School starts August 16 in Americas 7th largest school district, and HISD students this year will face tougher academic requirements than ever before.
In announcing the move, Superintendent Kaye Stripling said school will be harder, and thats the way it must be. We must prepare young people for the challenges of the real world.
And that isnt all that is new at Texas largest school district this year. When school starts, students will find more than 1,200 new teachers, 27 new principals, even a new superintendent. HISD will launch a historic expansion of its education program for very young children with the opening of two new Pre-Kindergarten centers. And on August 28, a wave of school officials and community volunteers will roll across the city to knock on doors and get dropouts back in school.
Here is a list of whats new at HISD this year:
Harder classes will be required. Thousands of students will be automatically enrolled in the hardest courses this year. Sixth graders will be required to take pre-Advanced Placement English courses, and all high school students who have demonstrated their ability to do tougher work will be required to enter Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
Any high school student who made at least a verbal score of 46 on the PSAT will be automatically enrolled in the tougher AP English, chemistry and social studies courses. Students with a math sore 56 or better on the PSAT will be automatically enrolled in Pre-AP calculus, and AP computer science.
Students can only opt out of these course with permission from parents. Dr. Eric Smith, president of the Board of Directors for the College Board, praised HISDs move, saying For a district this size, I dont think there is a single other district in America trying to define itself around advanced academics.
In another historic move, educators and community members will fan out across the city August 28 to knock on doors, find children who may have dropped out of school, and get them to come back to school. The teams will go through eight neighborhoods throughout the city armed with lists of students who have not shown up for school during the first two weeks.
Construction will begin on six new schools this year, and on 17 replacement schools. Thirty three school renovation projects are expected to begin this school year. HISD installed new air conditioning systems in 15 schools this summer, and 76 playgrounds ill be installed by the end of August. All totaled, about 50,000 students will benefit from the construction work under the HISD bond program.
Healthier meal guidelines will affect even homeroom parties. School dietary guidelines are set by the USDA and recommend that childrens foods include one-third the recommended daily nutrients and no more than 30 percent of calories from fat. HISD moved beyond those guideline and expanded the menu to include more favorite foods with more vitamins and reduced fat. HISD meals the first week of school, for example, will be 3.3 percent lower in fat than required by the federal government, 205 percent higher in protein and 219 percent higher in Vitamin C.
But new requirements by the state agriculture commissioner will impact what kinds of food parents can bring to school for other children, and what PTA and PTO groups can sell. Elementary school parents no longer can bring cupcakes to school for their child to share with friends. Under the new state rules, children can eat cupcakes served at school, but not cupcakes with sprinkles. Parent groups wont be able to sell unhealthy food on campus as a fundraiser under the new rules. And the new state limits for younger students say that after one bag of French fries per week, no fries for you! That goes for baked fries and tater tots too.
