Category Archives: Strategic Direction

Must-see TV: HISD principal featured in ad to air during Olympics

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Former Olympian and Woodson K-8 Principal Stephen Gittens is featured in a new ad that will air on KPRC (Channel 2) Thursday through Feb. 25.

The spot pays homage to Gittens’ role as a Track and Field Olympian and honors the dedication and drive of all members of Team HISD to serve every student in HISD.

The ad also features HISD’s new logo and tagline: Building Houston’s Future, Right Now. The tagline emphasizes HISD’s role in preparing a future Houston workforce that is college and career ready through initiatives including literacy, college access, wraparound services, innovation, and fine arts.

Be sure to tune in to KPRC to see the ad, or get a sneak preview below.

 

New Teacher Academy gives teachers new to HISD valuable resources, connections 

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Near the end of the 2016 New Teacher Academy (NTA), Adrienne Wright found a relatively quiet spot at Kingdom Builders Center to eat her lunch. She exchanged a few friendly “hellos” with new friends she made before reflecting on a busy yet informative week.

As she gets ready to begin her first year of teaching, she said she feels considerably more prepared for the first day of school than she did a week ago. Many of the 1,300 other attendees likely felt the same way.

“It’s actually been excellent,” said Wright, who will teach at Woodson K-8 Academy. The trainings have been excellent. Everything has been well-organized. I am so happy to be working at HISD because they have so much support for new teachers like me. They make me feel confident.”  Continue reading →

Longfellow Elementary hosts leadership expo for faculty from area districts

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Longfellow Elementary School students have embraced FranklinCovey’s “The Leader in Me” whole-school transformation process, which teaches them leadership, responsibility, self-direction, teamwork, and much more.

In fact, the innovative model, based on Stephen Covey’s 1989 book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” has been so successful that Longfellow is now a “Lighthouse School,” or an exemplary campus. The school hosted an annual Leadership Day Expo on April 7, 2016, attended by teachers, principals, administrators, and even parents from HISD and other districts across the state.

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Effective Teacher Fellowship looking for new recruits

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Deadline to apply is Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015

Have you or someone you know ever thought about becoming a teacher? If you want to positively impact and influence a child’s life, then HISD’s Effective Teacher Fellowship (ETF) could be the program for you.

ETF is the district’s alternative certification program, which provides non-education majors with a different pathway to state certification and becoming a teacher. Recruitment is in full force, and ETF plans to accept at least 300 teachers for the 2015–2016 school year.  Continue reading →

Rigor Institute Creating Lofty Learning Environment for Students

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“Climbing the Mountain, Enjoying the Journey” is the name of the 2013 Rigor Institute now taking place at schools across the Houston Independent School District. Thanks to Gwendolyn Tompkins, Dianne Alvarez, and Denise Martinez, all senior managers in Professional Support and Development at HISD, teacher trainers now have a day-by-day training playbook of the same name.

“Last week we trained teacher trainers from 200 secondary and 400 elementary schools,” said Tompkins. “We wrote for three months, trained for three weeks, and now we’re passing the torch into the capable hands of teachers. We were inspired by Dr. Grier’s vision of rigor, consistency, and safety in every classroom.”

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HISD Teaches Newest Campus Leaders in Summer Workshop

Chavez HS principal Rene Sanchez (right) looks on during Day 2 of the New and Emerging Leaders Institute

Chavez High School principal Rene Sanchez (right) looks on during Day 2 of the New and Emerging Leaders Institute

After 18 years as an educator and nearly a decade as a principal, Rene Sanchez is still learning. Despite his previous experience, the new principal of Chavez High School still wants to learn how to become a better leader in his first year with HISD.

Sanchez joins more than 40 of the district’s newest leaders this month in HISD’s New and Emerging Leaders Institute (NELI). The group will spend July learning new tools and how to establish efficient work systems on their respective campuses.

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Power of ‘Connection’ Proves Common Thread at Summer Leadership Institute

Whether it applied to building solid relationships between Team HISD members or making the most of tools from the Digital Age, “connection” was the common thread that tied many of the break-out sessions together on the final day of HISD’s 2013 Summer Leadership Institute on June 20.

Hundreds of campus leaders took part in the three-day event at the Reliant Center this year, and many came away with new insight into how the concept of “connectedness” could help boost student achievement.

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Family Engagement is Focus of Day 2 of Summer Leadership Institute

Teachers and administrators need to work with students’ families in order to truly better their lives, said the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s Summer Leadership Institute.

Karen Mapp, a Harvard University professor and consultant with the Department of Education, spoke to a packed hall of district and campus leaders during the second day of one of the district’s largest professional development events.

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Summer Leadership Institute Bringing Team HISD Leaders Together

Campus and central office leadership teams are gathering at Reliant Center for three days of professional development at the 2013 Houston ISD Summer Leadership Institute.

This year’s theme is “Becoming Great All Over … The Connection Between Rigorous and Consistent Instruction and School Safety,” and attendees took part in a number of breakout sessions designed to show how those concepts intersect.

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Seven HISD Seniors Awarded National Achievement Scholarships

Ten percent of Texas winners are from HISD

April 10, 2013 – Seven Houston Independent School District students have been named National Achievement Scholarship winners and will each receive a $2,500 scholarship for their undergraduate studies.

Each year the National Merit Scholarship Corporation awards scholarships to African-American students who have excelled in academics and have demonstrated the potential for academic success in college.
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