Bellaire HS debate coach receives two big honors

Jay Stubbs

School may technically be out, but it’s been a busy summer for Jay Stubbs, Bellaire High School’s speech and debate coach. He took a team to nationals, was inducted into the National Forensic League Hall of Fame and received the Texas Bar Association’s Leon Jaworski Award for Teaching Excellence in Law Focused Education – all in June!

“Being inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame and receiving this award from the Texas Bar Association mean so much to me,” Stubbs said. “How lucky I am to receive awards on behalf of the successes of so many of my students.”

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Hearing set this week on HISD redistricting plan

The Houston Independent School District will hold one more public hearings this week to gain feedback about a draft plan to redraw all nine trustee districts.

The hearings will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 10, at district headquarters at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 4400 W. 18th St. 77092.

The last of the four hearings – one was held last week and another was held on Tuesday – is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 15 at Austin High School, 1700 Dumble St. 77023. Continue reading →

Digital transformation ‘Power(ing)Up’ job prospects for high school students

Sharpstown High School 2014 graduate Jairo Luna prepares laptops at a NetSync warehouse for distribution to classrooms, July 2, 2014. The Sharpstown PowerUp coordinator recommended Luna for the internship. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

Jairo Luna

HISD is only one full year into its one-to-one laptop distribution as part of the district’s PowerUp initiative, but that hasn’t stopped students from reaping the benefits of the district’s bold, three-year push to close the digital divide.

Three Sharpstown High School students—Class of 2014 members Kevin Gordwin and Jairo Luna, and junior Keion Jackson—have already landed three of the coveted summer internships available with NetSync, the district’s approved vendor for distributing computers. And, they’re making good money while doing it.

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Team of HISD educators hits the road to make the most of personalized instruction

A team of 24 leaders from almost a dozen different HISD departments will be at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education this week to take part in a learning institute called, “Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Reaching all Learners.”

The purpose of the institute is to consolidate strategies for delivering instruction to different types of learners, so that all district initiatives will be better aligned to support classroom teachers in using the UDL framework. Continue reading →

Lamar HS hosts first community meeting to look at site plan ideas for new school

Lamar High School community members and staff on Tuesday night had a chance to learn about site plan development for the school being built under the district’s 2012 bond program – a school that will house more than 3,000 students.

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Plan for new Milby HS discussed during final community meeting

Parents, students, and community members reviewed plans at a fourth and final community meeting on Tuesday night to preserve, modernize, and break ground on the new Milby High School.

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HISD Transportation strengthens safety commitment through training programs

The HISD Transportation department renewed its commitment to student safety recently by recertifying their training and staff development team through a comprehensive training program offered by the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI). The training program focuses on prevention strategies and helps build confidence in team members to handle challenging situations.

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HISD headquarters to be closed on July 3

Houston ISD’s central office, the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, will be closed on Thursday, July 3, in observance of Independence Day. The closure is a result of the district’s condensed workweeks in June and July.

Some schools will hold summer school courses on Thursday. Please check with your child’s school to determine its schedule. No classes will be held on Friday.

Free breakfasts and lunches have been offered at more than 200 schools this summer. Some locations will be open on Thursday. To find a location near you, as well as its schedule, please visit http://www.houstonisd.org/summermeals.

Camp M.I. Way kicks off this year with the dedication of Phinny’s Field

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T.H. Rogers student Phineas Armstrong was recognized recently in a somewhat unconventional manner: a baseball diamond was named in his honor—but next year, it might actually be in a different location.

The dedication of “Phinny’s Field” took place on the campus of T.H. Rogers last month during Camp M.I. Way, which provides students with multiple impairments with daily opportunities to practice their communication skills. And though that campus has consistently hosted the event every summer for the past decade, if the camp ever moves, the name will travel along with it to wherever it may be held in the future. Continue reading →

Summer program gives rising sixth-graders a taste of middle school life

Incoming sixth-grader Taylor, 10, believes it’s important to protect the bee population, and she thinks she knows ways to do so. “Planting flowers will help attract bees so they can make more honey,” she said as she put marigold seeds into a small decorated pot.

This was only one of the many lessons she and several other soon-to-be sixth-graders learned during their two weeks in the Summer Bridge program, made possible by the federally-funded Race to the Top grant the district received, at Holland Middle School.

Students planted flowers as one way to help improve the bee population, discussing the reasons bees were threatened, and ways they could help save them. It was all part of a day’s work that integrated the mini-ecology lesson into other areas such as mathematics, reading, improving critical thinking skills, leading discussions, and other subjects. Continue reading →