Alvaro Montelongo, Jr. is the proud principal of Scarborough High School, where he is driving meaningful progress in year two of transformation.
Year one, Montelongo was the principal at Berry Elementary School, where he led the camps from a C to a high-B rating. His effective leadership and strong instructional coaching led to remarkable academic growth across grade levels and a 100% teacher retention rate at the campus.
Continue readingSince January, HISD’s Nutrition Services Department has been working closely with Berry Elementary School to bring agriculture literacy into every classroom. HISD’s Chef Brittany Jones and registered dietitians Gabby Villarreal and Nathan Raska are in the process of visiting every class at Berry and providing students a fun and educational cooking demonstration and nutrition lecture.
Continue readingFeb. 5-9 marked National School Counseling Week, a time for school communities to come together in appreciation and recognition of the important contributions of our tireless school counselors. This year’s National School Counseling Week theme is “School Counseling: Standards-Based, Student-Focused.” From class schedules to emotional regulation, all the way to choosing and applying to college, school counselors are a vital resource on a student’s educational journey.
Continue readingThe 2023 Parent Organization Expo, held on Feb. 4, was met with explosive enthusiasm by HISD PTO and would-be PTO members. Nearly 600 people attended the expo at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center which was the first of its kind to be held in person. PTOs from across the district gathered to network and learn how to be more effectively involved in their child’s education.
Alvaro Montelongo Jr. has been selected as the new principal for Berry Elementary School. Montelongo has been an educator for 14 years and has served in HISD as a math coach, instructional specialist, assistant principal, and for the last three years as Principal of Looscan Elementary. Montelongo began his career at Santa Fe High School before joining HISD.
Continue readingArmando Lujan has been appointed as principal at Berry Elementary. Before this appointment, Mr. Lujan served as principal of Edison Middle School for the past four years. Prior to that, Mr. Lujan served as principal of Roosevelt Elementary for three years, as well as Dean of Students at Lamar High School for four years. Mr. Lujan started his teaching career as a special education teacher working with emotionally challenged students with the Corpus Christi Independent School District. He served as a special education teacher for six years before beginning his administrative career as an assistant principal at Elliot Grant Middle School in Corpus Christi. Mr. Lujan holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and a master’s degree in Educational Administration from Texas A&M Corpus Christi. In addition, Mr. Lujan has recently completed Rice University’s REEP Business Fellowship.
Last year, HISD’s Nutrition Services department launched a pilot program at a handful of campuses to increase the selection of fresh fruits and vegetables available to students in the cafeteria at lunch.
That program was so successful that the district has expanded it this year, and a total of 26 HISD schools now regularly offer a fresh fruit and vegetable bar. Continue reading
Middle school parents learned about more than 40 high school programs their children can choose from at a Parent Information Night organized by the district’s Office of School Choice on Thursday at Burbank Middle School.
“It’s good to see that our students have so many opportunities at HISD,” said Rubin and Laura Precella, who attended the program with their daughter and nephew, both eighth-graders at The Rice School. “We just want to learn more about the different programs so that we can choose one that will help our children make their mark on the world.” Continue reading
Kindergarten students perform a routine set to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” during the dedication of the Moreno ES SPARK park on Nov. 21.
A rain barrel system and a fruit tree orchard. A new walking trail and an outdoor classroom. These are just a few of the attractions now gracing four new SPARK parks at HISD campuses across the city.
The parks, which were formally dedicated on Nov. 21 and 22 by SPARK park representatives and campus officials, are located on the grounds of Almeda, Berry, Moreno, and Tijerina elementary schools.
Berry Elementary School received a “Green Ribbon Schools” Award recently from a national program of the same name in recognition of its leadership in touting green initiatives on campus.
The school was one of only 63 campuses chosen from among 13 states and Guam to win the award, and Berry was selected for achieving the online community’s highest level of participation during the 2011–2012 school year. Continue reading