Participate in GenTX Day to Help Promote Higher Education

GenTX Day will be returning to the Lone Star State for its second year on May 4, 2012, and Superintendent Terry Grier is encouraging all HISD students and employees to show their support by wearing their favorite college T-shirt that day.

Generation TX (pronounced “Generation Texas”) is a statewide movement supported by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board that is focused on building a college-going and career-ready culture.

Last year, Generation TX held its first statewide GenTX Day celebrating the achievements of Texas students, especially graduating seniors who are continuing their education beyond high school.

To learn more about how to participate in this year’s GenTX Day and access free GenTX Day kits and materials, visit http://gentx.org/gentxday.

YWCPA Campus Becomes No Place for Hate

HISD’s Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy became the latest HISD campus to cement its pledge to end bullying when it was designated a “No Place for Hate” school earlier this month by the Anti-Defamation League.

To earn the title, students had to complete three projects over the course of the past school year to demonstrate their commitment to ending intolerance.

At YWCPA, girls took part in a number of activities designed to help them appreciate and celebrate their differences, including one game called “planters and lumberjacks” in which students were encouraged to use their words to build each other up rather than cut each other down.

“We have a diverse student population, so it is very important that all individuals feel at home,” explained YWCPA No Place for Hate Coordinator (and art teacher) Lynne Bennett. “Our goal is to create a nurturing environment where we can learn from one another’s cultures and respect people for their unique qualities.”

To learn more about the No Place for Hate program, visit the ADL’s website. A full list of No Place for Hate campuses in HISD as of 2011 is here (.pdf).

Clifton MS Student Engineers a Win at Statewide TAME Competition

Victoria Rodriguez

Victoria Rodriguez and four of her peers from across the state engineered a victory at the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) Statewide Math & Science Competition recently, using nothing more than four toothpicks, two rubber bands, a clothespin, and a few dozen other small items.

Dubbed “The Tower of Power,” the crane the Clifton Middle School eighth-grader and her teammates constructed with these materials could successfully pivot 90 degrees and lift 83 marbles up to six-and-a-half inches.

“We came up with our design by trying to imagine an actual crane and used the tools we had to make a smaller version,” said Victoria, who acted as her team’s project manager. “Our crane was successful because it did everything it was built to do.”

The team’s accomplishment is even more impressive when you consider that it got a late start. “We only had 10 minutes or so to build it,” she said.

Nevertheless, Victoria’s team took home the prize, and she was one of a dozen HISD students to place at the 27th annual competition, which was held at Texas A&M University on April 14.

Other students who received awards at the event were: Moises Tacam (Challenge ECHS), Desmond Titus (Jordan HS), Samantha Gomez-Mora, and Emmanuel Onochie (both from DeVry Advantage Academy), who closed out the second through fifth-place prizes in the Integrated Physics and Chemistry category; Jessica Salazar (Challenge ECHS), who won fourth place in Physics; Nicolas Xiong (East ECHS) and Jayvian Green (Jordan HS), who won fourth and fifth place, respectively, in Advanced Placement Physics; and four others who also placed with their teams in the design challenge.

The event brought together more than 300 winners in grades 6–12 from 11 regional competitions across Texas. In addition to testing student knowledge of math and science concepts, the competition promotes teamwork, leadership, and academic achievement.

HISD a Finalist for the National Association for Pupil Transportation’s Larson Quality Award

The Houston Independent School District Transportation Department has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious national Larson Quality Award.  The Leland E.G. Larson Quality Student Transportation Program was developed to spotlight school bus operations that provide high quality customer service in safety centered operations.

“We are honored to be one of two districts nationally under consideration for this award,” said HISD’s Chief Operating Officer Leo Bobadilla. “Our bus drivers, mechanics and all of our transportation staff deserve the credit for achieving this prestigious recognition and for their commitment to safely transport our students to and from school every day.”

There are three phases to the program.  The Houston ISD Transportation Department received “exemplary” assessments in the first two phases of the program, which qualified the department to move to the third phase.  Phase three of the program involves an unannounced two-day site evaluation conducted by representatives of the peer review committee, which the HISD Transportation Department recently completed.  The HISD Transportation Department is one of two districts nationwide selected as a finalist for the Larson Quality Award.

“The passion, commitment, and dedication of every single bus driver, attendant, shop team member, and support staff has brought the transportation team to this incredible accomplishment,” said Nathan Graf, HISD’s transportation general manager . “Just being selected as a finalist is reason for everyone here to be proud.”

The HISD Transportation Department has earned three previous national awards.  In May 2011, the HISD Transportation Department was listed among the 100 best fleets in the country ranked by Government Fleet, a leading transportation industry magazine.  In October 2011, the HISD Transportation Department ranked as the top school district green fleet in the nation.  The department was chosen based on documentation of key performance measurements.  In April 2012, the HISD Transportation Department was listed again among the 100 best fleets in the country by Government Fleet, the only school district to make the list two consecutive years.

Each day, 875 HISD school buses travel 80,000 miles as they transport 30,000 students to and from school.

HISD Names Top School Leaders for 2012

Reagan High School Principal Connie Berger was one of three campus leaders to be recognized as a 2012 Principal of the Year in HISD. Berger won at the high-school level.

On Wednesday, May 2, HISD recognized more than five dozen school administrators for their outstanding contributions to the district and their school communities by saluting them as nominees for Principal of the Year, First Year Principal of the Year, or Assistant Principal of the Year.

 The administrators were nominated by colleagues, teachers, and students for their instructional leadership and efforts to boost student achievement.

 Here are the 2012 honorees: 

Elementary 

  • Principal of the Year: Elena Martinez-Buley, Rodriguez ES
  • First Year Principal of the Year: Roshanda Griffin, Whidby ES
  • Assistant Principal of the Year: Terrence Sanders, Walnut Bend ES

Middle 

  • Principal of the Year: Noelia Longoria, Ortiz MS
  • First Year Principal of the Year: Corey Seymour, McWilliams MS
  • Assistant Principal of the Year: Geovanny Ponce, Hartman MS

High

  •  Principal of the Year: Connie Berger, Reagan HS
  • First Year Principal of the Year: Jason Catchings, Scarborough HS
  • Assistant Principal of the Year: Lori Lambropoulos, Westside HS

 Superintendent of Schools Terry B. Grier congratulated the administrators during a ceremony at the monthly principals’ meeting. “Any one of you could have been the recipient of these awards,” he said. “That’s just the kind of talented staff we have.”

 Dr. Grier also presented “Team HISD” hats to two other principals—Charles Faust (Fondren MS) and Laquetta Kennedy (Cook ES), for their exemplary efforts to meet students’ needs at their campuses.

Got a Great Story About an Inspiring Teacher? Tell Us!

HISD will be observing Teacher Appreciation Week May 7–11, and announcing its Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year at the Team HISD Celebration of Excellence on May 24.

To help us say “thanks” to these dedicated professionals, we invite you to share your most inspiring or heartwarming story with us about a teacher who changed your (or your child’s) life. Just send an e-mail to info@houstonisd.org, using the subject line, “Inspiring Teachers,” and we’ll post as many as we can on the district’s website.

Rice School Educator Named HAABE ESL Teacher of the Year

From left, Juanita Soliz, Teresa Barton and Carmen Parra pose with their awards.

Teresa Barton, an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teacher at HISD’s The Rice School/La Escuela Rice, has been named the Elementary ESL Teacher of the Year by the Houston Area Association for Bilingual Education (HAABE).

Barton was selected from a field of 150 finalists from Houston, Fort Bend, North Forest, and Pearland ISDs, 27 of whom were from HISD. She advanced to the citywide competition after earning the same distinction—Elementary ESL Teacher of the Year for 2012—at the districtwide level in HISD. One of her colleagues at The Rice School, Juanita Soliz, was also named HISD’s Bilingual Teacher of the Year for 2012.

School Improvement Officer Debbie Crowe noted how unusual it was to have two districtwide honorees from a single campus. “But I attribute that to the culture of the school,” she said, “and the fabulous teaching and learning that takes place there under Principal Kim Hobbs. La Escuela Rice really caters to every child, and you can see the evidence of differentiated instruction everywhere.”

The other honoree at the district level was Burbank Middle School’s Carmen Parra, who was named HISD’s Secondary ESL Teacher of the Year for 2012.

Barton, Parra, Soliz, and dozens of other educators from the greater-Houston area were recognized on April 27 during HAABE’s thirtieth annual awards banquet.

The organization also awarded college scholarships to two local seniors: Liliana Balboa (Reagan HS) and Thu Anh Nguyen (Chávez HS).

To see a full list of honorees from HISD, please visit the HAABE website.

Students and Parents Discover Quality School Choices at Fair

Shantra Skipper came to the HISD School Choice Fair on Saturday, April 27 looking for a middle school for her daughter. “She’s always been in a magnet program and I want to make sure I know about all the different options available to her for sixth grade,” said Skipper.

There were plenty of choices for Skipper and her daughter to select from at the second annual fair which was designed to be a one-stop shop for HISD families to get a closer look at the quality programs HISD has to offer. Over 80 schools were on display with programs ranging from pre-k and Montessori to early college and the fine arts.

 “It’s great that students and parents can walk around and talk to the magnet coordinator and current students at the schools,” said HISD parent Atria Boxia. “It’s really helpful and I am learning a lot.” Boxia and her daughter got more information about the district’s new Houston Innovative Learning Zones or HILZ academies. The academies, located at six HISD schools, are opening this fall and will offer students training in high demand technical fields and the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree upon graduation.

 Also on display at the fair was the district’s new Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet school. The school is opening in the fall and is accepting applications for students in pre-k through the second grade.

  “The parents are coming in, they are filling out the applications, and our coordinators are walking them through the process,” said Assistant Superintendent of School Choice Lupita Hinojosa. “We want to ensure that every student finds a quality school choice by August.”