Before Mykayla Clark-Jolivet could begin her high school career at Middle College High School at HCC Fraga, her home was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. This was the first of many challenges she would face on her way to graduating.
Clark-Jolivet and her family left their mold-ruined house to live in a hotel for three months.
“I left a lot of memories behind,” Clark-Jolivet said. “I was constantly late to school because the hotel was across town.”
Continue readingAs Jack Yates High School senior Ernest Russell sat on the school’s football field for the citywide senior celebration recently, it was far more than an event honoring his graduation from the historic school.
The celebration — marked by colorful Yates High School masks and chairs spaced at a proper social distance — represented the culmination of a trying journey that was marked by the loss of his father and homelessness.
“I don’t really have a word to describe it. But, if I had to come up with one, I’d say it was challenging,” Russell said.
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Gina Colion Hernandez is the new principal for Herod Elementary School. Colion Hernandez is a product of HISD schools and has served as a teacher, instructional specialist, and assistant principal. For the last three years, she has served as the assistant principal at the Mandarin Immersion Magnet School. During her tenure at MIMS, she not only focused on building a strong academic program but on developing Mandarin immersion from pre-K through 8th grade. Colion Hernandez was awarded the West Area Assistant Principal of the Year for 2019 – 2020. Colion Hernandez earned her bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M University and her master’s degree from Lamar University-Beaumont.
Eden Bass has been selected as the new principal of Love Elementary School. She began her career in HISD as a sixth-grade math teacher at Patrick Henry Middle School and spent the past five years at the Arabic Immersion Magnet School. Bass joined the founding team at AIMS as an Arabic language enrichment teacher. She then moved to the AIMS leadership team and over the years served as magnet coordinator, teacher specialist, and assistant principal. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in Public School Leadership from Columbia University.
Bronchelle W. Johnson has been selected as the new principal at Milne Elementary School. Johnson joined HISD in 2006 as a reading interventionist and then went on to serve as a reading and science teacher at Mitchell Elementary School. She was nominated as HAASBE Teacher of The Year for two consecutive years. She transitioned to the role of teacher specialist in 2011 and then to an assistant principal role at Shadowbriar Elementary Schoo,l where she focused on data-driven instruction, equitable educational systems, tiered interventions, and the student’s social emotional needs. Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree in Education as well as a master’s in Educational Leadership from the University of Houston.
The Houston Independent School held virtual graduation ceremonies on Sunday to celebrate the district’s 11,000-plus graduating seniors.
The virtual commencements were broadcast in partnership with Herff Jones and in collaboration with graduation technology partners StageClip and MarchingOrder. Each virtual ceremony included recorded messages from the superintendent and other district officials, as well as audio of each student’s name as their personalized slide was displayed.
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Emeterio Cruz has been selected as the new principal of Yolanda Black Navarro Middle School. Cruz has been with HISD for eleven years, starting as a fifth-grade bilingual teacher at Sutton Elementary School. He served as a teacher specialist at Shearn Elementary School, assistant principal at Pugh and Anderson elementaries, and most recently as the principal of Sanchez Elementary School. Under his leadership, Sanchez has maintained an “A” rating and all six Texas Education Agency’s rating distinctions three years in a row. Cruz earned a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Houston-Downtown and a master’s degree in Education as part of the HISD Leadership Cohort from the University of Houston.
Nimmi Thomas has been selected as the new principal of Park Place Elementary School. Thomas started her career 20 years ago as a paraprofessional in HISD. She then became a Special Education and ESL teacher at Lamar High School. She has held the position of assistant principal at Lanier Middle School and most recently at Baylor College of Medicine-Biotech Academy at Rusk. Thomas was selected as the Middle School Assistant Principal of the Year for the East Area for 2020. She earned her master’s in Social Work from Bombay University, India, and her MBA-E from The Cameron School of Business at University of St Thomas.
Samyra Rogers has been selected as the new principal of Pleasantville Elementary School. Rogers began her career in HISD 12 years ago at Holland Middle School as a mathematics teacher. While at Holland, her leadership roles have included department chairperson, teacher specialist, and most recently, assistant principal. She has served Holland as assistant principal for the last three years. Her most recent accomplishment has been her selection as the Achieve 180 Middle School Assistant Principal of the Year 2020. Rogers earned a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Prairie View A&M University and holds a master’s in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas.
Two curbside summer meals sites will be closed from June 15 to June 29, following a confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus.
Paige and Port Houston elementary schools will be deep-cleaned and sanitized during the temporary closure.
Impacted employees have been notified and are now in self-quarantine in accordance with public health guidelines. Health authorities do not believe families participating in the curbside summer meals program were exposed.
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