Felipe Guillén has been a student at Stanford University since last fall, but the Chávez High School graduate might not be at his “new home” at all if it weren’t for HISD’s EMERGE program.
“My dream became a reality because of those who believed in me,” said Guillén, who was this year’s featured student speaker at the State of the Schools luncheon on Feb. 11. “The EMERGE program changed my understanding of the world and opened my mind up to new things.”
Reagan High School cafeteria team lead Polly Mendoza recently was among five employees selected to have breakfast with Houston ISD Chief Operating Officer Leo Bobadilla. The employees are from the Business Operations team that Bobadilla oversees and were selected for their service excellence. Continue reading
Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier has been named a “Champion of Children” by the Children’s Defense Fund and will be honored at the organization’s Beat the Odds Awards Luncheon in Houston on May 21.
Grier and Dr. Charles D. Fraser, Jr., pediatric surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital, will be honored for their “outstanding leadership and service to children and families in our community” by CDF and its Texas Advisory Board.
Their subjects ranged from starry nights and galaxies to water lilies and sunflowers, but the one thing all the orbs had in common was their inspiration: a desire to show how HISD is putting a “global” spin on education for all of its 215,000 students.
Children from 28 different campuses decorated Styrofoam balls this year to serve as the table centerpieces at the State of the Schools luncheon, and participating students were eager to share their artistic visions with guests.
If 80 percent of success is just showing up, students at Harper Alternative School and Inspired for Excellence Academy are going to have a great year. These two HISD schools made the largest gains in attendance from the fall 2013 to the fall 2014 semesters and were rewarded with certificates and assemblies featuring inspirational speakers and entertainment.
“You did something great!” said Harper Principal Raymond Glass II to his students. “You beat out all the other schools in HISD.”
Comerica Bank awarded a total of $20,000 in community grants to five HISD schools in the Lockwood area to commemorate the bank’s 20th year of operation in Houston’s culturally rich Fifth Ward.
Pugh Elementary School was the big winner, with $10,000 for its proposal to put a tablet in every one of its classrooms. Wheatley High School received the second-place award of $4,000 and plans to invest in spirit incentives, as well as instructional improvements. McReynolds Middle School also took home $2,500, while Atherton Elementary School won $2,000, and N. Q. Henderson Elementary School won $1,500. The grants were awarded to these schools because they are located near a newly constructed Lockwood Banking Center.
Placing a strong emphasis on college attendance and completion, Houston Independent School District Superintendent Terry Grier on Wednesday unveiled plans to expand the district’s successful EMERGE program and double the number of college counselors available to high school students. Continue reading
The commandant of Texas A&M University’s Corps of Cadets will be returning to his alma mater on Thursday, March 12, 2015, when Brigadier General Joe E. Ramirez Jr., U.S. Army, Ret., presents the keynote speech at Austin High School’s fourth annual White Rose Dinner.
After graduating from Austin, General Ramirez attended Texas A&M University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in science in 1979. He obtained a master’s degree in management from Webster University, St. Louis (1993) and a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (2000).
General Ramirez has earned numerous awards during his 31 years of military service, including the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, and the Parachutists Badge.
The dinner will take place at 6 p.m. at the University of Houston’s Hilton Hotel (4800 Calhoun, 77004) and the public is invited. Tickets are $50 each, and there are three premium sponsorship levels available. To reserve a seat or arrange a sponsorship, please call 713-924-1600.
All proceeds from the event will be used to support Austin High School programs. The white rose, symbolizing truth, purity, and honesty, appears on the Stephen F. Austin family’s coat of arms.
Wretha Thomas, president of Houston Education Support Personnel, with HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. (Houston Independent School District)
Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier and local and state leaders from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) joined forces on Monday, Feb. 9, to challenge school districts across the Houston area to join HISD in implementing a policy that formally bans workplace bullying.
Students whose families move during the middle of the school year are being allowed to stay at their “home school,” or the one they enrolled in at the beginning of the academic year, thanks to a innovative HISD program called Home Field Advantage. Since May 2014, schools involved in the program have seen their overall mobility rate drop by an average of 10 percentage points.
During his State of the Schools address last February, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier promised to create a program to build educational stability among highly mobile students. Subsequently, students at 13 elementary schools, where roughly 30 percent of families move in any given year, were offered transportation to their “home” school, even if their parents moved. Continue reading