HSPVA breaks ground for new school in downtown theater district

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Construction at the new High School for the Performing & Visual Arts got an enthusiastic start on Sunday with a groundbreaking ceremony that drew hundreds of people to the school’s new location downtown.

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Packed house at PowerUp training with Mooresville, N.C., educators

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Nearly 150 teachers from across the district packed Carnegie High School on a recent Saturday to attend a half-day training with educators from the Mooresville Graded School District in Mooresville, North Carolina. HISD has partnered with Mooresville to help train and offer professional development to HISD high school teachers involved in PowerUp, the district’s digital transformation effort that includes distributing laptops to every high school student. Continue reading →

Preschool families treated to a children’s museum visit

Almost 500 HISD families participated in interactive learning activities with their preschool children at the Children’s Museum of Houston on Thursday, Dec. 11. The free visit to the museum was funded and organized by the HISD office of Family and Community Engagement as part of its Home Instruction for the Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program.

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Solving math problems equals large sums for charities

Think Through Math winners When Think Through Math’s “Time for Giving” contest ended on Dec. 5, Ms. Argue’s “Math Masters” team of scholars was just one of two teams that won from the U.S. Central Time Zone and only one of eight teams nationwide. Students earn points by completing math lessons, and the points are then converted into dollars, which are donated to charities across the country. The River Oaks Elementary School math students earned enough points to donate $17,712 to the charities of their choice – Big Brothers Big Sisters and No Kid Hungry. Continue reading →

Chamber of commerce gives laptop case tags for PowerUp schools

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HISD principals accept tags for laptop cases for their schools from the Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce purchased more than 9,000 luggage tags for five HISD high schools to add to the cases of laptops students are set to receive through the district’s PowerUp program, which will provide every high school student a laptop for use at school and home by 2016. Continue reading →

’Tis the season to be reading

It was a night filled with good cheer during literacy night at Anderson Elementary Dual Language School, when dozens of students and their parents showed up to celebrate literacy and the holidays. Reading, games, and art projects kept students entertained, as various prizes were awarded and refreshments were served.

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Italian Consulate celebrates winners of literary contest

Students who are taking Italian at Bellaire High School and Pin Oak Middle School entered projects in a literary contest organized and sponsored by the Italian Consulate and the Committee of Italian Residents Abroad. Italian journalist and archeologist Valerio Massimo Manfredi presented the winners with certificates during the 10th Conference of Italian Researchers in the World, which was held at the Italian Consulate on Dec. 6. Continue reading →

HISD school named finalist for national urban education award

Sanchez Elementary School is among 22 schools from across the country–and the only one from HISD–selected as a finalist for the National Excellence in Urban Education Award. The school was recognized by the National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST) for generating strong test results, high attendance rates, and excellent student behavior among all student demographics. Continue reading →

eNews Highlight: Awkward conversations and way too many acronyms

Felipe Guillen poses for a photograph, July 9, 2014. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

When Felipe Guillen first arrived at Stanford University, he was worried about what kind of reception he would experience. But the warm welcome he received, the friendly people he met, and the whirlwind of activities that took place shortly afterward helped him feel comfortable right away.

Read more about how the Chávez High School alumnus weathered his new student orientation at an Ivy League university in the Dec. 12, 2014, edition of eNews. Continue reading →

Day 5: Sixth graders to teach kindergartners how to code

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Sixth graders from The Rusk School will use their newly acquired coding skills to show kindergartners how to code on Friday, Dec. 12. The sixth graders, who have been coding all week as part of the  Hour of Code global initiative, will work together on coding activities with the youngsters on iPads and laptops. Continue reading →