Tag Archives: LEED

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.

HISD Receives ‘Leadership in Action’ Award

HISD’s Green District Challenge energy conservation program was recognized with the 2012 Leadership in Action Award for Environmental Improvement earlier this week during the Leadership Houston awards luncheon.  The annual award recognizes Houston corporations and nonprofits that have made extraordinary contributions to the greater Houston community, through programs and projects in 10 different categories, including Environmental Improvement.

 “We are proud of our efforts to model for our students what it means to be good stewards of our financial and natural resources,” said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. “Our schools are long term investments, so it’s important that we build facilities that use less energy. And through our Green School Challenge, our students are learning the important role they play in energy conservation.”

HISD Chief Operating Officer Leo Bobadilla accepted the award on the district’s behalf.

The District earned the Leadership in Action award for its precedent-setting  implementation of  a three-pronged initiative and comprehensive approach to energy efficiency, including capital improvements, process improvements, and behavioral change programs.  The District initiative features energy-efficient building designs, green building practices, fuel-efficiency initiatives, and behavioral change programs at the school campuses, and is complemented by a new energy performance contracting program that will allow district wide retrofits of facilities with emerging technology in energy-efficient lighting, building controls, HVAC equipment, and other building systems.

 HISD is also committed to building new facilities to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance “green” buildings. 

In 2011, HISD’s transportation department was named as the top school district green fleet by Government Fleet magazine, a first for HISD. HISD’s energy-efficient programs in transportation include outfitting special GPS equipment for idle reduction and route efficiencies, the use of alternative fuels such as biodiesel and propane, and the installation of emission reduction devices on 490 buses. 

This January, HISD implemented the Green School Challenge, a competition among schools, designed to inspire students to track their school’s energy use, and form campus ‘Green Teams’ to increase single stream recycling and decrease energy use.   

For more information about the district’s single stream recycling program, and other information on energy efficiency, visit www.houstonisd.org/greenschoolschallenge.

Grier, Lunceford to dedicate Horn Elementary – a magnet academy focused on development of “whole child”

Administrators, staff and students will be joined by HISD Board of Education President Michael Lunceford and Superintendent Terry Grier during the official dedication ceremony for the new Paul W. Horn Elementary today at 9 a.m. at the new campus, 4530 Holly Street.

All building systems on the new campus were designed to yield a projected increase of 24.6 percent in energy efficiency. Click image above for video tour.

“Being a former Horn parent myself, I can’t tell you how delighted I am to see this new building,” said Lunceford.  “This is the kind of facility that every student in HISD deserves.  It saves energy, fits perfectly with the surrounding community, and will prove to be a hub of achievement that parents, students and teachers can be proud of.” 

The new Horn facility is built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and all building materials were made using 41 percent recycled content.  All building systems on the new campus were designed to yield a projected increase of 24.6 percent in energy efficiency.  The district has committed to build all new construction projects to LEED standards.                  

The $805 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2007 made this project possible. The new school includes:

  • New library;
  • Bioswale to reduce potable water use;
  • New science labs;
  • New computer lab; and
  • Smart Board technology in all classrooms.

“Our new facility truly supports our focus on a holistic curriculum that speaks to the needs of the whole child,” said Horn Principal Sarah Harrington referring to the academy’s mission as a magnet school.  “With Smart Board technology, our new library and computer lab, we are well poised to meet the needs of all our students.” 

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

Peck Elementary among energy-efficient campuses built using $805 million bond program

Peck Elementary, at 5001 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., is LEED certified, with a projected energy savings of 16.5 percent per year.

 HISD Superintendent Terry Grier and Chief Elementary Schools Officer Sam Sarabia joined a host of community notables, activists, elected officials, and former teachers on Jan. 20 to dedicate the new Lora B. Peck Elementary School.

Nearly 350 guests, including former HISD trustee Arthur Gaines, U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, City of Houston Controller Ron Green, Houston Defender Editor Sonceria Jiles, and Melody Ellis, HISD’s first African-American school board president, came to admire the new, energy-efficient campus.

Dr. Grier thanked Peck Principal Carlotta Brown for her dedication and leadership, citing recent challenges with flooding during the weeks leading up to the ceremony. “She was supposed to be celebrating her anniversary, at dinner with her husband,” he said, “but she was here at Peck, making sure each student was safe.”

The dedication program, entitled “Dreams Do Come True,” featured performances by Hanq Neal, minister of music at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, and Ballet Folklorico by Compania Alegria Mexican.

The new Peck campus, which was built with funds from the 2007 Bond Program, is considered a “high-performance” or “green” building, built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Key features in LEED schools include the installation of water-conserving plumbing, energy efficient systems and controls, improved air quality, and use of natural light. Peck, which will use 38 percent less water than a similarly built, less-energy-efficient elementary school, is projected to have an energy savings of 16.5 percent per year.

 
New Campuses, Renovations Across the District
Major facility upgrades are happening at schools across the city thanks to the $805 million bond proposal that voters approved in 2007. Thousands of students at 15 elementary schools are enjoying newly constructed campuses, and many more students will have the same opportunity as HISD works to complete six new campuses in 2012 and expands an additional 10 campuses in time for the 2012-2013 school year. To see what’s changing in your neighborhood, visit hisdprojects.com.