Board Approves Summer Programs for Students, Aspiring Teachers
At its April 9 meeting the Board of Education approved the plans for summer school, where students can make up required course work for promotion to the next grade level, get ahead by taking required courses in advance of the upcoming school year, or (depending on eligibility) receive specialized instruction. Also approved were a training program for aspiring teachers who will teach some summer courses, a summer enrichment program for second- and third-graders, and a summer program that will help students at risk of dropping out of school.
The June 4–July 1, $34-million summer-school program will help elementary-, middle-, and high-school students who did not meet promotion standards improve their reading, writing, and math skills. Accelerated reading and math instruction will also be available, and high schools may offer credit-recovery courses to students who have been denied credit for a course because they failed to pass it or had too many absences.
The wide range of course offerings this summer includes enrichment programs, pre-International Baccalaureate math and science courses, foreign-language and Advanced Placement classes, trade camps, sports and fitness camps, preschool and English-as-a-second language programs for limited-English-proficient or immigrant students, programs for migrant and Special Education students, Algebra I, a class in government and economics, evening classes in core subjects, a course that prepares students to take the SAT college-readiness test, and camps focusing on English, math, and science.
The cost for tuition-based high-school courses will be $150 for in-district students and $200 for non-district students. Courses that prepare students to be successful on the TAKS will be offered to eligible students at no cost at participating high schools. Trustee Paula Harris said that it was “awesome” that HISD’s 2009 summer-school program contained so much enrichment, “and we have to communicate to the public about these great opportunities and our evolving summer program.”
In addition, the board voted to partner with the City of Houston and the Houston-Galveston Area Council to offer the third Summer Opportunity Session. The program is a June 4–July 1 summer enrichment program for approximately 600 HISD second- and third-graders who are not required to attend summer school. Focused on math and science enrichment with 12–15 students per class, the program will also incorporate literature and literacy in the lessons and feature take-home and parental-involvement activities and one field-based opportunity. Berry, Bonham, Bruce, Lockhart, Reynolds, Rodríguez, and Sánchez Elementary Schools were the sites for last year’s Summer Opportunity Session because of their locations and because they had space available, and they will be used again this summer. Transportation will not be provided.
The board also accepted a two-year grant from the Texas Education Agency for the Intensive Summer Program for Middle- and High-School Students Pilot Program. The program will help HISD to plan, design, and implement research-based pilot programs for at-risk students that provide intensive summer academic instruction and promote college- and workforce-readiness. Called the CSTEM Exploration Camp, the project is a collaboration between HISD, Texas Southern University, Project GRAD Houston, and CSTEM Teacher and Student Support Services, Inc. Chosen because they have a relationship with Project GRAD, the schools taking part in the initiative are Davis, Reagan, Wheatley, and Yates High Schools and the Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center. Throughout the month of June, 150 rising sophomores (students who have completed their ninth-grade year) will spend four hours a day focusing on math, science, and English language arts objectives. In addition, parents will attend 20 hours of sessions over the 2009–2010 grant period.
Also accepted were state and federal funds for the Teach For America summer institute that trains college graduates who commit to two years of teaching in urban or rural public schools. Approximately 700 core members and 250 faculty members, including roughly 150 HISD teachers, will take part in the program, which runs June 15 through July 10 and includes tuition-free instruction for 3,000 HISD students at Dogan, Gallegos, Lantrip, and Wainwright Elementary Schools; Black, Deady, Holland, Jackson, and Sharpstown Middle Schools; and Chávez and Davis High Schools.
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Board Approves General Managership for HISD’s Office of Business Assistance
The millions of dollars that HISD spends on goods and services every year give a welcome boost to the Houston economy. The district is committed to helping small minority- or women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs) take part in HISD’s business operations. For some time, one person has been responsible for creating those business opportunities and helping M/WBEs negotiate HISD’s purchasing processes. To expand the valuable Office of Business Assistance, on Thursday the Board of Education approved the creation of a General Manager–Business Assistance position and a budget to support it.
The General Manager–Business Assistance will be responsible for the development and monitoring of a strategic plan for HISD’s longstanding M/WBE program. In addition to a strong outreach to the M/WBE community, the program will include a mentorship component to ensure a more complete understanding of all the processes involved in doing business with HISD, including district compliance and certification reporting.
Strengthening the social and economic foundation of Houston is part of HISD’s mission, and expanding the district’s M/WBE program will help achieve that crucial goal.
Leader’s High School for Business and Economic Success Approved
A number of charter schools help HISD give Houston’s children the best education possible. On Thursday, the Board of Education added another innovative school to the list. The district will work with Leader’s Academy to establish the Leader’s High School for Business and Economic Success. To be located alongside Leader’s Academy on the campus of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, whose senior pastor is Leader’s Academy founder Kirbyjon Caldwell, Leader’s High School will serve at-risk students in grades 7–12.
All of the new school’s 289 students will be from Gulf Shores Academy, a troubled state charter school that ceased to exist when HISD’s contract extension with Leader’s Academy was approved. Under that agreement, no member of the Gulf Shores Academy leadership team or board of directors may be a part of Leader’s High School.
With a master of business administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Pastor Caldwell is well aware of what it takes to be successful in the business world. I am confident the Leader’s High School for Business and Economic Success will strengthen HISD’s commitment to promoting career- and college-readiness among all students.
Shadowbriar Elementary’s Outdoor Education Center Named
Many HISD schools and other facilities are named after men and women who have made significant contributions to Houston, Texas, or the nation. On Thursday, the Board of Education voted to name the outdoor education center at Shadowbriar Elementary School after Serenity Bay, a Houston-based oil and gas company that has donated $53,000 of the center’s $58,000 construction cost. The remainder of the funds will come from the school’s student activity fund. The Serenity Bay Outdoor Learning Center consists of 17,000 square feet of plant and animal habitat, a greenhouse, a pond with a filtering bog, a teaching pavilion, a rainwater-collection system, vegetable beds, and a compost area.
Second Vice President Greg Meyers correctly called the outdoor education center “an incredible opportunity to provide hands-on science for our kids,” and I join the Shadowbriar Elementary community in thanking Serenity Bay for its generous investment in our students’ education.
Fitness Program, Athletes’ Health Screenings Approved
HISD is strongly committed to the health and fitness of its students, including, of course, student athletes. By placing an automatic external defibrillator on every campus and training employees in how to use the devices, the district has saved the lives of at least two student athletes who collapsed during practice or a game. On April 9, the Board of Education approved a partnership with the University of Texas Medical School at Houston Division of Cardiology and the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute to implement the Houston Early-Age Risk Testing and Screening (HEARTS) pilot program at selected HISD schools as early as next month.
It is estimated that one in 50 to one in 100 children in the United States has an undiagnosed heart condition. According to the American Heart Association, the vast majority of young athletes who die suddenly of cardiovascular disease do so during sports training or competition, and there is a connection between arrhythmia-based sudden death and intense physical activity such as playing football or basketball.
This HEARTS program will help HISD address that very serious issue by giving 1,500 sixth-graders a cardiovascular screening that involves a questionnaire, a cardiac physical exam, an electrocardiogram, and what’s called a 2-D Echo (a limited two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiogram). The tests will be administered by trained and licensed health-care workers from the cosponsoring medical institutions. Selected because of their participation with the Houston Rockets and/or the Memorial Hermann Hospital System, the schools that will participate in the program are Burbank, Fleming, Hogg, Key, and Long Middle Schools. Parental permission is required for student participation, and the tests and any needed follow-up will be provided free of cost.
In a related move, the board also accepted more than $1 million from the Texas Education Agency for the Texas Fitness Now program. The funds will be used to support existing physical-education programs for students in grades 6–8 at schools where at least 75 percent of the students are categorized as economically disadvantaged. Eight elementary schools and 36 middle schools were chosen to receive funds to provide professional development for physical-education teachers and buy fitness or sports-related equipment and materials geared to improving schoolwide health and nutrition.
The HEARTS program is an exciting new way to meet HISD’s number-one core value of “Safety Above All Else.” The district will look at the possibility of expanding the initiative to more schools, and I am confident that the Texas Fitness Now program will help us improve the health and learning ability of our students.
