Students across Houston may be waiting anxiously for time off from the classroom and their teachers next week, but that doesn’t mean they have to take time off from learning. Though a week for Spring Break may seem like a short time, it’s important that kids have new and creative experiences to keep their minds active and growing, especially before spring testing season. Parents, here are some activities to keep your kids happily and obliviously learning over the break.
Board of Education votes to repurpose Jones and move Dodson
Jones to become specialized Futures Academy; Dodson students will move to Blackshear, Lantrip, and the Rusk School
The HISD Board of Education on Thursday voted 6 to 3 to repurpose Jones High School into a specialized Futures Academy with trustees Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Anna Eastman, and Paula Harris opposed. Trustees also voted 5 to 4 to close Dodson Elementary. Anna Eastman, Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Wanda Adams and Paula Harris were in opposition. These votes come after weeks of debate and conversation including nearly 75 comments from concerned citizens during the board’s meeting and the removal of three schools from the original closure and consolidation proposal.
K-2 ‘Name That Book’ contest encourages reading at a young age
Everyone’s a winner just for competing in the HISD K-2 “Name That Book” contest, which was held March 3-7 at MC Williams Middle School. There were 10 winners — two winners on each of the five days — out of almost 80 participating elementary schools: Askew, Bell, Briargrove, Condit, Lockhart, Lovett, Mandarin Chinese, Valley West, West University, and Wharton Dual Language elementary schools. Each school can enter only one team. Students received medals and certificates for competing.
The annual K-2 competition prepares younger students for upper-level competition, which includes all grade levels and continues through April 17. Unlike the upper-level students, K-2 students only compete on one day. Middle school finalists – Black, Briarmeadow, Energized for Excellence, Energized for Stem Southwest, Grady, Johnston, Pin Oak, T. H. Rogers – compete at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, March 14, at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center. See the full contest schedule here.
Plan Your Path Tip No. 2: You win! Complex requirements are made simple on HISD game board
Changes in STAAR exams and end-of-course tests. Personal Graduation Plans and Endorsements. Naviance, career interest inventories, requirements and schedules.
All the new terms and requirements brought by the Texas Legislature’s House Bill 5 regulations can be daunting, to be sure – but they become much clearer and simpler to understand with HISD’s unique “Plan Your Path” gameboard.
Get a jump on your future over spring break
It’s never too soon to start preparing for life after graduation. Energy Institute High School Dean of Students Noelle MacGregor held a workshop during lunch recently to help freshmen create and build resumes in Naviance.
“It’s essential for students to start tracking their activities, community service, and awards now,” said MacGregor. “If they wait until senior year when they start applying for colleges and scholarships, they may forget some of them.”
All HISD high school and middle school students and their parents have access to Naviance on their school website. Students are encouraged to become familiar with Naviance as soon as possible (for information on Naviance, see this page).
Magnet school notification date coming up
The big day is almost here. HISD is in the final stages of processing nearly 50,000 applications in preparation for magnet notification day on Friday, March 28. The district has received 16,747 more applications this year than last, with the majority of those applications received through the new online application system.
All students who met the qualifications and December deadline will be offered spaces in the order assigned by a computer-generated lottery. The lottery randomly assigns spaces for applicants and their siblings.
Parents who are waiting anxiously to find out which magnet school their child will be attending next year will be notified on March 28 by mail or email, depending on how they filed their application. If they applied online, they will be notified by email on March 28 (after 5 p.m.). If they applied with a paper application, letters reporting the status of their child’s application will be mailed on March 28.
I Am HISD: ‘Granola boy’ comes of age; Lee HS alum talks tenacity, transitions
Justin Anderson
Justin Anderson has come a long way since launching a granola-manufacturing company while still a junior at Lee High School.
Since 2003, he has graduated, earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University, and rebranded his entire business.
Anderson talks about what lessons he has learned along the way in this week’s “I Am HISD” profile. You can check out the full edition of eNews online.
Other highlights from the latest edition include:
• Breakthroughs—Learn how Dr. Traci Duck has improved her students’ performance at Deady MS by breaking assignments down into their smallest components.
• HB 5 Spotlight—Find out why it’s never too early to start contacting colleges and universities in this article.
To have eNews delivered to your inbox automatically every week, just visit www.houstonisd.org/subscribe.
Skillern-Jones participates in school board leadership program
Rhonda Skillern-Jones
Board of Education District II Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones recently met with school board members from across the state to learn the latest on 21st century challenges to leadership and the implications of those trends for educators.
The Texas Association of School Boards hosted several training sessions in Corpus Christi. The school board members heard from Randolph Carter, the director of the Eastern Educational Resource Collaborative, who encouraged them to see today’s public school classroom as a kaleidoscope of differences.
HAIS debate students advance to national tournaments
The Houston Academy for International Studies scored big in the Houston Urban Debate League’s city tournament.
Perfection earns Lockhart ES first place in K-2 ‘Name That Book’ contest
Lockhart Elementary's "Name That Book" team
Six second-graders from Lockhart Elementary School brought home the gold in the HISD K-2 “Name That Book” contest in their second year of competition. Students received medals and certificates for their win.
The annual K-2 competition prepares younger students for upper-level competition, which includes all grade levels and continues through April 17. Each school can enter only one team.
“Name That Book” is an HISD reading incentive program that encourages teamwork and ongoing reading, which is critically important in meeting HISD literacy goals.
“Literacy is a cornerstone issue for HISD,” said district Superintendent Terry Grier in his 2014 State of the Schools address. More specifically, that means that getting every HISD student to read on grade level by third grade is a major priority for the district.