HISD’s Herrera Elementary School was honored for its innovative use of technology as a finalist for the Twenty-first Century School of Distinction Award.
The finalists were chosen from more than 1,200 applications submitted by elementary, middle and high schools nationwide.
The awards honor the successes of the nation’s best schools and recognize their use of technology, their development of excellent classroom teachers, and the benefits of strong teamwork.
Herrera Elementary School established a state-of-the-art technology system that incorporates a computer lab into the curriculum to address students’ language development and writing needs. Thanks to Herrera’s school wide strategies, 96 percent of the third-graders, 93 percent of the fourth-graders, and 84 percent of the fifth-graders passed the reading portion of the 2003-2004 TAKS. In math, 96 percent of the third-graders passed the TAKS, 98 percent of the fourth-graders passed, and 91 percent of the fifth-graders passed. In writing, all fourth-grade students passed, and in science 86 percent of the fifth-grade students passed.
“Herrera’s teachers deserve the credit for the school being named a Twenty-first Century School of Distinction,” says Hector E. Rodriguez, Herrera’s principal and the 2002 Regional IV and HISD North District Principal of the Year. “Our teachers are already providing a wealth of innovative solutions and best-practices methods for achieving excellence. We applaud our teachers and look forward to sharing our award-winning methods to help drive education improvements around the nation.”
The Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Foundation developed the Twenty-first Century School of Distinction Award program to honor schools throughout the country for implementing innovative programs that can be replicated at other schools around thecountry. The Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence program promotes improved academic achievement through the identification of successful programs in schools across America, which are then included in an online “best practices” database. Through this database innovative programs, such as the one at Herrera, are available free of charge to schools all across the country.
For more information, contact the HISD Press Office at 713 892 6393.