Tag Archives: bond

HISD to Dedicate New DeChaumes Elementary

HISD Board of Education Trustee Anna Eastman and Deputy Chief Academic Officer Alicia Thomas will be joining administrators, staff and students for a ceremony to dedicate the new DeChaumes Elementary School (155 Cooper) on Tuesday, April 3 at 10 a.m.

“I know this campus was highly anticipated and means so much to the community! DeChaumes has soared academically in recent years,” said Eastman. “Having an energy-efficient facility with state of the art technology will only further enhance learning for our current students, as well those to come.”

DeChaumes Elementary is one of 16 new schools designed with eco-friendly features and leading technology that HISD has opened since 2011. The district will soon be opening eight more.

“Our commitment to quality education goes beyond the classroom to the overall campus environment,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said. “Providing a safe building and the latest technology are key factors in enhancing our students’ educational experience.”
The new DeChaumes facility is built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and is projected to have an 18 percent reduction in energy consumption and designed to use 50 percent less water for landscape irrigation. The district has committed to build all new construction projects to LEED standards.

“Our school community is so proud of the way the school looks now, and all our students are using the latest technology,” said DeChaumes Principal Sandy Gaw. “I am also delighted that we now have space to offer special activities and clubs, like soccer and robotics.”
The $805 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2007 made this project possible. The new school includes:
• New library;
• New science labs;
• New computer lab; and
• Smart Board technology in all classrooms.

For more information about other school construction projects district wide, visit www.hisdprojects.org.

Judge’s life, accomplishments honored at DeAnda dedication ceremony

The friends and family of Judge James DeAnda were joined by noted jurists, community members, elected officials, and HISD Superintendent Terry Grier at the official dedication of James DeAnda Elementary School. The school is one of the district’s new campuses built to LEED specifications and made possible by public support of 2007’s $805 million bond program.

Senators Rodney Ellis and Mario Gallegos presented DeAnda Principal Eduardo Sindaco with an official proclamation commemorating Judge DeAnda’s life and accomplishments.

“We ought to name schools after those whose accomplishments are on the right side of history,” Ellis said. “This school is named for Judge DeAnda because he lived a life worth emulating.”

Attendees included Board of Education Trustee Manuel Rodriguez; former Houston City Council member Felix Fraga; Michael Solar of the legal firm Solar & Associates; U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison; federal judge, Louis De Anda, brother of Judge DeAnda and Michael Olivas, law professor at the University of Houston.

“He was our Thurgood Marshall,” said Olivas, who currently sits of the board of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, which DeAnda founded.

Louis J. DeAnda, Judge DeAnda’s son, thanked Principal Sindaco for his dedication to the school and its students.

“When I finished my tour, one thing I noticed is that as we were leaving the school, Mr. Sindaco greeted each parent by name. It’s not just a job for him, and that let me know that this school is going places.”

Judge James DeAnda was raised in Houston and attended Sherman Elementary School. He was one of the first Mexican American attorneys to argue before the Supreme Court, and was the second Mexican American to serve as a federal judge, nominated by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, and received his commission to the bench on May 10, 1979.

Frost Elementary school celebrates milestones at dedication of new building

Houston Independent School District Board of Education trustees Larry Marshall and Paula Harris were on hand at the official dedicatory service of Frost Elementary School, built thanks to the $805 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2007.

“None of this could have occurred without the parents and community who voted for the bond program,” Trustee Marshall said as he commended the HISD facilities team for their hard work. “The support of this community has been integral for the success of this bond program to provide modern, healthy, technologically advanced campuses for the district’s students.”

The new school features science labs, a library, a computer lab and Smart Board technology in every classroom.

Click through the photos below to see scenes from the dedication ceremony and pictures of Frost Elementary School.

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