District of Innovation Committee Advances Draft Innovation Plan to District Advisory Committee for Review and Feedback

Monday afternoon, HISD’s District of Innovation (DOI) Committee sent to the District Advisory Committee (DAC) a draft plan for HISD to become a DOI. The draft plan is designed to support the District’s progress toward Destination 2035, where every student graduates prepared to succeed in the modern workplace and world.

To ensure transparency, we are releasing the draft publicly here, even though changes will likely be made before the final plan is posted, voted on by the DAC and HISD School Board, and submitted to the Texas Education Agency.

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Girls Belong in School – Period: HISD students participate in period workshops

According to a State of the Period study, nearly a quarter of students experience “period poverty,” a lack access to menstrual hygiene products, which can cause them to miss class time and struggle emotionally and socially in school. To combat this, HISD has teamed up with community partners Dow Chemical and Impact100 to give middle school students a crash-course in period literacy. 

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Superintendent Miles: The Last Generation

The 51 million students in America’s schools will be the last generation of children before the skills gap is locked in for the next 30 years. The statement is a prediction and sounds alarmist, but the evidence is mounting and the trendlines are becoming more clear.

As part of his new blog series, Superintendent Mike Miles explains what this means for public education. Read the full post here.

Superintendent Miles plans to publish a post every two weeks to share his thoughts on these topics and others as HISD urgently works to prepare students for a Year 2035 workplace and world.

HISD opens Sunrise Center in revamped Re-Engagement Center

The final of seven Sunrise Centers—hubs for wellness, nutrition, and social resources for the HISD community—has opened at the former Brock Re-Engagement Center at 1417 Houston Ave. The building once housed HISD’s Student Assistance Department, and the Sunrise Center initiative built on the foundation of the services and resources that were provided there to create an all-new assistance experience for students and their families.

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HISD student dancers showcase their skills at Middle School Dance Festival

Middle school students from more than 20 HISD schools gathered at Welch Middle School on Saturday, Oct. 28, for a day devoted entirely their collective passion: dance.

Student dancers were invited to participate in hour-long master workshop classes in hip hop, jazz, contemporary dance, and more, as well as learn how to audition for high school dance companies. The master workshops were led by professional dance choreographers from the Institute of Contemporary Dance. After a day of rigorous learning and practice, 19 dance ensembles had the opportunity to show off their hard work in a performance showcase.

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HISD partners with BakerRipley to open Sunrise Center in West Division

HISD launched its sixth of seven Sunrise Centers Tuesday, Oct. 31, at the BakerRipley Gulfton-Sharpstown Campus in a ribbon-cutting ceremony and luncheon.

This center will connect communities in HISD’s West Division with vital resources, programs, and services.

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HISD students share their recommendations for National Book Month

October marks National Book Month, a celebration centered on the importance of reading, writing, and literature. National Book Foundation launched the initiative in 2003 to encourage reading and show appreciation to the writers who brought our favorite stories into the world.

At Pin Oak Middle School, librarian Brooke Corso does her best to make every day a celebration of books and reading. We sat down with Corso and some of Pin Oak’s voracious readers to ask them about their favorite books and how they think National Book Month should be celebrated.

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