Celebrating Our National Blue Ribbon Schools
I had a wonderful time Tuesday serving cake and celebrating with Challenge Early College High School students like junior Priscilla Ruiz (pictured) and their parents. That school, along with Lyons Elementary and the Eastwood Academy, was named a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. We are so proud of this amazing accomplishment.
And we had more good news this week. We learned that five of the 26 Texas schools nominated for Blue Ribbon status this year hail from HISD.
Over the past 29 years, the U.S. Department of Education has honored more than 6,500 of America’s most successful campuses through the Blue Ribbon Schools program. More than 300 American public and private schools received the award this year.
Blue Ribbon Schools are selected on the basis of two primary criteria: 1) they are among the highest-performing schools in their state, and 2) they are schools with at least 40 percent of students from low-income households who have improved student performance to high levels.
Congratulations to our Blue Ribbon winners and this year’s nominees!
Growing up, I learned very quickly that when someone does you a good turn, it’s only polite to express your gratitude.
That’s why I took time out Monday to say ‘thank you’ to four outstanding central office employees during my regular quarterly staff meetings.
Dora Arzola is one of the first employees visitors see when they come to this building, and as the front desk receptionist, she greets more than 10,000 people each month. I can’t tell you the number of times folks have told me what a wonderful representative she is for our district, so it gave me great pleasure to present her with a Team HISD hat today and to thank her for her service.
Thomas Longoria is one of our IT professionals, and he has helped me out on several occasions when I had a technical question or a problem to resolve. One of Thomas’ best qualities is his ability to provide you with answers or assistance without making you feel silly. It’s not just his knowledge that makes him special—although he is great at his job—it’s his positive attitude. So I was very pleased to thank him personally, too.
Felecia German is our senior manager of Professional Standards, and she is a huge support to our principals, school improvement officers, and chiefs. People call her at all hours of the day and night, but she is always helpful and guides them to do what is right for our students. Staff members know they can count on her for guidance when making difficult decisions, and that is no small thing.
Finally, I wanted to recognize Gavin Dillingham (pictured with me above), our energy manager in Facilities Services. Gavin is in charge of helping us conserve natural resources such as water and natural gas, but in the short time he has been with us, he has also helped us save money, too. In fact, he helped negotiate a contract recently that will save the district about $5 million a year on electricity!
Please join me in saluting these four outstanding employees. They exemplify the best of HISD, and I, for one, am very proud to call them my colleagues.
Today I sent this holiday message to the hard-working principals, teachers, and staff in HISD. I wanted to share it with all of you.
Team HISD Members:
One of the great myths about working in public education is that school employees enjoy extended holiday breaks when they can forget about their work duties and relax. We know better.
The upcoming winter break is intended to be a much-deserved time for you to reconnect with family and friends and recharge your internal batteries. I know that, especially for educators, much of this time will be spent preparing for a strong finish to the 2011–2012 school year. You do this not to meet the expectations of your campus or department, but to meet the high standards you have set for yourselves and, more importantly, the students of HISD.
I am constantly amazed by the willingness of our valuable Team HISD members to go above and beyond for the children of Houston. At high schools throughout HISD, for example, teachers and administrators will open their doors during winter break to offer credit recovery classes to students who have fallen behind. Some of you will be knocking on doors of your at-risk students just to show them that you’re counting on them being back in the classroom come January. HISD teachers will be answering e-mails from students in need of advice as they tackle long-term projects. Coaches will be traveling with their squads to competitions here in town and across the state. Those responsible for tracking our budgets, both districtwide and on the campus level, will be reviewing the numbers to ensure that we are being good stewards of our shrinking resources. Our facilities workers will be working feverishly to complete much-needed work before the children return. The list goes on and on.
I want each of you to know how much your selfless dedication to Houston’s children is appreciated. Your work matters, and it is paying off for the students who rely on us to guide their learning. I also want to encourage you to use this winter break to get the rest you deserve and to reflect on the great work you are doing. I look forward to seeing all of you back at school in 2012 as we put the finishing touches on what is shaping up to be a fantastic year in HISD
Sincerely,
Keeping the Lines of Communication Open
Hearing directly from parents about their experiences with the district’s nearly 300 schools—whether good or bad—is essential to keeping the lines of communication open in HISD.
In October, I held a series of Community Conversations where I invited parents, students, staff, and community members to talk directly to me about their concerns and pose any questions they might have. Yesterday, a small group of parents and other community members and I kept the conversation going on a more intimate level at a luncheon held inside my conference room.
All those who were invited had attended one or more of the October Community Conversations and signed up to “win” a lunch with me. I’m not sure how much of a prize it was for them, but I do know the food was good and the company and conversation were even better. We talked about everything from the upcoming STAAR exams to the effect the state budget cuts have had on teachers and students. While a few had specific issues they wanted addressed by me, the majority of the group expressed many of the same concerns I have on a daily basis.
Koffey Smith wanted to know how HISD is ensuring that we have effective teachers in all the classrooms at Wheatley High School where her son is a freshman. HISD dad Vincent Sanders wanted to know what we are doing to close the achievement gap and increase parent involvement.
The answers I gave were not simple or clear cut, but the bottom line is that we as adults need to have high expectations for all HISD students—and do everything we can to ensure they graduate ready for college or a career. I appreciate the time that everyone took out of their busy day to come have lunch with me and speak openly about their experiences with HISD. During this holiday season, I am even more appreciative of the efforts of our parents and community members, who are working together to make a difference in the educational lives of our children. I can’t wait to see what the New Year brings!
See the video clip above to hear what Koffey and Vincent had to say about our lunch meeting.
Math and Reading Gains Outpace Texas Average on Nation’s Report Card
Today is a day for us to celebrate the hard, smart work of HISD principals, teachers, and students who bring a no-excuses attitude to school with them every day. The 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows students in HISD are quickly gaining on their peers in Texas, while generally outperforming their counterparts in America’s large cities.
The results of tests taken earlier this year by HISD fourth- and eighth-grade students show students here are now much closer to reaching the statewide average than they were in 2003, despite HISD’s much higher percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches and students who were not raised speaking English.
Overall, HISD students exceeded the national large-city average in three of four areas: fourth-grade reading, fourth-grade math, and eighth-grade math. HISD was below the large-city average in eighth-grade reading.
And HISD’s Hispanic and low-income students posted the best eighth-grade math scores of any of the 21 large urban districts that participated in the NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) program. HISD’s African-American eighth graders beat all of the other participating districts except Boston.
I am so proud of HISD and all of you who make these successes possible. We are not there yet, but each day we are getting closer to reaching our goal of making HISD the best school district in America.
District Explores Options for Offering more Chinese Language Education
More than 60 of the Top 100 non-U.S.-based corporations have a presence in Houston. If Houston were an independent nation, it would rank as the world’s 30th largest economy. We have become a global economy, and our schools must prepare students to compete and thrive in a global marketplace.
For this reason, we are working on a plan to expand our global language programs, with a particular focus in the coming year on the language and culture of China. This plan involves strategies such as:
- Creating a Confucius Institute at the district level that would serve as a “hub” for all of our schools in distributing Han Ban and other educational materials, connecting teachers to professional development, and partnering HISD schools with schools in China.
- Strengthening and expanding the availability of Chinese programs in HISD, such as expanded Confucius Classrooms at all levels.
- Creating a dual language Chinese school that will also house the Confucius Institute
- Developing a strong Chinese Language Curriculum based on national standards that provides for seamless connection between and among HISD’s elementary, middle and high schools with post-secondary Chinese programs.
- Forming and strengthening partnerships with organizations such as College Board, Asia Society, The Chinese Consulate in Houston, the Chinese Community Center, and universities that offer strong Chinese programs, as well as fostering cooperation and exchange with China and other countries.
- Increasing access to educational and cultural resources and providing real-world experiences for our students and teachers.
“We’re talking about doing something that is so important for our kids, improving the options they have for learning foreign languages and doing it very well,” said HISD Board of Education Trustee Harvin Moore, who spoke about the need to prepare Houston children to thrive in a global economy that is heavily influenced by China. “We are at the right place and at the right time to make a tremendous difference for the children of Houston.”
There are currently a limited number of global language programs offered across the district. Three of our schools – International High School at Sharpstown, Houston Academy for International Studies, and Kolter Elementary School – have established Confucius Classrooms in partnership with the Asia Society, and 14 of our schools offer some type of Chinese program. Nearly 1,300 students participate in these programs.
In addition to Chinese, HISD students can take classes in Spanish, French, Russian, German, and Japanese. But this exposure comes late in their academic experience, usually in high school. Our students need access to programs early on in their schooling, as research shows that young children are capable of acquiring foreign languages quickly. We are already seeing success in many of our elementary schools with a strong bilingual program in Spanish. We know our colleagues in other countries have been for some time now, teaching students multiple languages as part of their core educational program.
Our students deserve, and families expect, the best educational experience possible not to just prepare them for the jobs of today, but the jobs of the future. This initiative will bring us one step closer to that goal.
2011 Holiday Greeting Card Design Announced
I asked Chief of Staff Michele Pola to announce the winning design on my behalf, and I want you to know that she wasn’t kidding when she said it was a hard decision to make. We have many talented artists in this school district, and there was something I liked about each one of the finalists’ designs.
That’s why we’re offering them again this year to the community at large for purchase as their official holiday cards. When you send our students’ greeting cards to your friends and neighbors, you’re not just spreading holiday cheer—you’re also spreading the word about the great HISD teachers who help them develop their artistic abilities. Every card purchase helps support campus art programs, so I hope you’ll take a look at this year’s designs and consider them for your family. Here’s more information on how to order.
Moving Beyond No Child Left Behind
This week, I testified before a Senate Committee in Washington D.C. about efforts to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. I was proud to represent HISD and share exciting news about the work our principals and teachers are doing to boost student achievement.
The legislation being considered would have a profound effect on students and teachers across the country, including here in Houston. HISD supports efforts to close the achievement gap and ensure that all students are prepared for college and the work force by promoting higher standards in our schools. We believe that many of the provisions of this bill improve upon core tenets of No Child Left Behind.
The proposed law requires schools to take drastic steps to turn around persistently low-performing schools. In HISD, we did this by implementing the transformation model that is outlined in the bill. Our Apollo 20 school turnaround program is based on key principles of successful charter schools including effective teachers and principals, more instructional time, high-dosage tutoring, data-driven accountability, and a culture of high expectations. We think we have some of the most cutting-edge research for turning around large urban schools, and we believe districts need to have the flexibility to use targeted federal Title I funds to help some of our most troubled schools.
While there are aspects of this legislation that we think should be tweaked, we applaud the lawmakers for embracing out-of-the box thinking and our shared belief that all children are college material.
Click here to read my full testimony from the Senate Committee Hearing.
Sterling HS Student Completes His First Solo Flight
HISD is proud to be a district of choice. This past Saturday, November 5, several thousand Houston students and their parents showed up at Hattie Mae White to get a closer look at the many quality magnet programs HISD offers. In fact, HISD’s Assistant Superintendent of School Choice, Lupita Hinojosa, told me that she and her staff arrived early Saturday morning to find a line wrapped around the building.
All 113 HISD schools that offer magnet programs were on hand at the annual HISD Magnet Open House. Many campuses brought current students to share their experiences first-hand with potential classmates and their parents. One such student was George Smith, Jr. who attends Sterling High School’s Aviation Magnet program. George had a special experience to share with others at the open house. Earlier in the morning, he made his first solo airplane flight–the first Sterling student to do so this year! Both he and his magnet coordinator, Lisa Stillwell, could barely contain their excitement. Congratulations, George! You can hear more about his experience and why he choose Sterling’s magnet program this video.
I am thrilled to see parents and students excited about the many choices and opportunities HISD has to offer. This week, parents and students can tour individual magnet schools at 1 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday, the tours begin at 9 a.m. Be sure to check out what HISD schools have to offer. And once you have made an informed choice, be sure to turn in your application by January 6. For more information and to download an application, click here.
Finding Solutions to Help HISD Staff and Students
At last night’s Community Conversation at Wheatley High School, I asked HISD staff members, “What can we do to help you?” I appreciate Mansoor Mahmood, the school’s college access coordinator, for speaking up and letting me know what he needs to support his students. I told the audience that I’m not playing Santa Claus, but I am doing everything I can to give our principals, teachers, and staff the resources they need. That can be difficult in these tight budget times, but our children have one time in school, and we owe it to them to do everything we can to help.
I am happy that in many cases we have been able to find quick solutions to the issues raised during the Community Conversations. Click here to read a summary of each of the meetings.
