Winner to be announced May 15 at Celebration of Excellence
New this year at the HISD Celebration of Excellence is the Fan Favorite award. Over the past week, HISD staff, students, and alumni have been voting for their favorite campus-based Teacher of the Year, as designated by schools across the district. More than 25,000 votes were submitted and tallied—and the top two elementary, middle, and high school teachers are moving on to round two of voting. The top six finalists are:
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Fondren Middle School celebrated its new status as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School on Nov. 21 with music, poetry, art, and special guest speaker James Reilly, a former NASA astronaut. Fondren joins Reagan High School and Hogg Middle School in receiving official authorization in July to offer the rigorous IB Middle Years Programme (MYP).
“IB is a totally new approach to learning for us,” said Fondren MS Principal Monique Lewis. “Teachers are teaching differently, and students are learning differently. There is more collaboration among students and more open-mindedness in general.”
Reagan High School and Hogg Middle School are officially celebrating their new status this week as International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools, the latest HISD campuses to receive official authorization. After receiving approval July 5, the schools were able to begin offering the rigorous IB program when the new school year launched, creating the first continuous IB feeder pattern in the historic Houston Heights. Students begin the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) at Harvard Elementary and progress to the Middle Years Programme (MYP) at Hogg and Reagan.
Twenty of HISD’s 115 magnet programs are not attracting enough students
Twenty HISD magnet school programs that are not drawing enough students from outside their neighborhoods will be closed after the 2013-2014 school year under a plan announced Thursday.
These 20 magnet school programs enroll a combined 758 students from outside their attendance zones.
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Ortiz Middle School Principal Noelia Longoria
HISD is launching a new program this year designed to increase student achievement “from the middle.” The Lead Principal Initiative pairs highly effective principals with other campus leaders at similar schools to spread the district’s best practices more effectively.
“‘Leading from the middle’ refers to influencing from among, rather than from above, below, or in front of one’s group,” explained HISD School Services Officer Lupita Hinojosa. “It implies positioning ourselves alongside of those we’ve empowered and working shoulder to shoulder with them.”
Reagan High School and Hogg Middle School are the two latest HISD campuses to receive official authorization to operate as International Baccalaureate World Schools. The announcement, which came on July 5, creates the first continuous IB feeder pattern in the historic Heights neighborhood. Students now can begin the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) at Harvard Elementary and then progress to Hogg Middle School and Reagan High School for the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP).