The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday is expected to consider a resolution that would begin the process of renaming three additional schools so they better represent the district’s values and diversity.
The resolution would affect Albert Sidney Johnston and Sidney Lanier middle schools, and Jefferson Davis High School. Continue reading
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Grady Middle School students stepped inside their new $14.8 million classroom wing today – the first day of classes in the new building. With natural light streaming into classrooms and shared collaborative spaces, and flexible furniture placed throughout, the new wing truly reflects a modern learning environment.
The addition completes the multi-phase master plan for the campus that was begun with funds from the 2007 bond. The building features a core classroom wing with 24 classrooms, six science labs, six learning commons, and three administrative suites. Student capacity at the school is now expanded from 580 to 850 students.
Ten Grady Middle School eighth-graders performed recently at the Mandarin Chinese Foreign Language Awards Luncheon hosted by World Affairs Council of Houston at HESS Club. Continue reading
Grady Middle School students, staff and parents are celebrating recent news that the school is now an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme campus – one of only two HISD middle schools authorized to offer the Middle Years Programme. Lanier MS is the only other authorized HISD middle school.
Grady principal Gretchen Kasper-Hoffman has been fielding congratulatory calls and emails from parents and community members since word came out that the school received IB authorization.
“It’s a great thing for our community,” said Kasper-Hoffman. “They’re looking forward to it.”
As students enter the classroom of Edison Middle School teacher Mical Roy, he and his students go through a daily ritual called “threshold.” It may sound like a wrestling move, but it’s simply the act of Roy greeting his students at the door and inquiring about their day. It’s a little gesture that starts everyone off on the right foot, and establishes a warm, friendly environment.
“It’s amazing how just letting a student know that you are interested in their day can make a difference,” said Roy who has been a teacher for seven years.
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The collaborative efforts of the Grady Middle School community, along with those who designed and built the new facility, were all praised Monday morning at an official dedication ceremony for the school’s newest addition.
Light from the mid-morning sun served as the backdrop for the ceremony that included performances from the Grady band and theater groups. Working together as the students did was also how community members worked with HISD and school staff, as well as the building’s architects and designers, said HISD Board of Education member Harvin Moore.
“It’s really very, very important that decisions be made that involve the people that are really going to live with it,” Moore said. “The parents, the neighbors and the faculty and teachers. They know about educational needs and the academic design of a great school.”
Grady’s new building includes a library, cafetorium, gymnasium, music room and new administration offices. In total, the building cost about $13.7 million, paid for with funds from the 2007 bond program.
Students aren’t the only ones who get to enjoy the new school, though, said Grady principal Gretchen Kasper-Hoffman.
“People love it. They’re so excited to see this on the corner. They enjoy driving by and seeing such a lovely building and knowing that the kids are learning,” she said. “It wasn’t horrible before, but now, it’s just something that sticks out and the community can be proud that this is our middle school.”
The school, located at 5215 San Felipe Street on the city’s near West side, now has some facilities that are either on par or best those of nearby private schools, said Moore, who specifically cited the quality of Grady’s new music room.
Moore also reminded those in attendance that the new addition was only the first phase of construction planned for Grady, noting the second phase of the plan was among those projects listed in the 2012 bond program.
In the proposed plan, Grady would receive $14.8 million to complete renovations around the school and replace 23 temporary buildings currently being used for classroom instruction. The project is among 38 total projects in the $1.89 billion proposed bond program, scheduled to go before the voters in November.