Legendary ballerina, HISD alumna exposes dance students to fine arts careers

Houston Ballet’s first black principal dancer Lauren Anderson talked to dance students about her 20-plus-year career as a ballerina on Nov. 11 at Gregory-Lincoln Education Center.

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“When I first started dancing, I didn’t like it,” said Anderson. “But I never gave up…I’ve been in the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty…I’ve been all of the fairies and the birds, and I’ve danced in almost every continent.” Continue reading →

CNN Hero helps Harvard ES kick off IB Action Project

Elizabeth Suneby and Razia Jan

Elizabeth Suneby and Razia Jan

Harvard Elementary students learned what some students in Afghanistan deal with on a daily basis, straight from a woman who founded an all-girls school in a rural area of the country.

Razia Jan visited Harvard on Nov. 11, 2014, as part of the school’s IB Action Project. Jan, who was named a Top 10 CNN Hero in 2012, is the founder of Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of women and children in Afghanistan through community-based education. Harvard students will raise money for the foundation through a read-a-thon, selling spirit bracelets, and seeking direct donations. Continue reading →

Advanced Placement teacher named to national AP Advocates Program

Diane Morrow teaches an AP English class at Davis High School, April 14, 2014. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

Diane Morrow teaches an AP English class at Davis High School, April 14, 2014.

As an Advanced Placement literature and language teacher at Davis High School, Diana Morrow takes pride in challenging and pushing her students to pursue rigorous coursework in order to prepare them for life after high school.

“I tell my students this is going to be the hardest class they’ll take in their life,” Morrow said. “They need this class to understand analyzing, synthesizing, how to defend an argument, how to write. These are the skills they need for college. So, I have such a big responsibility to help these kids be successful.” Continue reading →

Community meetings scheduled to share design concepts and site plans for 2012 bond schools

Editor’s note: The story has updated to reflect that the community meeting at Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion School has been postponed to a later date that has yet to be scheduled.

The Houston Independent School District has scheduled two additional community meetings to discuss the progress being made within the 2012 bond program, which will renovate or rebuild 40 schools to create 21st century facilities.

The meetings for Sterling High School and Parker Elementary are part of the district’s commitment to host at least three community meetings for each bond campus during the different phases of the building program: planning, design and construction.

This will be the third community meeting for Sterling, and the second for Parker in a process designed to encourage collaboration and participation. The goal is to present the work done so far in the design process and to share site plans, exterior drawings, final designs and construction schedules.

Input from the community meetings is used to guide the work of each school’s Project Advisory Team, which is made up of teachers, staff, administrators, students and community members. The team provides recommendations on all phases of the projects, which will undergo a final scope-to-budget review before construction begins.

The meetings will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m

Tuesday, November 18 Sterling High School
11625 Martindale Road
Monday, December 15 Parker Elementary School
10626 Atwell

Video: Vision for a new Bellaire HS is coming together with community’s help

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In a new video, members of Bellaire’s Project Advisory Team (PAT) discuss their vision and priorities for the school’s new 21st century campus, which will be built as part of the district’s 2012 bond program.

Continue reading →

Eastwood Academy students become CyberPatriots

Students from Eastwood Academy are learning how to keep personal data safe, protect it from vulnerabilities, and “black hat” hackers and malicious software, all while having fun in the process. This is the second year that teams from Eastwood Academy are competing in the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.

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The competition positions middle- and high-school students as newly hired IT professionals who must manage the network of a small company, utilizing their knowledge of networking, switches, routers, firewalls, TCP/IP protocols and architecture, and administration of various operating systems. During the competition, students will have to identify network vulnerabilities within a six-hour window. Continue reading →

HISD students participate in first-ever UH Special Olympics Basketball Camp

Basketballs were flying around the Hofheinz Pavilion on Nov. 10, as more than 50 HISD students with special needs got to meet and play basketball with coaches and student-athletes from the University of Houston (UH) men’s basketball program.

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For the first UH Special Olympics Basketball Camp, Cougar coaches and players set up six stations on the pavilion’s basketball court, and middle-school students practiced shooting, dribbling, passing, and other fundamentals. Continue reading →

HAIS principal honored with outstanding school leadership award

The Houston Academy for International Studies (HAIS) was officially recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School at an awards ceremony on Nov. 11 in Washington, D.C., and Principal Melissa Jacobs-Thibaut was also presented with the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership.

The award recognizes campus leaders who are committed to doing whatever it takes to help their students meet high standards. The award’s namesake served as secretary of education from 1981 to 1985. Continue reading →

Curriculum manager named Star Award winner by University of Houston

HISD’s Angela Miller accepts the Star Award from Robert (Bob) H. McPherson, dean of University of Houston’s College of Education, on Nov. 7.

A talent for obtaining federal grants that have benefitted both HISD teachers and the institution where they studied has earned Secondary Social Studies Curriculum Manager Angela Miller recognition this year from the University of Houston (UH). Miller was recently named the sole “dean’s choice” Star Award winner for 2014 by that school’s College of Education.

“The Star Awards are an opportunity for us to shine a light on our best and brightest alumni, faculty, and students,” said UH College of Education Director of Advancement Brandie Cleaver. “The Dean’s Recognition Award is to honor those individuals who have made an impact on the UH community but don’t necessarily fit into one of those categories.” Continue reading →