Team HISD Honorees to Walk the Red Carpet

Teachers of the year from all 276 HISD schools will walk the red carpet on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, at the annual HISD Celebration of Excellence at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Joining them will be the 22 finalists for the districtwide teacher of the year, along with the beginning teachers of the year, the principals and assistant principals of the year, first-year principals of the year and the employees of the month.

Even if you are not planning to attend, you can catch live coverage on Facebook. We’ll be taking and posting photos of attendees in their snazziest duds on the red carpet, so be sure to like us at facebook.com/houstonisd.

You can read more about the 22 finalists for Teacher of the Year by clicking here. If you don’t have access to Facebook, read about the finalists on Pinterest.

UPDATE: See who won and check out pictures from the red carpet.

HISD to Recognize the 2013 Librarian of the Year at Upcoming Banquet

Award-winning author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni to be guest speaker

For more than 25 years, the Houston Independent School District has been recognizing the dedication and efforts of all school librarians in the district.  The Librarian of the Year for 2013 will be announced at the upcoming annual banquet on May 18, 2013.

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HISD Statement on Texas Legislature Budget Proposal

The following statement is being issued in response to today’s announcement that the Texas Legislature has reached a budget agreement, which restores $3.4 billion of the previous $5.4 billion cut to public education and provides $530 million for the Teacher Retirement System.

“The Houston Independent School District commends the Texas Legislature for the significant restoration of public education funding this session. This increase, although positive, does not restore the $5.4 billion in education cuts that were made in 2011. We look forward to working with the Legislature and other leaders to address the obvious shortcomings in the current school finance system, which has been declared unconstitutional.  For Texas to remain at the forefront of America’s economic recovery, we need a school finance system that recognizes the costs associated with helping all children achieve the high academic standards we have for them.”

HISD’s Transportation Services Takes 2013 Top Fleet Sustainability Award

Awarded by nation’s leading fleet management association

The National Association of Fleet Administrators awarded the Houston Independent School District its Excellence in Public Fleet Sustainability award for 2013. 

“This award is a great recognition of the drive and determination of the entire transportation team, from the bus drivers who monitor engine idling, to the shop team members who reduce their waste stream,” HISD Transportation General Manager Nathan Graf said.  “Everyone in the department played an essential role in this award.”

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Special Education Meeting for Parents Scheduled for May 22

The Houston Independent School District’s Office of Special Education Services (OSES) would like to invite parents to the final meeting for the current school year on Wednesday, May 22, 2013.

Parents will have the opportunity to share their ideas, successes and challenges, and learn about all the great initiatives the OSES has implemented this year to support students.

The event will take place in Room 3C10 of the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St.) from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

For more information, please contact Gregory Finora, Special Education parent liaison, at 713-556-7041 or gfinora@houstonisd.org.

HSPVA Selected For Jazz ‘Peer-to-Peer Education’ Tour

The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) is among two schools in the nation selected by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz to participate in a national “Peer-to-Peer Education” tour.

Six HSPVA students will be in Indianapolis May 20-24, 2013, to present jazz “informances” in public schools. Continue reading →

EMERGE Students Accepted to Prestigious Summer Learning Programs

Seven Eastwood Academy students and two Furr High School students have been selected to attend several prestigious learning programs this summer. All of the students are a part of EMERGE, an HISD program designed to help bright students from low-income families attend Ivy League and other top-tier colleges.

Eastwood students Jorge Garcia, Darryl Beronque and Nancy Aguilera have all been offered full scholarships to attend Cornell’s Catalyst Academy. Only 44 students nationwide were selected to participate in this prestigious summer engineering program held at the Ivy League College in Ithaca, New York.

Meanwhile Eastwood student Ivy Salinas and Furr High School students Sade Harnsberry and Karen Banda are headed to London, England this summer. They are three of only six students in the state to receive full scholarships from the British American Foundation of Texas to attend a summer course at the American Community School in London, England. Last week, over 200 people attended a special banquet that was held in their honor at the Houston Federal Reserve Building in Houston.

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HISD’s Washington High School Partners with British School to Build a Mission on Mars

Partnership possible thanks to KBR’s support

Students at HISD’s Booker T. Washington High School are collaborating with students at the Ormiston Victory Academy in Norwich, England to build a mission on Mars, thanks to KBR’s Discover Engineering Committee.

The SAMbassadors program is designed to engage students in science and engineering projects with a global perspective.  The students at both campuses Skype every other week to discuss the logistics of this project and share documents online.  Each school has 25-30 students in the program.

One group of students has been determining environmental conditions on Mars such as wind speed, temperature, atmospheric gases, sunlight and shade, radiation and soil conditions. Another group is designing the living conditions.  Meanwhile, the British students at Victory Academy are creating 3D CAD drawings.

The students from both campuses will Skype immediately following the press conference on Monday, May 20, 2013.

What: SAMbassadors, program to a build mission on Mars

Who:  Aimee Yuan, KBR-DEC chairperson; Patrick Harkin, KBR-DEC outreach chair; Jack Kramer, KBR engineer; Dr. Nghia Le, engineering teacher, Washington High School; LaShonda Bilbo-Ervin, principal, Washington High School; Elizabeth Nolazco, student, Washington High School

When:  Monday, May 20, 2013; Press conference – 9:30 a.m.; Skype interview – 10 a.m.

Where: Washington High School, 119 East 39th Street, Houston, 77018

North Forest Non-Instructional Job Fair To Be Held May 18

HISD is hosting a non-instructional job fair for North Forest employees interested in working in HISD’s transportation, food services, police and facilities departments. The fair will be held Saturday, May 18, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the HISD Food Services Administration building, 6801 Bennington St., in Houston. Those attending are asked to bring two forms of identification.

Current North Forest teachers can apply for positions at HISD for the 2013-2014 school by visiting www.houstonisd.org/careers. The deadline to apply has been extended to May 22.

The Texas Education Commissioner has ordered HISD to annex the North Forest ISD effective July 1, 2013. Approximately 7,000 NFISD students will become HISD students on the annexation date. North Forest parents and students are encouraged to learn more about HISD by visiting www.houstonisd.org/northforest.

HAIS Student Wins Prestigious Scholarship To Study Abroad

Erik Herrera of the Houston Academy of International Studies. (Web Team)Erik Herrera, a junior at the Houston Academy for International Studies, has been awarded one of 625 National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarships. The NSLI-Y program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. NSLI-Y offers overseas study opportunities in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkish.

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