STAAR ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE

For safety and social distancing, Ortiz students will be divided into two testing groups for the upcoming STAAR assessments. On May 11 & 12, all students in Yale and Prairie View A&M houses will report to campus for their Math and Reading STAAR tests. All students in UH and Texas State houses will remain at home for an asynchronous learning day. The following week, the schedules will reverse with all students in UH and Texas State houses on campus for STAAR testing on May 18 & 19, while all students in Yale and Prairie View A&M houses will remain at home for their asynchronous learning day.  All students testing on campus must bring their fully charged Chromebook, charger, and headphones. Students will be requred to wear a mask while on campus.

Students will return to their normal learning environment (in person or virtual) on Thursday May 13th. 

PERFORMING ARTS STUDENTS PROVIDE ENTERTAINMENT FOR LOCAL AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

As a Magnet School for the Peforming and Visual Arts, we are pleased to show off the talent of our students. We were fortunate for the opportunity to partner with the HISD Multilingual Department this year to provide student performances for the Houston Area Association for Bilingual Education (HAABE) Teacher of the Year annual banquet and the 50th anniversary of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) National Conference. Students from our Águilas Azteca ballet folklorico, Águilas Azules Mariachi, and the Ortiz Dance ensemble provided entertainment for the events.

HOUSTON FOOD BANK SCHOOL MARKET AT ORTIZ THIS WEEK TO HELP SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY

In collaboration with the Houston Food Bank School Market, Ortiz MS will be distributing fresh produce and pantry items this Saturday, May 8 and Saturday, May 22, for all community members (while supplies last). Click English or Spanish for more information and to register for the event. Please contact Ms. Tavera, our Wraparound Services Coordinator, at 713-845-5650 or jtaveras@houstonisd.org if you need assistance or have questions.

STUDENT COURSE SELECTIONS FOR 2021-22 NOW AVAILABLE!

It's never too early to plan ahead! We are currently taking course requests from all 6th and 7th graders for the 2021-22 school year. Students have the opportunity to choose from a variety of performing and visual arts, as well as technology, physical education, and language acquisition. To make your selections, follow these steps:

1. Click HERE for short videos that describe some of the course offerings available.
2. Click HERE to complete the course request form to submit your choices.

Selections can be made until February 2021. Students can make changes until then by resubmitting the form in step #2 above. Reach out to your grade level administrator if you have questions or need assistance.

HISD @H.O.M.E TV

We are continuing to air HISD @ H.O.M.E. TV lessons through partnerships with Univision/Unimas67 and KHOU/KTBU 55.

• KTBU 55 airs our entire 2.5-hour block daily for students Monday-Friday from 9 A.M. to 11:30 A.M.
• Unimás 67 continues to air Spanish-language lessons daily, Monday-Friday from 7 A.M. to 7:30 A.M.

Along with our current distance learning platform, HISD @ H.O.M.E. TV continues to provide instructional videos from 9-11:30 A.M., 1-3:30 P.M., and 5-7:30 P.M., Monday-Friday. Segments in English and Spanish are broadcast on HISD-TV – Comcast Ch. 18 and Ch. 99 U-verse, as well as online via HoustonISD.org/LiveTV.

Current and previous lessons can also be accessed online at blogs.HoustonISD.org/HISDTV/ and YouTube.com/theHISD. The HISD @ H.O.M.E. TV schedule can be accessed online at HoustonISD.org/HomeTV.

WE'RE TRYING TO REACH YOU!

Teachers and staff have attempted to reach all Ortiz students to ensure our families are safe and that students have the technology needed to access our distant learning classes. If you have not yet been contacted, please update your contact information HERE so that we can correct any misinformation we may have in our records. You can also call the Ortiz main phone number at 713-845-5650 and leave us a voice message.

PARENT CODES FOR NEW HISD CONNECT

HISD Connect by PowerSchool includes student contact, enrollment, and demographic information, as well as grades and online resources.

Parents will be given a unique code, or access ID, for each of their students and will be able to use those codes to set up an account to access their students' profiles through the new parent portal.

Parents have three options to obtain their code:

• Email us at OrtizMS@houstonisd.org your student's name and grade level. We’ll email you the code sheet.
• Fill out the survey at http://bit.ly/OrtizConnect and we’ll send you the code via text or email.
• Call us at 713-845-5650 if you want a printed copy to pick up from campus.