Tag Archives: Stevens ES

Associate Teachers of the Month recognized at Scarborough and Stevens elementary schools

As Maria Iglesias posed for photos in her classroom at Scarborough Elementary School to celebrate her selection as the Associate Teacher of the Month for March, several of her kindergarten students stood by quietly hoping to get a photo with their favorite associate teacher.

“I just come here and I know they need so much help, especially now because of the pandemic,” Iglesias said. “I know I can help them, push them forward, however I can make a difference in their lives.”

Repeatedly referring to them as “my kids,” Iglesias has long had a passion for teaching. She became a part-time associate teacher when she retired as a full-time HISD teacher with the district, where she taught for 16 years.

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Erin Trent named new principal of Stevens Elementary School

Erin Trent has been selected as the new principal of Stevens Elementary School. Prior to her appointment, Trent served as an assistant principal at Wainwright Elementary School and started her career as a pre-kindergarten teacher at Kandy Stripe Academy, as well as a curriculum writer at KIPP Houston. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University and has earned two master’s degrees in Educational Administration and Curriculum and Instruction from LeTourneau University.

HISD Board of Education to vote on proposed attendance boundary changes

On Thursday, the HISD Board of Education will  vote on a plan to adjust attendance boundaries at 10 elementary schools for the 2016-2017 school year to address classroom overcrowding.

The proposal affects these elementary campuses: Bastian, Hartsfield, Highland Heights, Kelso, Smith, Stevens, Wainwright, Young, Frost, and Law.

Community meetings regarding the proposals took place in October.

Complete details, including maps and frequently asked questions, can be found here.

400 “Bikes for Excellence” awarded to HISD fifth-graders

As members of the Thin Blue Line Foundation & Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club roared up to Stevens Elementary, students poured out of the school to welcome them. Last week, the club visited four HISD elementary schools to present 400 bicycles, helmets, and locks to fifth-graders at C. Martinez, Sherman, Stevens, and Wainwright elementary schools. The bikes are awarded to students who have excelled in academics, personal conduct, and attendance.

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‘Home Field Advantage’ program building educational stability for students

Students whose families move during the middle of the school year are being allowed to stay at their “home school,” or the one they enrolled in at the beginning of the academic year, thanks to a innovative HISD program called Home Field Advantage.  Since May 2014, schools involved in the program have seen their overall mobility rate drop by an average of 10 percentage points.

During his State of the Schools address last February, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier promised to create a program to build educational stability among highly mobile students. Subsequently, students at 13 elementary schools, where roughly 30 percent of families move in any given year, were offered transportation to their “home” school, even if their parents moved. Continue reading →

HISD school board to consider plan to reduce classroom overcrowding

The Houston Independent School District is working to readjust attendance boundaries at almost two dozen schools in an effort to reduce classroom overcrowding.

The move is in response to a directive from the Texas Education Agency, which requires kindergarten through fourth-grade classes to have no more than 22 students per classroom. Classes that exceed that number must request a state waiver.

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Two alternative certification grads discuss what makes HISD’s program superior

Physics teacher Adeeb Barqawi works with his students at Kashmere High School.

Physics teacher Adeeb Barqawi works with his students at Kashmere High School.

The one thing most participants in HISD’s Alternative Certification Program have in common is that they did not originally plan to pursue a career in education. However, the desire to be a positive influence on children and the greater Houston community eventually brought them to the classroom, and to HISD.

Recently, we sat down with Cory Bates, a bilingual Pre-K teacher at Stevens Elementary School, and Adeeb Barqawi, a physics teacher at Kashmere High School, to reflect on their experiences in the district’s Alternative Certification Program, also known as the Effective Teacher Fellowship (ETF), and why they feel HISD’s program is superior to others. The deadline to apply to the next Effective Teacher Fellowship cohort is Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015.  Continue reading →

New program designed to lower stress, boost focus in classes

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Twelve Houston ISD schools have a new program designed to improve students’ health and reduce their stress.

The program, which is sponsored by the Sonima Foundation, will teach students skills for a healthier lifestyle. Through group discussion, character education, breathing exercises and yoga, students will learn to focus their attention, calm their minds, reduce stress and think before reacting.  Nutrition curriculum will be introduced later in the school year. Continue reading →

Giving high mobility students the ‘Home Field Advantage’

Living up to a promise made by Superintendent Terry Grier during February’s State of the Schools address, HISD is enacting “Home Field Advantage,” a program to create educational stability among highly mobile student populations.

Students at 13 elementary schools where families are most transient are being offered transportation to continue to allow them to make that school their home, even if their families move. General mobility rates in the selected schools is about 30 percent annually, according to Susan Kaler, Student Services officer. Continue reading →