Beginning Tuesday, September 8, HISD will open 36 campuses as Digital Learning Centers (DLC) for elementary and middle school students who do not have access to technology needed to participate in online learning at home.
The Digital Learning Centers will be located across the district and open from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. All students at the Digital Learning Centers will be provided breakfast and lunch daily at no charge. Breakfast will begin at 7:15 a.m. daily.
Continue readingAfter a week-long break, the Houston Independent School District is relaunching curbside student meals distribution on Tuesday, Sept. 8 — the first day of the 2020-2021 school year.
HISD Nutrition Services will offer daily curbside pickup, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 86 schools strategically located throughout the district. Each day, families can go to any location to pick up one pre-packed breakfast and lunch meal per student. The meals are served at no cost to families.
Parents must show proof of enrollment in an HISD school — such as a student ID or report card — to pick up the meals.
Continue readingHISD staff members took hundreds of calls and answered questions on a variety of topics during the district’s back-to-school phone banks on Friday as the district helps families to Reconnect Safely and Return Strong for the 2020-2021 school year.
The phone banks gave the public the opportunity to ask questions in English and Spanish by calling the HISD at H.O.M.E. hotline number at 713-556-(INFO) 4636.
“Every year, we hold our phone banks to ensure our parents and students can get their questions answered by talking one-on-one with an HISD team member,” HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “During this ‘Year of Flexibility,’ we want our parents to know that we are partners with them in their child’s education.”
Continue readingIn preparation for the upcoming school year, HISD parents began lining up at Northline Elementary School early to receive technology that will help when online classes begin next week.
Lourdes Villafuerte’s daughter Mila, a rising fourth-grader at Northline, received a Chromebook that she is excited to start using. Villafuerte says she’s relieved the district is making technology available to students during this challenging time.
“I really appreciate that they have tried to accommodate as many families as they have,” she said. I am still concerned about schools opening in October, so if we can continue with online learning, we would like to take that approach, and this makes that possible for us.”
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District and Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas have announced a partnership to launch the innovative 3DE model at Austin High School.
United around the belief that equitable access to high-quality education is a lever to economic mobility, 3DE transforms learning to be more interconnected and better reflect the real world. The program will serve ninth-grade students this fall and will continue to grow as students move to the next grade level.
The 3DE program is designed to help drive student engagement and opportunity in high school to better prepare students for the demands of tomorrow’s economy. The 3DE model will help students achieve this by teaching them critical skills and knowledge in all content areas by combining traditional learning and with real-world experiences.
Continue readingThe Museum of Fine Arts Houston recently released an online photography exhibition featuring works from HISD Class of 2020 graduating seniors created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The virtual exhibition, Stronger than COVID-19: Empowering the Seniors of Houston Independent School District to Reclaim the Narrative of Their Senior Year, was inspired by Booker T. Washington High School art teacher Maya Imani Watson, who, as the mother of a class of 2020 senior, wanted to give students from 12 HISD high schools the opportunity to take back the story of their senior year, which had been sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continue readingA group of Windswept Gardens Apartments residents made their way through the complex’s tree-lined central courtyard, which sits just a few hundred yards from the speeding cars and unending traffic of the Southwest Freeway.
Clad in face masks and carefully keeping their distance from each other, the families gathered around a blue tent where HISD’s Nutrition Services staff were handing out student summer meals in the afternoon sun.
The district has long offered a free summer meal program for students throughout the greater Houston community. In previous years, children would come to local schools to eat. But the COVID-19 pandemic changed the game, prompting Nutrition Services to look for innovative and safe ways to feed kids without a cafeteria.
Continue readingAlberto Varona, a rising ninth-grader from DeBakey High School for Health Professions, has dreams of pursuing a career in science, and after one week at HISD’s all-virtual Camp Spark, those dreams are stronger than ever.
“One day, I have dreams of creating medicine that will help people,” he said. “Camp Spark has really encouraged me to pursue those dreams.”
The two-week camp, which is offered to students in grades pre-K through 12 and provided at no cost, is designed to get students re-engaged as the district prepares for online learning, and provides online lessons that focus on physical fitness, science, literacy, math, internet safety, technology and art.
Continue readingAll Houston Independent School District food distribution efforts have been canceled for Thursday and Friday due to potential inclement weather from Hurricane Laura.
Curbside summer meals are canceled on Thursday, Aug. 27. Student meal delivery to designated apartment complexes will continue Wednesday, Aug. 26, but will be canceled on Thursday, Aug. 27 and Friday, Aug. 28. Both summer meal programs conclude this week.
The mass community food distribution scheduled for Friday, Aug. 28 in the NRG Stadium Yellow Lot has been rescheduled for noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29 at the same location.
Continue readingFor more than 80 years, the red-bricked Austin High School has been a mainstay in the Eastwood community. With construction nearing completion, the new school now strikes a balance of the past and present.
The $80.9 million project features modern classrooms, flexible learning spaces, and sound and lighting upgrades to the existing auditorium. The Art Deco-influenced façade also has been preserved and refurbished as a part of the project.
“This school has been here for more than 80 years. It was important to keep a part of this building that has been present in this community for so long,” Austin Principal Steve Guerrero said. “The entire building is just phenomenal. It feels very grand with lots of natural light. Every single part of the building is exciting.”
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