Highland Heights ES welcomes students back with Family Resource Center

HISD campuses may have been closed for months, but the team at Highland Heights Elementary School has been working around the clock to make sure their school community is safe, clothed, fed, and supported.  

The Highland Heights Resource Center officially opened its doors on Monday, welcoming new and old Honeybees to the first-of-its-kind center, which offers families much-needed items such as food, clothes, shoes, and toiletries.

Highland Heights Wraparound Resource Specialist Brendella Chavis has worked diligently to make sure students were supported.

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Mark White ES nurse helps foster healthy, safe atmosphere for students

Nurse Janda Jelks’ first year as a school nurse has been unusual and challenging, but she has leveraged her creativity and enthusiasm to excel in her new role.

Jelks, who worked in a hospital before coming to Mark White Elementary School, said her goal is to foster relationships between parents, teachers, and students and ensure the return to face-to-face instruction is as smooth as possible.

“Our priority is making sure kids are getting as much instruction time as they can, either virtually or in person,” Jelks said. “I would hate for something that I’m doing, even though it’s state-mandated, to cut into that. So instead of the students coming to me, I come to them.”

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Virtual Dream Summit Series to prepare students for college

HISD’s College Readiness and Multilingual departments will be adapting the annual Dream Summit into a series of events called the Dream Summit Series to assist students with college applications and the financial aid process.

The virtual kickoff event for the series, Launch the Dream, will be held on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 6-7:30 p.m. High school students and their families are encouraged to attend the free event, which will be hosted in English and Spanish.

The event aims to help HISD DREAMers, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, visa holders, permanent residents, refugees, and asylum grantees, along with their families. Students will be able to speak with district representatives regarding financial aid requirements and get help with the college application process.

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Washington HS engineering students learn new skill with face shield project

For Booker T. Washington High School sophomore Rebecca Stansell, the first day of face-to-face instruction for the 2020-21 school year had some added emotion – and even a few nerves.

HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan was scheduled to visit the historic Independence Heights neighborhood campus on the first day of face-to-face instruction, where she would be greeted by Stansell and fellow engineering students with a customized face shield designed to protect against the spread of COVID-19.

“It was thrilling, but a little nerve-racking because I had never met the superintendent. There was a lot of moving around, and a lot of people.” Stansell said. “We assembled her face shield last week, and I think she was happy – and even a little surprised – to see that we customized it by putting her name on the shield.”

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Unique masks help students innovate, adapt at T.H. Rogers

Asusena Gonzales’ 9-year-old son, Brandon Martinez, is deaf and attends the Region 4 Regional Day School Program for the Deaf (RDSPD) at HISD’s T.H. Rogers School.

Brandon has been at Rogers since the age of 3, growing and learning like any other student. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The school closed and went fully remote in March, and Gonzales worried that virtual school would be a challenge for her son and that he could fall behind, but Brandon exceeded all expectations.

“He was able to learn multiplication through virtual learning, and that was shocking to me because I thought he would be delayed but … it has been really great,” she said. “Actually, we’ve been learning with him, and learning the signs to assist him, which has been really good.”

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With return to face-to-face instruction, Sanctuaries of Learning program comes to a close

The Houston Independent School District partnered with several churches throughout the city for the Sanctuaries of Learning program, which offered hundreds of students a safe place to participate in virtual learning.

Now, as the district returns to face-to-face instruction this week, the program is ending, but not before having served an important purpose for HISD students and staff alike.

The program served students who had a device but were not old enough to stay home alone or lacked internet access. Participating students spent their school days in the church buildings, supervised by HISD staff and church volunteers and receiving breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

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HISD to recognize Bullying Prevention Week

As part of National Bullying Prevention Month in October, HISD is recognizing this week as Bullying Prevention Week to raise awareness about the damaging effects of bullying.

Every day, thousands of students experience some form of bullying, especially online through social media and texts. Cyberbullying has increased significantly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. So now is a great time for HISD schools, staff, and students to raise awareness about bullying and the role we all play in making our schools accepting and welcoming environments for all children.  

This week has been designated HISD Bullying Prevention Week in conjunction with the Sandy Hook Promise “Start with Hello” campaign.  

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Ericka Austin named new principal of Sugar Grove Middle School

Ericka Austin has been selected as the new principal of Sugar Grove Middle School. 

Austin joined HISD in 2014 as a teacher specialist at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, after beginning her career in Arlington ISD as a fifth-grade math and science teacher and later, grade-level chair. She also served as a teacher specialist at High School Ahead Academy before moving into the role of a data-driven instructional specialist for the district. In 2019, she returned to High School Ahead Academy as principal.

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Hotline available this weekend to support return to face-to-face instruction

The Houston Independent School District’s HISD @ H.O.M.E. Hotline will be available this weekend to provide answers to questions from students and parents about fall distance learning.

Students and parents can call the HISD @ H.O.M.E. Hotline at 713-556-INFO (4636), Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18, from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Operators will be on hand to answer questions in English and Spanish.

Nutrition Services launches Neighborhood Supersites to feed community

Facing hundreds of cars in a line that stretched down the street and around the block, it would have been easy for Nutrition Services staff to feel overwhelmed at their first neighborhood supersite in southeast Houston.

But for a department known for its dedication to keeping families fed and well-nourished, it was all in a day’s work on Wednesday — the launch of weekly community food distributions.

Hosted through a partnership with the Houston Food Bank, the supersites provide a place where Houstonians can go each week to pick up 32-pound family food packages and a week’s worth of student meals.

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