Nominate HISD’s Next Employee of the Month!

The next meeting of HISD’s Employee of the Month selection committee is right around the corner, so don’t wait if you know someone who deserves to be nominated. HISD recently streamlined the process to make it easier than ever for people to submit a nomination. Just click here, fill in the fields, and press “done.” Your nomination will automatically be submitted for consideration at the next meeting. Please note that only employees serving in a non-instructional capacity (i.e. plant operators, secretaries, clerks, custodians, crossing guards, etc.) are eligible for this award.

 

HISD Hosts Inaugural Districtwide Special Olympics Field Day

Students, parents, and volunteers ventured out to the Delmar-Tusa Athletic Complex on Thursday to show their support on day one of the first annual Houston ISD Special Olympics Field Day. On May 2 and 3, the HISD Office of Special Education Services and Special Olympics Texas are joining together to host the inaugural districtwide event to provide athletic competition in Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities.

More than 1,200 HISD elementary, middle, and high school students are participating in a variety of athletics events such as basketball, track, flag football, soccer, and softball throw events. During opening ceremonies, participants were all smiles as student representatives and HISD student volunteers lit the Olympic torch and proudly pledged the Special Olympics Oath: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

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STAAR Results Begin To Arrive

HISD parents of students in select grades will be receiving a portion of their child’s STAAR exam results over the next week. The Texas Education Agency has released STAAR reading and math scores for students in the fifth and eighth grades only.

HISD elementary and middle schools are now currently distributing the scores to parents and students as well as informing them about the accelerated instruction and intervention resources that will be made available to those who failed one or both subjects. Fifth and eighth grade students who failed the reading and/or math portions of STAAR will retake one or both STAAR exams on May 14 and 15.

The TEA is making results for fifth and eighth graders available earlier than others because students in those grades must pass the math and reading sections to be promoted. All other STAAR subject results for student in grades 3-8 will be released by the TEA and distributed by HISD to students and parents on or before May 31. Ninth and tenth grade students will take STAAR end of course exams from May 6-17. EOC scores will be released to the TEA and distributed to HISD students and parents on or before June 14.

This is the second year students in grades 3-10 are taking the STAAR exam, and unlike last year STAAR scores in certain subjects can determine whether or not a child is promoted to the next grade. See below for a full list of promotion standards for the 2012-2013 school year. 

Grade Level Promotion Standards
1 and 2
  • Students must pass High Frequency Word Test – Recognizing and reading words that appear very often in written and spoken language.
  • State requirement of overall yearly average of 70 or above and local requirement of an average of 70 or above in reading, other language arts, mathematics, and science or social studies.
  • Students must have sufficient attendance*

 
3, 4 and 5
  • Students must pass STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness) in reading and math.
  • State requirement of overall yearly average of 70 or above and local requirement of an average of 70 or above in reading, other language arts, mathematics, and science or social studies.
  • Students must have sufficient attendance*

 
6, 7 and 8
  • Students must pass STAAR in reading and math.
  • State requirement of overall yearly average of 70 or above and a local requirement of an average of 70 or above in three of the four core courses: Language arts (average of reading and English), mathematics, science, and social studies.
  • Students must have sufficient attendance*

 
9 – 12
  • Students are promoted based on their total accumulated course credits prior to the beginning of the next school year.
  • Individual course credit is earned through a passing grade of 70% or above and sufficient attendance*

 

*Sufficient attendance: A student’s total number of unexcused absences cannot exceed 10% of class meetings.

For English Language Learners, the Grade Placement Committee (GPC) in consultation with the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC) will determine promotion standards.
For students with disabilities, the campus ARD/IEP committee will determine the promotion status based on mastery of IEP goals and objectives and /or course requirements.

If your child does not meet Promotion Standards, your school will contact you for further opportunities to receive additional instruction.

Houston Mayor Encourages Businesses to Partner with YWCPA

Houston Mayor Annise Parker, far right, listens to a presentation at the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker, far right, listens to a presentation at the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker praised HISD for giving students a variety of choices and opportunities, including single gender education, at a recent open house at the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy. The mayor also encouraged local business leaders to partner with HISD’s first all-girls school.

“Single-sex education can make a difference in the lives of young women and in the lives of young men,” Parker told the crowd of school staff, parents and local business professionals who came to learn more about the campus.

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Grady Middle School Becomes Authorized IB Campus

Grady Middle School students, staff and parents are celebrating recent news that the school is now an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme campus – one of only two HISD middle schools authorized to offer the Middle Years Programme. Lanier MS is the only other authorized HISD middle school.

Grady principal Gretchen Kasper-Hoffman has been fielding congratulatory calls and emails from parents and community members since word came out that the school received IB authorization.

“It’s a great thing for our community,” said Kasper-Hoffman. “They’re looking forward to it.”

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HISD to Host Inaugural Districtwide Special Olympics Field Day

More than 1,200 students to participate during two-day event

The HISD Office of Special Education Services and Special Olympics Texas have partnered to host the inaugural districtwide Special Olympics Field Day, a two-day event to provide athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and closely related developmental disabilities, on May 2 and 3.  More than 1,200 HISD students will be participating in a variety of athletics events such as basketball, track, flag football, soccer, and softball toss events.  Houston Texans players and coaches, along with volunteers from HISD’s athletics department, the University of Houston and Hewlett Packard, will be helping out with the event.

What:  Inaugural HISD Special Olympics Field Day

Who:  HISD Office of Special Education Services staff, HISD students, coaches, Houston Texans players and coaches, and University of Houston and Hewlett Packard volunteers

When:  Thursday, May 2, 2013 (Elementary) and Friday, May 3, 2013 (Middle/High) from 9a.m. – 1p.m.

Where:  Delmar-Tusa Athletic Complex, 2020 Mangum Road

Students Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Parades, Carnivals

Proceeds from Condit ES event to offset cost of attending Odyssey of the Mind World Finals

HISD students are taking part in dozens of activities this week and next as a part of their observance of Cinco de Mayo (May 5).

Originally celebrated as the day Mexico’s army defeated a much larger French force in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, in America, the date has become an opportunity to learn more about and to celebrate Mexico’s history and culture. Continue reading →

HISD recognizes Principals of the Year

Tonya Woods of Lewis Elementary, pictured with Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier, is one of the district's Principals of the Year.

Tonya Woods of Lewis Elementary, pictured with Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier, is one of the district's Principals of the Year.

HISD recognized eight of its most respected and effective administrators on May 1, as the Principals of the Year, First Year Principals of the Year, and Assistant Principals of the Year.

The administrators were nominated by colleagues, teachers, and students for their instructional leadership and efforts to boost student achievement, and the honorees were selected for their outstanding contributions to the district and their school communities. 

Here are the 2013 honorees:
Assistant Principals of the Year

Sonja Williams of Madison High School, pictured with Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier, is one of the district's Principals of the Year.

Sonja Williams of Madison High School, pictured with Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier, is one of the district's Principals of the Year.

  • Elementary: Maria Espinosa, Rodriguez ES
  • Middle: Inge Garibaldi, Williams MS
  • High: Opal Harrison, Milby HS

First Year Principals of the Year

  • Elementary: Abigail Taylor, Sinclair ES
  • Secondary: Geovanny Ponce, Hartman MS

Principals of the Year

  • Elementary: Tonya Woods, Lewis ES
  • Middle: Nicole Moore Morrison, Key MS
  • High: Sonja Williams, Madison HS

See photos of all the Principal of the Year winners.

Nicole Moore of Key Middle School, pictured with Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier, is one of the district's Principals of the Year.

Nicole Moore of Key Middle School, pictured with Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier, is one of the district's Principals of the Year.

Superintendent of Schools Terry B. Grier congratulated the administrators during a ceremony at the monthly principals’ meeting. “There’s no doubt that these administrators represent excellence in leadership,” he said. “But there are many other equally deserving principals in this room.”

HISD Bond Oversight Committee Hears Update on 2007, 2012 Programs at Inaugural Meeting

HISD’s Bond Oversight Committee heard a detailed update on the district’s 2012 and 2007 bond programs during its inaugural quarterly meeting on Tuesday that included the latest steps in planning, renovating and building dozens of schools across the district.

The independent committee was established to monitor the district’s bond programs, which includes ensuring that bond revenues are spent appropriately and evaluating the risks and controls of the bond program.

The district recently reorganized the group’s charter to give it more oversight responsibility, via independent and periodic reports to the superintendent, the Board of Education and the general public.

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