In a partnership with the Houston Astros Foundation, the HISD Student Assistance Department is reaching out to Houston area students and their families to enroll them in school.
Both organizations will host a phone bank at Minute Maid Park this week to help recover students who have failed to return to an educational setting. Volunteers will be provided a list of names, contact information and a script to allow them to engage with students and parents during the call.
Continue readingAs Michael McClendon begins his day at High School Ahead Academy, you can usually find him moving about the campus, stopping to check in with various students along the way.
The dedicated employee often serves a mentor and role model for the nearly 200 students on campus. He listens to their joys and frustrations, offering a kind word or two in return.
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The Houston Independent School District is launching its 2021 summer meals program this week, in conjunction with the start of summer school.
As part of the summer meals program, Nutrition Services will host weekly curbside student meal pickup at 10 of the district’s highest-need campuses. The distributions will be held at the end of each week and provide students with meals for the weekend, as well as hand sanitizer and reusable masks.
Weekend meals also will be provided to students enrolled in summer school. They will receive no-cost breakfast and lunch at school each day as well as meals to take home for the weekend at the end of each week.
“As we have learned from this past year, we have an overabundance of students from food-insecure households in HISD,” Nutrition Services Officer Betti Wiggins said. “I’m grateful that we’re able to provide this program to help ensure our students continue to have access to good food through the summer.”
Campus curbside pickup locations include:
The first curbside pickup will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, June 18. Students will receive two days’ worth of breakfast and lunch to eat over the weekend.
Beginning Thursday, June 24, all remaining pickups will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursdays to better align with the district’s summer work schedule. On Thursdays, students will receive three days’ worth of breakfast and lunch to eat over the weekend.
The program is slated to run through the end of summer school.
For more information or to find a curbside pickup location near you, visit HoustonISD.org/StudentMeals.
As heavy storms—the kind typical of Houston summers, dark clouds heavy with rain—moved through the area on Tuesday night, spirits in teachers’ homes across the area could not be dampened.
And as the skies cleared, a rainbow appeared over Rosa Oviedo’s house, just in time for her to be surprised as the Elementary Teacher of the Year.
“It feels really good as an educator,” Oviedo said. “We don’t do this job to be recognized, but for HISD to put this together for us despite the pandemic is truly appreciated.”
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Dr. Priscilla Rivas is the new principal for Kinder HSPVA. Rivas is an experienced educator and artist. She joined Houston ISD in 2005 as a teacher at Herrera and then Memorial Elementary Schools. Rivas proceeded to serve as an assistant principal at Browning and principal at Crockett which serves a robust elementary performing and visual arts program. Rivas is also a performing artist, artistic director, and teacher for dance and visual arts with a passion for making the arts accessible to all.
Continue readingLuis Sabillón has been selected as the new principal of Coop Elementary School. Sabillón currently serves as a Dean of Instruction for Marshall Academy of Fine Arts. During his tenure at Marshall, he oversaw LPAC, Special Education, IAT, PLCs, and lead the ELA and Math Departments. He began his educational career at Brookline Elementary as a classroom teacher and served as an Early Childhood Teacher Specialist.
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Maria Dolores “Lola” Perejón-Lasheras has been selected as the new principal of Clifton Middle School. Perejón-Lasheras has served as a teacher, instructional specialist, curriculum specialist in the HISD Curriculum Department, magnet coordinator, assistant principal, and for the last five years as Principal of Helms Elementary. At Helms, she was instrumental in that school’s rise from an “improvement required” status to meet the standard with a “B” rating. In October 2019, she was awarded the Excellence in Leadership Award and was named 2021 HISD Elementary Principal of the Year.
Continue readingNearly two dozen current and former Houston Independent School District coaches and one former NFL player shared their experiences on the field and in the classroom as part of a roundtable discussion last week.
The purpose of the roundtable was to mentor coaches and teachers throughout the district, and foster relationships between staff. The event was held on Thursday, June 17, at 10 a.m. at Delmar Field House.
Continue readingThe Houston ISD Board of Education voted unanimously to name Millard House II as permanent superintendent of the largest public school district in Texas.
Mr. House most recently served as superintendent of the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) in Tennessee. He is a 26-year educator who started as a physical education teacher then went on to hold positions as chief operating officer and superintendent.
The Board of Education named House as superintendent after an extensive process of gathering stakeholder input, a nationwide search that included a diverse pool of applicants, and a comprehensive interview process of the top candidates. Trustees named Mr. House as their lone finalist on May 21, but state law requires a 21-day waiting period before signing a contract.
Continue readingAs the sun set over Delmar Stadium, 10 graduating seniors clad in bright red caps and gowns took the stage to introduce a special video making its debut at Bellaire High School’s graduation.
The seven-minute video introduced the school’s record-breaking nine valedictorians and salutatorian to the hundreds gathered for the ceremony and recapped key moments over the past four years.
“I think we can all agree it’s been one hell of a year,” said Valedictorian Wenson Tang, who opened the video from a table at The Teahouse Tapioca and Tea near the cardinal campus. “From COVID-19 and online school to snow and the Texas freeze, from political drama to social reform, 2021 is not a year to forget.”
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