Tag Archives: Eastwood Academy

Eastwood Academy design develops with collegiate model in mind

Eastwood Academy students want their new building to feel more like a college campus with learning commons where students can study independently and lounge with friends.

“Many school buildings look plain and boring,” said Eastwood student Rosemary Lugo. “I would like to see them bridge our building together almost like a mini-college with learning commons for students to hang out or read books by themselves.”

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EMERGE students help Eastwood Academy classmates excel

Last year, a pair of juniors in the EMERGE program at Eastwood Academy had a thought: EMERGE prepares high-performing students from underserved communities to successfully attend and graduate from Ivy League and other top-tier colleges. Maybe EMERGE students could volunteer to help other students study? And with that spark of inspiration, Students With Academic Grit – or SWAG – was born.

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More students headed to college this fall as members of 2014 ‘Posse’

Last year, almost two dozen HISD students became members of the city’s inaugural group of “Posse Scholars,” after a national non-profit called The Posse Foundation expanded its programming to Houston.

That organization will be sending its second group of students off to higher education this fall—and the majority (70 percent)—come from HISD.

The Houston branch of the Posse Foundation announced the 61 members of its Class of 2014 at a special celebration held on Jan. 6, and 43 of those students will be graduating from 18 HISD high schools this spring.

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22 acceptances — including 3 at Yale — for HISD EMERGE seniors

To familiarize them with life on the campus of a select school, HISD’s EMERGE program took a group of rising seniors on a tour of northeast campuses over the summer. Here, they’re at Harvard University.

The acceptance letters for select colleges and universities are rolling in for HISD seniors working with the district’s EMERGE program – 22 letters so far, as of Dec. 18. On Dec. 16 alone, three HISD seniors were notified they had been accepted to Yale University.

All students are either receiving full rides or are having 100 percent of their financial need met by the school accepting them, according to Rick Cruz, assistant superintendent of college readiness and co-founder of EMERGE.

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HISD wins $30 million in federal Race to the Top funds to link students to careers, college from earliest age

The Houston Independent School District learned Tuesday that it has won nearly $30 million in federal Race to the Top funding, the only urban school system to be named a winner in this round of district competition.

The announcement was made at noon, Houston time, by Education Secretary Arne Duncan at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.

“This funding is an acknowledgment of the work we’ve done, as a giant urban district, to personalize learning to each student – and a belief by the Department of Education in the work we intend to do,” said Superintendent Terry Grier.

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Board of Education approves 7 more CMAR contracts under 2012 bond program

CMAR firm for North Forest area athletic facility also approved

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday agreed to authorize the district to negotiate contracts with five firms to provide construction manager at risk (CMAR) services on selected 2012 bond projects.

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Board of Education to Consider 7 More Contracts under 2012 Bond Program

Administrators are recommending firms to provide CMAR services

Administrators are recommending that the HISD Board of Education authorize the district to negotiate contracts with five firms to provide construction manager at risk (CMAR) services on selected 2012 bond projects.

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HISD Announces Second Phase of One-to-One Laptop Initiative

HISD has selected the 18 high schools whose students will be receiving laptop computers in the 2014-2015 school year in the second phase of PowerUp, the district’s one-to-one digital transformation initiative.

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EMERGE Students See Significant Gains in SAT Scores

Although HISD will not receive SAT results from the College Board until later this year, individual seniors who retook the SAT in October after attending the EMERGE SAT Boot Camp in July are getting their scores and seeing significant improvement – more than 300 out of 2,400 possible points in some cases.

“We are very pleased with the results,” said Assistant Superintendent for College Readiness Richard Cruz, who launched EMERGE in 2011 and continues to oversee it. “We are about to expand the program from 100 to 300 students.” EMERGE is a districtwide initiative aimed at getting high-achieving HISD students in underserved communities into Ivy League and other Tier 1 schools.

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SAT Boot Camp Boosting Chances for Ivy League Admission

HISD students at three high schools say they are more confident and prepared to take the SAT thanks to a summer boot camp that raised their practice test scores by double digits.

“At first I found it really difficult,” said Sharpstown sophomore Giovanna Deleon. “Now, after taking the practice tests and seeing my score increase week after week, I am very proud and optimistic.”

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