This past Monday, the students, parents and staff of the new Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan decided their school colors and mascot.
But rather than simply tell you about it ourselves, we thought we’d ask the students to tell you themselves. Some of the students were at Space Center Houston on a field trip as part of the school’s inaugural summer camp to help students and teachers get acclimated prior to the start of the school year.
School’s out for summer, but students were working hard right up to the end and we highlighted some of their accomplishments in this week’s edition of Community eNews. We also posted information about summer school, keeping children fed and ideas for keeping them busy.
The Houston Independent School District has opened a satellite office for North Forest parents and staff to get more information about the upcoming annexation set for July 1, 2013.
The office, located at the Northeast Multi-Service Center, 9720 Spaulding, will be open Mondays through Thursdays from June 3 through June 27, 2013. Staff members from the Office of School Support (Federal & State Compliance, Parent & Community Assistance, and School Choice), Academic Services (Special Education, Multilingual, Athletics, and Counseling) and Human Resources will be on-hand to address questions and concerns. The services offered change each day, so be sure to check the schedule before you visit the office.
For more information about the transition from North Forest ISD to HISD, please visit our web page, call 713-556-9595 or email northforestinfo@houstonisd.org.
Herrera ES students choose books to read this summer
Most Houston Independent School District students will be spending their summer vacation having fun and doing things to get ready for the upcoming school year, including reading a few good books.
Students in all grades are participating in the Millionaire Club, a summer reading program that the district developed five years ago.
If you’d like to watch the Broad Foundation’s news conference, you may watch it at HISDTV.org. The news conference is tentatively scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m.
For the second year in a row, students from Walnut Bend Elementary School were honored at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals for their outstanding performance and problem-solving skills. The team, along with eight other HISD schools, traveled to East Lansing, Mich., for the 34th annual World Finals held May 22-25.
Teamwork and creativity helped the Walnut Bend team earn third-place honors in the “Tumble-wood” category, in which students were required to “build a structure made of only balsa wood and glue that will balance and support as much weight as possible.” The Walnut Bend’s structure held an impressive 865 pounds.
Pin Oak MS, EECHS teachers also recognized through annual awards program
Alexandrea Oliphant has a secret to getting her kids interested in science. “I try to key in on whatever it is they’re really interested in and we start from there,” said the seventh-grade science teacher from Pershing Middle School. Continue reading
Students from T.H. Rogers School
Nine HISD schools are competing in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals in Michigan on May 22-25, 2013. For students at T.H. Rogers School, the trip to Michigan is an opportunity to reflect on all of their hard work.
“Making it to World was an achievement we never imagined; but we are very excited since we’ve been working at it since August and have put in hundreds of hours of prep and refinement,” said T.H. Rogers student Ceci Bruton. “I guess I’m proudest because we’ve done this all by ourselves!”
Who: The May 2013 edition of HISD Up Close hosted by HISD Board of Education President Anna Eastman features an interview with fellow trustee Manuel Rodriguez Jr. on the importance of the district’s customer satisfaction survey called Your Voice. All HISD parents, principals and teachers are encouraged to complete and return the survey by May 20. Students will fill out the questionnaire during the school day from May 20-31. The survey is the largest of its kind in the history of the district and is being conducted by an outside company to assure confidentiality.
He may be a catcher for the Houston Astros, but Jason Castro is pitching in to help HISD with its comprehensive literacy efforts. Castro and his wife, Maris, have created a new literacy initiative called Castro’s Kids which will be providing funds, books and incentives to supplement HISD’s Name that Book competition and the district’s successful Millionaire Club Summer Reading Program.
“Maris and I couldn’t be more dedicated and excited to launch Castro’s Kids,” said Castro during HISD’s Name that Book Fair event on May 11, 2013 at the Bellaire Barnes and Noble. “We attribute not only meeting each other, but many of the opportunities we have been given throughout our lives, to education. By promoting literacy in the Houston school districts, we hope to make an impact in the area that we are proud to call our home.”