Spring Branch ISD Snapshots

We Want to Hear Your SBISD Stories!

Spring Branch ISD is excited to launch SBISD Snapshots.   This unique new feature will showcase district and campus  programs, people and events that enrich our SBISD. Below are photos from the week of December 8 -12. If you are interested in submitting photos and story ideas, contact the Communications Office. 

Culinary Program

HCC Receives Culinary Grant
Houston Community College, in a joint partnership with Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) and The Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston (CNHC) has been granted a 24-month grant by the USDA.  The purpose of the grant is to recruit and retain underrepresented students, specifically Hispanic students, into studies that lead to dynamic careers in the broad food industry.
 
The grant partners have created an exciting pathway for SBISD high school students to further their education by attending HCC and then transferring to the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management.
 

Awards

We've Got Winners!
The weekly news and business magazine U.S. News & World Report has just released their annual Best High Schools report and three SBISD campuses have been awarded national Silver Medals by the report's editors. Our schools outranked 20,000 high schools across the country.
 
As Silver medalists, Memorial and Stratford high schools and the district's charter public high school, Westchester Academy for International Studies, were listed among the top 600 or so high schools in the nation. Westchester Academy earned a Silver Medal for as one the nation's very best International Baccalaureate (IB) High Schools. The program and diplomas offered through IB schools are recognized worldwide by many colleges and universities.
 
Across Texas, only 32 of 1,829 high schools rated earned Gold or Silver medals from the publication. In addition to Memorial and Stratford, only two other comprehensive public high schools in the Houston metropolitan area won medal status.
 
U.S.News & World Report's method for ranking schools was developed by School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poor's. The methodology is based on the key principles that a great high school must serve all its students well, not just those who are bound for college and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show that the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators.

Parent U

Saturday
1-17-09
Join us for a day of learning at this year's Parent U event.

Community Outreach

Saturday, Dec 6, 13 students and 3 teachers from the Childress Foundation Academy at Northbrook prepared lunch for the residents of the Turning Point Center homeless mission here in Spring Branch on Jacquelyn. Students made candy cane reindeer for the tables and residents.
 
Thank you to everyone who participated and  made this event a success!
 

Eye on Austin: Speak out on Uniform GPA rules

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has published the latest proposed rules on developing a standardized method for calculating the grade point averages of Texas high school students for use in admissions to state colleges and universities. The public comment period for these new Uniform GPA rules will be open through Monday, Dec. 29.
 

Groundbreaking Event

Building My Future: Bond 2007 in Action
Please join us on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. for the Westwood Elementary School Groundbreaking.  Share in this exciting event and see how Spring Branch ISD is continuing to build on a rich traditional of education excellence. 
 
Where: 10595 Hammerly - Houston, Texas (Parking at the Guthrie Center)
Questions & RSVP: lucia.reid@springbranchisd.com 
Community in Action
 
Community in Action
Two community-minded projects - the Spark Park at Meadow Wood Elementary School and a tree planting and environmental clean-up project undertaken by student volunteers with the Memorial Mustang Outreach Bunch - won awards in the annual Mayor's Proud Partners program. Both awards were presented during the 24th annual Mayor's Proud Partners Luncheon, held Nov. 17.
 
The annual event is sponsored by Keep Houston Beautiful, the city's nonprofit education and community improvement organization. 
Pictured, left to right, are Drayton McLane, Houston Astros owner; Meadow Wood Principal Robye Snyder; and Keep Houston Beautiful Chairman William Linthicum, area president of Republic Services Inc. Principal Snyder holds the elementary school's Proud Partner award.
 
Click here to read the full story >>
 
HEB
 
New Store, New Friend
To commemorate the recent opening of the H-E-B Bunker Hill Market, 9710 Katy Freeway, H-E-B presented a $5,000 grant to SBEF. During his presentation, Tom Jarvis, H-E-B group vice president, said, "We admire Spring Branch Education Foundation's commitment to education and the work it does to provide students with a quality education in a safe environment." 
 
Read the full story >>
Mask Activity 
 
Who's Behind the Mask?
Spring Shadows Elementary educators participated in a creative and fun activity during Art Museum Day.
Book Contest
 
Spring Woods Student Meets J.K. Rowling
Spring Woods High junior Shane Healy has won an all-expenses paid trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, and a once-in-a-lifetime meeting with famous author J.K. Rowling as a result of his winning Scholastic essay.  
 
Click here to read the full story >>
SWHS
 
Help a Student See the World 
Nine business students in Career & Technology Education instructor Estie Cuellar's independent study class at Spring Woods High have a once-in-a-student's-lifetime chance to travel in late January to Doha, Qatar, which borders Saudi Arabia, to be part of the Flat Classroom Global Leadership Conference.
 
The global gathering brings together about 100 high school students from eight countries. They will meet face to face and learn leadership skills that will help them later launch collaborative projects to solve social problems back home. The Flat Classroom Project is based broadly on Thomas Friedman's best-selling book, The World is Flat.
 
They need your help to make their dreams come true. To donate today, please write a tax-deductible check payable to "Spring Branch Education Foundation" in any amount and mail it to the following address: Mrs. Lois Estelle (Estie) Cuellar, c/o Spring Woods High School, 2045 Gessner, Houston, Texas, 77080. The fund-raising deadline is Jan. 2.
 
Click here to visit the Education Foundation Site >>
High School Musical

Be Our Guest
Students rehearse a scene from "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" to be presented by Memorial High School Jan. 29-31 and Feb. 5-7. Mrs. Potts, Chip, Belle and others will host children at a tea party before the Saturday matinee on Feb. 7. For ticket information, please contact the campus main office at: 713-365-5110
A Season of Sharing: Toy Drive
 
You can spread the holiday cheers by joining the Frostwood Elementary Student Council Toy Drive.  Your donations will support cancer patients at Texas Children's Hospital.

Please bring new, unwrapped toys and place in bins located in the main hallway
next to the cafeteria.
 
The drive will go through Friday, December 19th.
For more information contact the campus main office.