district seeks to address a projected $34 million shortfall for the 2012-2013 school year. The shortfall is primarily a result of last year’s decision by the Texas Legislature to reduce public education funding by $5.3 billion.
Under the uniform bell schedule plan, every HISD school would have an instructional day that is 7 ½ hours long. This represents a 19-minute increase for the average HISD school, or a total of seven full days of extra instruction time over the course of the year. The 19 HISD schools that currently operate for more than 7 ½ hours per day would be allowed to continue offering the same amount of instructional time. The new schedule would save a projected $1.2 million.
Currently, HISD’s 279 schools have about 20 different start and end times. Under the proposal, schools would operate on the following bell schedule:
• Approximately half of all elementary schools would operate from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Approximately half of all elementary schools would operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• All middle schools would operate from 7:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
• All high schools would operate from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Click here to see proposed bell schedules for all HISD elementary schools.
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HISD Board of Education Trustee Anna Eastman and Deputy Chief Academic Officer Alicia Thomas will be joining administrators, staff and students for a ceremony to dedicate the new DeChaumes Elementary School (155 Cooper) on Tuesday, April 3 at 10 a.m.
“I know this campus was highly anticipated and means so much to the community! DeChaumes has soared academically in recent years,” said Eastman. “Having an energy-efficient facility with state of the art technology will only further enhance learning for our current students, as well those to come.”
DeChaumes Elementary is one of 16 new schools designed with eco-friendly features and leading technology that HISD has opened since 2011. The district will soon be opening eight more.
“Our commitment to quality education goes beyond the classroom to the overall campus environment,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said. “Providing a safe building and the latest technology are key factors in enhancing our students’ educational experience.”
The new DeChaumes facility is built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and is projected to have an 18 percent reduction in energy consumption and designed to use 50 percent less water for landscape irrigation. The district has committed to build all new construction projects to LEED standards.
“Our school community is so proud of the way the school looks now, and all our students are using the latest technology,” said DeChaumes Principal Sandy Gaw. “I am also delighted that we now have space to offer special activities and clubs, like soccer and robotics.”
The $805 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2007 made this project possible. The new school includes:
• New library;
• New science labs;
• New computer lab; and
• Smart Board technology in all classrooms.
For more information about other school construction projects district wide, visit www.hisdprojects.org.
The Houston Independent School District hosted some of the country’s most innovative education leaders on Monday, March 19 for the second meeting of the League of Innovative Schools.
The League is an alliance of school districts committed to working with entrepreneurs, researchers, thought leaders and leading education companies to dramatically increase student achievement. The League was launched in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and Digital Promise, the new national center created by Congress to advance breakthroughs in education with technology. The purpose of this initiative is to spur innovation in education and prepare all students to thrive in a 21st century economy.
HISD is one of 35 school districts across the country chosen to join this initiative.
Monday’s meeting explored the League’s role in transforming the education technology market. Some of the League’s key initiatives include: accelerating the innovation cycle with real-time evaluations of education technologies, scaling innovation and sharing best practices on how to effectively use technology, and improving the K-12 marketplace by informing consumers and aggregating demand.
Among the speakers were Brad Allan, program manager from Harvard Education Innovation Laboratory; Jonathan Guryan, associate professor of human development and social policy and economics at Northwestern University; and Zoran Popovic, director of the Center for Game Science.
Students from almost two dozen HISD schools will be competing at the state level of the Odyssey of the Mind contest on April 14—but for two groups of students from Walnut Bend Elementary School, the thrill of advancing past the regional level is particularly sweet, as 2012 marks only the first year that the Apollo 20 campus has ever participated.
A team of fifth-graders won first place in its division for designing a vehicle with two propulsion systems that could move forward and backward and display four different emotions.
A team of fourth-graders won first place in its division for building a balsa wood structure weighing less than the combined weight of three nickels (approximately 15 grams) that could support 345 pounds of steel.
“This is a mathematical engineering problem that uses one of the lightest woods on the planet,” explained Walnut Bend Principal Susan Shenker, “so a structure’s strength comes from its design. The fourth-graders’ structure held more weight at the regional tournament than any other team’s present — including those from middle and high schools.”
Both of the teams from Walnut Bend were coached by reading teacher Michele Dahlquist.
Other schools that will advance to the state competition next month are: Burnet, Condit, Herod, Oak Forest, Parker, Poe, River Oaks, Roberts, Twain, and West University elementary schools; Grady, Lanier, Pershing, Pin Oak, and Revere middle schools; Bellaire and Carnegie Vanguard high schools; and T.H. Rogers, the Horn Academy, and Sharpstown International.
For complete regional results, visit the Odyssey of the Mind website.
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A combined $200,000 commitment from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the Houston Independent School District will allow 11,000 area students to receive the vision screening and eye examinations they need in the coming year.
Houston Mayor Annise Parker publicly thanked the Arnold Foundation and HISD for the contribution on Monday, March 5, during a visit to the city’s Good Neighbor Health Care Center in The Heights.
“This is truly a case of many hands sharing the load,” Mayor Parker said of the See to Succeed program, which has been providing free eye examinations and prescription eyewear for Houston-area children since 2007. Established by OneSight, a Luxottica Group foundation, See to Succeed partners include Berkley Eye Center, Essilor Foundation, University of Houston Eye Institute, Wal-Mart, Eye Care for Kids, Kids Vision for Life, San Jacinto College, and HISD.
HISD’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department, in partnership with the College and Career Readiness Department, is hosting a Career and Technical Education (CTE) College Fair at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th Street, 77092) from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m today.
Students and their parents can discuss career options with representatives from various two-year colleges and technical and vocational institutions. Information will be available on several fields of study including, but not limited to, the following:
HISD will be hosting a live STAAR forum (in English) for parents, students, and staff on Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 7 to 8 p.m. A panel of experts will answer questions from a studio audience and viewers at home.
Westside High School student Khadijah Ray promotes the Feb. 28 STAAR forum.
Viewers can watch it live on HISD-TV (Comcast, Ch. 18 and AT&T U-Verse, Ch. 99) or online at www.houstonisd.org/HISDTV. To submit questions, simply call 713-556-8901 or email STAAR@houstonisd.org.
You can also follow the forum and ask your questions via Twitter – follow @HoustonISD.
A similar forum will be held on March 6 for Spanish-speakers.
The show will air again at 10 p.m. on Feb. 28, and throughout the months of February and March on the following days and times:
To find out more about STAAR, click here or visit the HISD STAAR Q&A blog.
