Chastity Caesar is a lifelong Houstonian who grew up in the same neighborhood as McReynolds Middle School, where she is the devoted principal. This week’s HISD Star Educator is committed to instilling a foundational love of learning in her students that they will carry with them throughout their lives.
Continue readingTag Archives: McReynolds MS
HISD middle schoolers adventure abroad with NES Dyad Travel Program
Though most students approach the end of the school year with excitement, some HISD middle schoolers had a different, very special reason to look forward to the end of May. HISD’s Dyad Travel program gave students at NES campuses the opportunity of a lifetime to jetset across the globe for a five-day journey to Tokyo, Japan. In keeping with the Dyad model put in place in NES schools, Dyad Travel aims to expose students to as many diverse experiences as possible.
Olympic swimmers teach HISD students the importance of water safety
The biggest names in USA Swimming visited Northside High School Wednesday, May 3, for the annual Make a Splash Tour in partnership with Phillips 66 to promote water safety and education.
Continue readingHISD announces seven new magnet programs
The Office of School Choice hosted its second districtwide School Choice Fair on Saturday, Dec. 10, where seven new HISD magnet programs were revealed.
Continue readingBudding artists surprised as winners of Blast Off with a Healthy School Breakfast art contest
First-grader Nidarshani Chinthagunta gasped and her eyes widened as a bright turquoise bike adorned with white balloons was wheeled into the T.H. Rogers conference room where she stood sandwiched between her mother and school principal.
Grabbing the 20-inch Titan Tomcat by the seat and handlebars, she carefully eyed the new bike as she whispered a shy, “thank you.”
Nidarshani was one of two grand prize winners in the district’s “Blast Off with a Healthy School Breakfast” art contest held in honor of National School Breakfast Week in March.
More than 60 students submitted original artwork using the breakfast theme. A panel of judges from the district’s Nutrition Services and Fine Arts departments selected the top winners at the elementary and secondary levels.
Continue readingHISD partners with community leaders for new juvenile justice program
The Houston Independent School District, the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and the Houston Police Department joined forces Monday to announce the launch of a juvenile justice diversion program that aims to transform the lives of HISD students in the Fifth Ward.
The program, which will be run by the Fifth Ward redevelopment corporation’s new Center for Urban Transformation, will assist students, ages 12 to 16 who are accused of nonviolent offenses. Instead of utilizing the court system, the CUT program will offer mentorship opportunities, volunteer work, and community-based supportive services.
Continue readingJasmine Giron named new principal of McReynolds Middle School
Jasmine Giron has been selected as the new principal of McReynolds Middle School. Giron has worked as an educator at HISD since 2009, where she started as an associate teacher at Kelso Elementary School serving first-grade bilingual students. From 2010 to 2014, she served as an IPC teacher, biology teacher, AP environmental science teacher, and lead biology teacher at Madison High School. In addition, she worked as a magnet coordinator at East Early College High School and Booker T. Washington High School. Most recently, she served as the dean of instruction at Milby High School. Giron earned her bachelor’s in Psychology: Pre-med from Texas Southern University and a master’s in Educational Leadership at Lamar University.
Philip Steuernagel named new principal of McReynolds Middle School
Philip Steuernagel has been selected as the new principal of McReynolds Middle School. Steuernagel has 16 years of experience in education as a bilingual teacher, ESL college adjunct instructor, assistant principal and most recently principal of R. Martinez Elementary. Under his leadership, student enrollment has increased, and the campus has made significant academic gains. Prior to Steuernagel’s arrival, R. Martinez was rated as an Improvement Required campus, and under his leadership it has been rated as Met Standard each year he has been principal. Steuernagel earned his Bachelor of Arts from American University in Washington, D.C. and his Master of Education from the University of Houston.
Student World AIDS Day art posters on display
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000E9G033DjOEo” g_name=”20180411-World-AIDS-Day-Banners” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
The colorful banners hanging on the fence between the HISD baseball field and the Hattie Mae White Education Support Centers are eye-catching works of art by district middle-school children. They were put on display recently after being displayed at the City of Houston’s Hiram Clarke Multi-Service Center in December to honor World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.
Chess students take on blindfolded grandmaster in group competition
Grandmaster Timur Gareev will be trying to break a world record soon by playing the largest number of simultaneous chess games ever while blindfolded — and 10 students from HISD schools recently helped him prepare for that challenge.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000qVtbXB5FNZI” g_name=”Timur-Gareev” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
The Uzbekistan native, who became the youngest grandmaster ever from Asia in 2004 at the age of 16, played 10 of HISD’s top chess players on Sept. 19, and defeated them all (along with three students from a local private school) within the span of a few hours, despite not being able to see any of the chessboards. Continue reading