Seventy-five Milby High School teachers and administrators hit the streets in search of more than 80 students with excessive absences or failing grades during a recent “Milby in Action” outreach program.
Teachers Going Digital During Saturday Sessions
High school teachers from throughout the district are spending their Saturdays and early-release training days learning how to integrate web tools and digital content into their daily classroom instruction. The training is part of PowerUp, a districtwide program that is giving students their own laptops to use at school and at home. HISD’s Professional Development and Instructional Technology Departments are co-hosting the training sessions, which are designed to give teachers hands-on instruction and guidance on how to use technology to make their lessons more engaging and student centered.
Local Food Showcased During National School Lunch Week
It’s National School Lunch Week, and HISD is celebrating by highlighting locally produced products.
M/WBE Firm: HISD Business Assistance Office Offers Accessibility
Editor’s note: This profile is part of an occasional series on minority or women-owned companies that do business with HISD. The district’s minimum M/WBE goal levels are 20 percent for all levels of purchasing and construction, and 25 percent for professional services. In the 2007 bond program, that commitment reached nearly 34 percent. In the 2012 program, the contracts awarded to date reflect a nearly 51 percent M/WBE commitment.
Board of Education Approves 16 More Contracts Under 2012 Bond Program
The HISD Board of Education on Thursday authorized the district to negotiate contracts with seven firms to provide construction manager at risk (CMAR) services on selected 2012 bond projects.
HISD Tax Rate Remains Lowest Among 24 Districts in Harris County
The HISD Board of Education on Thursday adopted a 3-cent property tax rate increase. This represents the first such rate increase since 2001. The new property tax rate of $1.1867 per $100 taxable value is nearly 24 cents less than the average Harris County school district – maintaining HISD’s position as having the lowest rate of any district in the region.
Police Officers to Mentor Fifth-Graders at Nine Schools
Additional HISD police officers will be joining METRO and Houston police to continue to serve as mentors to students at nine elementary schools this school year as part of the district’s law-enforcement mentorship program. The program, which was launched in 2012, focuses on students at the middle-school level. The year, officers will mentor fifth-graders who are identified as “at-risk” because of an incarcerated parent, involvement in gang activity, or chronic attendance issues.
Bond Community Meetings Offer Another Chance to be Involved
A student at Booker T. Washington High School explains a design schematic for the new school.
More than 150 people turned out for HISD’s first two community meetings on Tuesday to hear about the progress to rebuild Booker T. Washington High School and DeBakey High School for Health Professions under the district’s $1.89 billion bond program.
“The community was impressed with the work our project advisory team has done and the ideas they presented,” said DeBakey Principal Agnes E. Perry about the meeting at DeBakey, which drew about 75 people. “They liked being able to walk around to different stations to see the design drafts and to meet with the designers.”
Diagnosis Prompts Yates HS Secretary to Give to Combined Charities Campaign
Carolyn Travis
Why do HISD employees give to the Combined Charities Campaign each year?
The answers are as varied as the people who donate to this annual district fundraiser, but for Carolyn Travis, who serves as a secretary at Yates High School, the answer lies in a diagnosis she received almost two decades ago.
Board of Education to Consider 16 More Contracts Under 2012 Bond Program
Administrators are recommending that the HISD Board of Education authorize the district to negotiate contracts with seven firms to provide construction manager at risk (CMAR) services on selected 2012 bond projects.