Advanced Academics Inside this issue Welcome Dr. Lathan ................... 2 Art Access ................................... 3 Alexander Hamilton .................... 4 Travis Elementary ....................... 5 Advanced Academics Programs .. 6 TAGT Scholarships ...................... 7 Applying for Magnet ................... 8 Important Dates 11/05, School Choice Fair, Ausn HS, 9am to 12pm 11/23-11/25, Thanksgiving Break 12/03, School Choice Fair, Ster- ling HS, 9am to 12pm 12/09, Phase 1 Magnet Applica- ons are due and/or postmarked 12/19-01/04, Winter Break 01/16, Marn Luther King Day 01/24, VG school required docu- mentaon deadline Advanced Academics Gets the Word Out! The Advanced Academics team has been working hard to improve communica- on with the HISD community. Since August, the team has been hosng infor- maonal parent sessions at the HISD Administraon building in the board audi- torium from 5pm to 6pm to inform parents about what Giſted and Talented (G/ T) means and how G/T services are offered in HISD schools so that they are beer informed about the idenficaon process and what their program op- ons are should their child be idenfied G/T in the district. These sessions align with 1.1.2E and 1.1.3E from the Texas State Plan, moving us from recommend- ed to exemplary in terms of family and community involvement. District call outs, flyers, and website noficaons were shared to get the word out about the parent sessions, and aendance increased from an esmated 76 aendees at the first meeng held on August 23, to 150 in the second session held on September 21. And the final meeng, October 19 received an esmat- ed 280 parents. Informed parents are happy parents! If you were unable to aend the sessions, please click here for the informaon that was shared. Visit our website, follow us on Twier, and subscribe to our newsleer for the latest news on what is happening in Advanced Academics. November 2016, Issue 4 Mr. Adam Stephens, Advanced Academics Officer, addresses over 200 parents at the Parent Info Session at Hae Mae White
Transcript
Advanced Academics
Inside this issue
Welcome Dr. Lathan ................... 2
Art Access ................................... 3
Alexander Hamilton .................... 4
Travis Elementary ....................... 5
Advanced Academics Programs .. 6
TAGT Scholarships ...................... 7
Applying for Magnet ................... 8
Important Dates
11/05, School Choice Fair, Austin HS, 9am to 12pm
11/23-11/25, Thanksgiving Break
12/03, School Choice Fair, Ster-ling HS, 9am to 12pm
12/09, Phase 1 Magnet Applica-tions are due and/or postmarked
12/19-01/04, Winter Break
01/16, Martin Luther King Day
01/24, VG school required docu-mentation deadline
Advanced Academics Gets the Word Out!
The Advanced Academics team has been working hard to improve communica-
tion with the HISD community. Since August, the team has been hosting infor-
mational parent sessions at the HISD Administration building in the board audi-
torium from 5pm to 6pm to inform parents about what Gifted and Talented (G/
T) means and how G/T services are offered in HISD schools so that they are
better informed about the identification process and what their program op-
tions are should their child be identified G/T in the district. These sessions align
with 1.1.2E and 1.1.3E from the Texas State Plan, moving us from recommend-
ed to exemplary in terms of family and community involvement.
District call outs, flyers, and website notifications were shared to get the word
out about the parent sessions, and attendance increased from an estimated 76
attendees at the first meeting held on August 23, to 150 in the second session
held on September 21. And the final meeting, October 19 received an estimat-
ed 280 parents. Informed parents are happy parents!
If you were unable to attend the sessions, please click here for the information
that was shared.
Visit our website, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our newsletter for the
latest news on what is happening in Advanced Academics.
November 2016, Issue 4
Mr. Adam Stephens, Advanced Academics Officer, addresses over
200 parents at the Parent Info Session at Hattie Mae White
STEM CHALLENGE Crack the Code by Susan Laforet, Manager, STEM Teacher Development
Parents and students, be on the look out for more inno-vative curriculum in grades 3 through 8. The Advanced Academics Department, STEM Teacher Development team will host a computer coding challenge day, Crack the Code, for students in grades 3 – 8 on December 3, 2016, from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Students and teachers will move through a variety of stations involv-ing plugged and unplugged coding activities designed to increase computational thinking and challenge stu-dents to solve problems both individually and in teams. This year the event will be held on two campuses sim-ultaneously so that schools may select the location clos-est to them – McGowen Elementary School and Southmayd Elementary School. Each location will be open to 15 schools, regis-tered on a “first come” ba-sis, with a maximum of eight students per campus.
Welcome Our New Chief Academic Officer
Houston ISD Superintendent Richard Car-ranza has selected Chief School Officer Grenita Lathan as the district’s new chief academic officer.
“HISD is very fortunate to have Dr. Lathan on our team,” Carranza said. “She is a strong leader with a reputation for im-proving outcomes for students and en-gaging our families and school communi-ties. She has a deep understanding of effective classroom teaching, student-focused instruction, and school leadership that will help our students and educators succeed. I am confident that her depth of knowledge will continue to move HISD into a consistently high-performing public school district.”
Dr. Lathan, a 25-year veteran educator, currently serves as chief school officer in the HISD Office of School Support for the district’s north area. She previously served as chief school officer over ele-mentary transformation schools during the 2015-2016 school year in which she led more than 20 schools out of an “improvement required” state rating to a “met standard” rating. She came to HISD after serving as superintendent of schools for Peoria Public Schools, where she over-saw approximately 14,000 students and 2,700 staff.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to help our schools achieve educational excel-lence,” Dr. Lathan said. “The work we do every day to prepare students to not only master standards but to reach their full potential and to be future leaders is ex-tremely fulfilling. I want to ensure all of our students have quality educational opportunities that will build their critical thinking skills and contribute to their suc-cess.
Dr. Lathan began her education career as a high school teacher in North Carolina
and later served as both an assistant prin-cipal and principal in the state. She went on to serve as a chief elementary school improvement officer of the San Diego Unified School District and as an interim deputy superintendent.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in business education from North Carolina A&T State University, a master’s degree in business education from the University of North Carolina, and a doctoral degree from Southern Illinois University.
The chief academic officer role was previ-
ously held by Dr. Andrew Houlihan.
Advanced Academics is fortunate to have
Dr. Lathan as our Chief Academic Officer,
2
Dr. Grenita Lathan, Chief Academic Officer
3
STEM DESIGN CHALLENGE Continued
Engaging students in engineering design challenges provides op-portunities for critical thinking and problem solving in a Project Based Learning, PBL, format. The Advanced Academics Depart-ment, STEM Teacher Develop-ment Team will present the HISD Cycle 2 Engineering Design Chal-lenges for all elementary teachers and Cycle 3 Engineering Design Challenges for middle school teachers. Elementary grades K – 5 sessions are Monday, November 7th or Tuesday, November 8th from 4:30 – 6:30 PM; middle school grades 6 – 8 are Wednes-day, November 8th or Thursday, November 9th from 4:30 – 6:30 PM. Each challenge has been aligned to grade level TEKS and teachers will have the opportuni-ty to experience the challenge and plan for implementation.
Advancing Arts and Academics at Scarborough Elementary School A report from Douglas Torres-Edwards, Art Access District Coordinator This year, the students of Scarborough Elementary School in North Houston are making music. And acting out. And dancing through class. Literally. With great success, Scarborough enters its second year as an Arts Access Initiative (AAI) school, taking great advantage of the many possibilities for arts-infused learning experienc-es that Houston’s arts and culture scene has to offer. The AAI, created in response to the recommendations of the Community Arts Team in 2013, is Houston’s action plan for ensuring sustainable arts access for every Houston public school student. This collective impact coalition, with Young Audiences of Houston acting as the backbone organization, includes Houston ISD leaders, city officials, higher education lead-ers, businesses, the philanthropic community, principals, teachers, parents, students and over 40 arts institutions. Coordinated in HISD by Douglas Torres-Edwards of Advanced Academics, the AAI bridges our public schools and the arts community to grow creative learning together. At Scarborough, students are experiencing this action plan first hand. For the second year in a row, several classes are learning from the staff of MECA (Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts) to master the style and choreog-raphy of Ballet Folklorico while improving both Spanish and English language skills. At the same time, both 3rd and 4th grade will have weeks-long, arts-integrated residencies with Theater Under the Stars along with several other theater-based per-formances and workshops for the other grades.
In total, Scarborough has 10 partnerships with out-standing Houston arts organizations this year. In addi-tion to MECA and TUTS, students will learn from profes-sional artists and educators of the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet and Young Audi-ences of Houston’s African drumming troupe Impande Ye Africa, among so many other cultural touchstones. Yet, these programs, performances and residencies are more than just fun added to a sometimes-tedious school day. Visual arts teacher and AAI arts liaison Lynne Bennett says campus attendance has seen a boost because kids are excited to come to school and
have interesting and engaging learning experiences. She also notes that students are more confident in their work and ability to problem-solve across subjects because of the social and cognitive skills they grow while learning creatively. As they learn in these cross-discipline lessons, fusing arts and general curricula, Scar-borough students gain knowledge in primary subjects while stretching their minds in new and exciting ways.
The Math in Haunted Houses, Project Based Learning at Travis Elementary School by Sara Lytle, Vanguard Coordinator, Travis ES
Excitement fills the air as the Travis Elementary fifth graders pre-pare for their project based learning presentations. Each year Travis Elementary hosts a Fall Carnival and the fifth graders were tasked with designing a haunted house to the thrill crowd.
Mrs. Flecker and
Mr. Hunt, fifth grade math teachers, de-signed an integrated lesson that incorpo-rated STEAM, Mathematical Modeling, and Project Based Learning into the cur-riculum, so that students will showcase 21st Century Thinking. Students were asked to share memories of the Annual Fall Carnival and the Haunt-ed House. Then they described what they would do differently if they were on the planning team. Fifth grade students brainstormed ideas for how to best advertise and enhance the Haunted House with a final budget of 200 dollars. As 21st century learners, students had to use the power of persuasion as they effectively communicated their ideas through a power point presentation. In addition, they had to collaborate with their team, think critically, and rehearse their public speaking skills. Stu-dents successfully completed the computation of rational numbers and decimals
through the thousandths as they put to-gether their budget. Representatives from the Travis Carnival Committee were impressed with the en-hancements that each group presented to make this year’s haunted house the best one yet.
Advanced Placement (AP) Courses Offering more than 30 courses, the College Board’s Advanced Placement program enables students to pursue college-level studies
with the opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement or both – while still in high school.
AP courses are taught by highly qualified high school teachers who use AP Course Descriptions to guide them. The course descrip-
tions outline the course content, and describe the curricular goals of the subject.
AP Credit Policy More than 2,600 colleges and universities offer credit or advanced placement for qualifying AP Exam scores.
Students who take Advanced Placements courses can earn college credit, skip introductory courses, enter higher-level clas-
ses, and/or fulfill general education requirements while saving money on college tuition. TX HB1992: All Texas public institutions of higher education will award a minimum of 3 undergraduate credit hours for a quali-
fying score of 3 or higher on an AP Exam.
Information about AP credit and placement policies at many colleges and universities is available at https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/search-credit-policies You can search for a college by name and find the:
HISD serves GT identified secondary students, grades 6-12, through various
programs: International Baccalaureate, IB, Pre-Advanced and Advanced Place-
ment, Pre-AP/AP, Montessori, and Dual Credit courses. These programs are
not specific to G/T students as they are equally accessible to all students who
wish to take on the rigorous challenge that these types of courses entail.
HISD offers 36 AP courses across the district, five arts, two English, nine histo-
ry and social studies, four math and computers science, seven sciences, and
eight world languages and cultures. Courses are specific to each individual
campus, and students can sign up for whatever their school offers.
Houston ISD leads the nation in increasing student access to Advanced Placement programs. From 2007 to 2015, HISD nearly doubled the number of students earning scores of 3 and above on AP examinations. For more information on HISD Advanced Placement, click here. To visit AP College Board, click here. For information on AP financial aid, scholarships and awards, click here.
International Baccalaureate schools offer challenging educational programs for students to help develop their intellectual, personal, emotional, and social skills to learn, work, and live comfortably and produc-tively as a citizen of the world. The rigorous and broad approach to education empowers students to become dedicated, lifelong, bilin-gual and bi-literate learners who embrace multiculturalism and diversity. For more information on the IB programmes, and a list of schools, please visit us at http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/121499
With the help of our generous donors, the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented, TAGT, offers stu-dents four scholarship options. Be on the look out for information either on the Advanced Academics website or TAGT. The scholarship application window opens on the TAGT website in either mid-December or January and closes in February. Application status notification is sent electronically to students in April. For more in-formation, click here.
Summer Enrichment Scholarships-Identified gifted students in grades K- 12, who are currently participating in a gifted program and who want to enrich their learning experience during the summer months may use these scholarships to attend programs with an academic, fine arts, or performing arts focus. The maximum summer scholarship award is $400.
The Adelle McClendon Young Leaders Scholarship-$2,500 is awarded to a G/T identified graduating senior, participating in a G/T program, who has shown outstanding leadership leading up to graduation.
The Laura Allard Future Vision Scholarship-$2,500 is awarded to a G/T identified graduating senior, partici-pating in a G/T program, who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, purpose, and has a plan for achieving long-term goals.
TAGT Summer Mathematics Institute Scholarship-A full scholarship to a three week course in algebra, geom-etry, and pre-calculus at the University of North Texas is awarded to 2 passionate mathematic students in grades 6 through 10.
