Dressed in tiny ties and sparkly dresses, dozens of four-year-old students from Fonwood Early Childhood Center stood before a crowded cafeteria and sang in celebration of the dedication of their new school.
The students are among the first to attend classes in the new early childhood facility, which opened this school year and was specifically designed to enhance the educational experience of the district’s youngest learners.
Three HISD schools are celebrating construction milestones this month — Fonwood Early Childhood Center will dedicate its new building, while Wharton Dual Language Academy and Barbara Jordan High School for Careers will celebrate the start of construction on their new schools.
The first event will be held at Fonwood Early Childhood Center, where school officials plan to formally dedicate the new school that opened its doors to students for this school year. The new school, which serves the district’s youngest learners, features 27 classrooms, including two special education centers and specialized visual arts and science labs, as well as three outdoor play areas and an outdoor learning center. It also features vibrant interior colors with plenty of natural light throughout. Continue reading
Driving along Mesa Road in the North Forest neighborhood in HISD, steel columns can be seen rising from the sites of North Forest High School and North Forest Early Childhood Center, as both projects have begun vertical construction and are proceeding on schedule.
A new team approach – blending classroom learning with home support — is revolutionizing teacher-parent conferences in an HISD pilot program.
Centered on “Academic Parent-Teacher Teams,” the approach being tried at eight schools brings in groups of parents to meet with their child’s teacher three times a year. Instead of merely walking out with a report card, these parents know where their youngster stands in relation to the rest of the class – and take with them important tools to help support in the home what’s being taught in the classroom.
The Houston Independent School District is inviting students from the Children First Academy, a charter school closed this week by the Texas Education Agency, to enroll in HISD.
The Houston Independent School District’s new Fonwood Early Childhood Center will be offering open enrollment for children in the North Forest community at a free community event on July 13.
Hilliard ES principal Mike Walker, left, works to prepare his new school for students, July 1, 2013.
Yellow HISD work vans fill the parking lot, and the smell of paint permeates the air inside Fonwood Elementary School, a former North Forest ISD campus. Dr. Kimberly Agnew-Borders, the new principal, is in the front office overseeing the school’s transition to Fonwood Early Childhood Center.
“We are getting ready to welcome a new class of four-year-olds to our campus,” said Dr. Agnew-Borders, who previously served as the principal of Wesley Elementary School. She is interviewing teachers, meeting parents who show up to enroll their children, picking Formica, and generally directing the re-purposing of the school.
As the State of Texas moves forward with its order to close North Forest ISD and annex the area into the Houston Independent School District, HISD is making plans to change the purpose of some NFISD buildings and selecting staff for NFISD schools.
In addition, the district plans to recommend attendance zones for the North Forest area to meet the needs of transferred students, and make modest changes to HISD school attendance zones for areas adjoining the North Forest boundary later this summer. Pursuant to the order issued by Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams, these changes will take effect on July 1, 2013.
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