Klinger Casquete has been selected as the new principal of Bonner Elementary School. Casquete has been an educator for 23 years and has served HISD as a sixth-grade bilingual teacher and assistant principal. He began his career at the University of Puerto Rico before joining Navarro Middle School in 1997. He joined Austin High School as assistant principal in 2003. Most recently, Casquete served as assistant principal at Bonner Elementary. Casquete earned his bachelor’s degree in English and French Education as a Foreign Language from the University of Cauca in Colombia, Master of Arts in English Education from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, and his school administration degree at Texas Southern University.
MyThesia Johnson named new principal of Tinsley Elementary School
MyThesia Johnson has been selected as the new principal of Eleanor Tinsley Elementary School. Johnson began her career in education in 2003 as a fourth-grade teacher at HISD’s Osborne Elementary School. Johnson also served as an instructional coordinator at Osborne and assistant principal at Bruce and Foster elementary schools. At Foster, she helped get the campus out of Improvement Required and moving toward being a candidate for the International Baccalaureate program, as well as a Texas Honor Roll School. She earned her Bachelor of Science from University of Houston and Master in Educational Leadership from Walden University.
Christyn McCloskey named new principal of Stevenson Middle School
Christyn McCloskey has been selected as the new principal of Stevenson Middle School. McCloskey began her career in HISD at Ortiz Middle School, where she taught sixth grade math for 5 years. Throughout her time at Ortiz, she developed her leadership skills as a team lead, department chair, and teacher specialist before joining the leadership team at Stevenson. McCloskey served in various roles at Stevenson over the past three years, including magnet coordinator and dean of instruction. McCloskey earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oregon in Political Science and her Master of Business Administration from Rice University with an emphasis in the Entrepreneurship Program (REEP). Most recently, she earned a Certificate in Education Finance (CEF) from Georgetown University.
Ruth Ruiz named new principal of Milby High School
Ruth Ruiz has been selected as the new principal of Milby High School. She has 20 years of experience, having served as a bilingual elementary teacher of Davila Elementary School, ESL math middle school teacher at Deady Middle School, instructional coordinator at Lewis Elementary School, assistant principal at Ortiz Middle School, and principal of Stevenson Middle School. Under her leadership, Stevenson obtained all seven TEA distinctions in accountability ratings from the state of Texas. In addition, Stevenson was ranked number two in the state of Texas for closing achievement gaps. In 2017, Ruiz was recognized as one of the Top Gold Ribbon Middle School according to Children at Risk. Ruiz earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix. She is also a product of HISD schools, graduating from Milby High School. She looks forward to going back home to lead her former high school.
Shameika Sykes-Salvador named new principal of Wilson Montessori
Shameika Sykes-Salvador has been selected as the new principal of Wilson Montessori School. Sykes-Salvador has 20 years of experience in public education. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in Thomasville, North Carolina. In 2015, Sykes-Salvador joined Team HISD as a teacher development specialist. For the last two years, she has served as assistant principal at Berry Elementary School. Before arriving in Houston, Sykes-Salvador served in various roles, including middle school teacher, elementary reading coordinator, Montessori curriculum facilitator, and district Social Studies/Literacy coordinator. Sykes-Salvador earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from North Carolina A&T State University. She holds a master’s degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from St. Xavier University as well as a master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction.
Keri Ward named new principal of R. Martinez Elementary
Keri Ward has been selected as the new principal of Raul Martinez Elementary. Ward began her teaching career in 2009 as a first-grade ESL teacher in HISD’s Benavidez Elementary School. She has also served as a teacher at Cornelius Elementary School. She continued serving HISD as a school counselor and then assistant principal at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School from 2013-2017 and was part of the initial turnaround team when North Forest ISD transitioned to HISD. She most recently served as assistant principal at McReynolds Middle School. Ward earned her Bachelor of Science in Education and Master of Science in Counseling from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Monijit Katial named new principal of Revere Middle School
Monijit Katial has been selected as the new principal of Revere Middle School. Katial has served HISD for seven years and has over 10 years of experience in education across Houston, including teaching at the elementary and middle school levels in math, science, and reading, serving as HISD Linked learning manager, assistant principal at McReynolds Middle School and Alternative Certification Department as a senior manager. She has a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies and a Master of Educational Management from the University of Houston, and an MBA with a focus on educational transformation through the REEP (Rice Educational Entrepreneurship Program) from Rice University.
Tesha Foreman named new principal of Fleming Middle School
Tesha Foreman has been selected as the new principal of Fleming Middle School. Foreman began her career in HISD in 2002 as a special education teacher at Paul Revere Middle School. She spent time as dean of students and assistant principal at Revere, Fleming, and West Briar middle schools. Most recently, Foreman served as the Interim Principal at Sugar Grove Academy. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree and Master’s Degree in Educational Administration at Prairie View A&M University.
HISD to provide meals to students at no charge for 2018-2019 school year
Parents of Houston Independent School District students soon will have one less expense, as Nutrition Services has announced that all students will eat meals at no charge during the 2018-2019 school year.
All HISD schools are now qualified to operate under the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Community Eligibility Provision, which allows HISD to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner at no charge to all students, eliminating the need for free and reduced-price meal applications.
The program allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve meals at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Schools are eligible for the program if they have a certain percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced meals based on their participation in programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Continue reading
HISD welcomes more than 1,000 new teachers to the district
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With only three weeks left until the first day of school, HISD welcomed more than 1,000 new Team HISD members at Kingdom Builders’ Center for the district’s annual New Teacher Academy (NTA).
This year’s theme was “HISD New Teacher YOUniversity,” and offered training on effective instructional practices, curriculum resources, and networking opportunities for teachers and their campus coworkers.
“The purpose of New Teacher Academy is to serve as a road map for new teacher induction, development and support,” Senior Manager for Academics Gail McGee said. Continue reading