Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Spring Branch Middle School Math Awards

Four students on the Spring Branch Middle School math team competed recently in the Texas Math and Science Coaches Association (TMSCA) State Meet, which was held April 5 on the University of Texas at San Antonio campus.

The student team included seventh-graders David Nemoto and Edy Lipianu and sixth-graders Asha Ayya and Thara Ayya.

The team’s sponsor is math teacher Marlo Wilson. The Spring Branch Middle math team competed in several local contests in preparation for state competition, and the team successfully ranked high enough at three qualifying meets to compete at the TMSCA meet along with the state’s best students. TMSCA is dedicated to promoting excellence in math and science through student competition, and it awards more than $30,000 in annual scholarships.

Competition includes the following categories:

• Number Sense – a 10 minute, 80-question mental math test on high school and/or middle school mathematics courses. Students develop shortcuts and practice the applications in order to finish the test.

• Calculator Applications – Calculations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, roots, powers, exponential, logarithms, trigonometric functions and inverse trigonometric functions. In addition to calculation problems, this contest includes geometric and stated problems similar to those found in algebra, geometry and trigonometry textbooks, as well as previous contests and League materials related to the contest.

These problems are adjusted for middle school competition.

• Mathematics - Tests knowledge and understanding of algebra I and algebra II, geometry, trigonometry, math analysis, analytic geometry, pre-calculus and elementary calculus. These problems are adjusted for middle school competition.

• Science - Challenges students to do a wide range of reading in biology, chemistry and physics to gain an understanding of the significance of experiments rather than to recall details, to be alert to new discoveries and information in the areas of science, to gain an understanding of the basic principles as well as knowledge of the history and philosophy of science, and to foster a sense of enthusiasm about how science affects our lives. The middle school science test in this area covers earth science and life science.

Congratulations to Spring Branch Middle’s Math team and teacher Marlo Wilson!

Two earn National Scholastic Awards


Two Memorial High School art students have won national honors in the annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, including one National Gold Key award, a top recognition that is automatically sent to New York City for additional judging and review.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the nation’s longest running and most prestigious art and writing competition open to teenagers in grades seven through 12.

The awards are affiliated with the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. Spring Branch ISD students from Memorial High School who received awards this year include:

  • Seo Woo “Michelle” Jong, 12th grade National Gold Key Medal, Painting “Talking in Time” Instructor: Cathleen May

  • Anna “Hee Won” Cho, 11th grade National Silver Key Medal, Drawing “Omnipresence” Instructor: Cathleen May

Memorial High’s Seo Woo Jong was honored earlier this spring at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo when her acrylic painting of a scene she photographed at George Ranch was picked as the Rodeo’s Grand Champion.

It sold for $210,000 at auction, which tied Rodeo art auction records. Seo Woo hopes to attend Rhode Island School of Design this fall. In this year’s Scholastic Art & Writing event judging, more than 255,000 art and writing submissions were entered at the regional level from 47 states and five separate countries.

Only 16,500 received Gold or Silver Key regional awards, and only 1,800 national medals were awarded this year.

All regional award winners and their teachers were recognized at a celebration held at the Harris County Department of Education earlier this year.

Elementary science teachers earn summer academy awards

Five fifth-grade science teachers in Spring Branch ISD have been chosen to take part this summer in the Mickelson Exxon Mobil Teachers Academy, which will be held June 15-20 in The Woodlands.

In separate but related news, a Thornwood Elementary School science teacher who attended the ExxonMobil Teachers Academy in the past has been selected for the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program in Huntsville, Ala.

The Mickelson Exxon Mobil Teachers Academy (MEMTA) is a partnership with a professional golfer, Phil Mickelson, and his wife, Amy, and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Math Solutions.

The Academy supports inquiry-based learning and professional development. The residential Academy will be held at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center.

A separate teacher development academy is held each summer in New Jersey, too. SBISD fifth-grade teachers selected for this program include:

• Eduardo Gallegos, Cedar Brook Elementary
• Jacqueline Gallegos, Treasure Forest Elementary
• Francisco Gonzalez, Edgewood Elementary
• Joanne Lim, Westwood Elementary
• Kimberly Muske, Shadow Oaks Elementary

MEMTA is designed for teachers in grades three through five, and is dedicated to increasing student learning and appreciation for math and science by:

• enhancing teacher mathematics and science content knowledge;
• demonstrating the interrelationships between scientific inquiry and mathematical problem solving;
• helping teachers use mathematics tools to build understanding and connections to science concepts; and
• modeling so-called “best practices” in teaching and learning for the classroom.

In related science news, Thornwood Elementary’s Mario Romero, a recent SBISD Teacher of the Year and ExxonMobil Teacher Academy participant, has been selected to take part in the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program, also in June, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The Space Academy will be held June 12-16. It will include 45 hours of intensive classroom, laboratory and training time. Romero’s appointment will include airfare, lodging and all meals while in Huntsville. Elementary science instruction and training opportunities in SBISD are coordinated by Science i-Coach Donald Burken.

Two students win Youth Art Month awards


Two Spring Branch ISD student art works were displayed in the annual State Capitol Show held during Youth Art Month in March.

The Austin show featured 100 pieces of student-created art from across Texas. Selected as Youth Art Month Capital State winners were Ella O’Connor, a first-grade student at Rummel Creek Elementary, and Izaskun Ginebra, a seventh-grade student at Memorial Middle School.

In addition, Ella O’Connor’s work was selected from more than 60 student pieces to remain in Austin to be displayed in a special office exhibit.

Her work will be included with 15 other students in a state exhibit that will hang in the office of Texans for Educational Reform during the year ahead.

Ella O’Connor’s art instructor is Judy Lehman at Rummel Creek Elementary. Izaskun Ginebra’s art teacher is Felicia Marshall of Memorial Middle School.

Abydos Writing Awards

Spring Branch ISD students Lauren Iozzio of Northbrook High School and Marilin Ayala of Westchester Academy for International Studies have been named winners in the 2014 Abydos Dana Kay Barber Writing Awards.

The awards contest was open to students in prekindergarten through 12th grade who completed a three-week writing institute sponsored by the Abydos Learning International/New Jersey Writing Project in Texas.

Lauren Iozzio, a Northbrook High senior, earned second place in the Grades 9-12 Prose category for her entry titled, “Playing With the Shards.” Her instructor was Javier Martinez, who teaches English III at Northbrook High. Javier is an Abydos Writing trainer.

Marilin Ayala, a sophomore at Westchester Academy, placed third in the Grades 9-12 Prose category for her entry titled, “False Dreams Create True Nightmares.” Her teacher is Eliana Razo, an English I and Humanities teacher at Westchester Academy. Marilin is currently in Ms. Razo’s Humanities class.

The student awards were announced during the recent Abydos Learning International/New Jersey Writing Project in Texas Trainers’ and Teachers’ Annual Conference.

The statewide competition recognizes and honors outstanding student writers of prose and poetry at the elementary, middle and high school level.

State Results: Odyssey of the Mind

Twenty-two student teams from a dozen schools in Spring Branch ISD competed in the Texas Odyssey of the Mind State Finals held Saturday, April 12, at Spring Woods High School.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international program that provides creative problem-solving and learning opportunities to students of all ages, kindergarten up to and through college. Teams apply creativity and group thinking to solve problems or special situations that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their interpretations of literary classics. 

For more than a decade, SBISD parents and students have supported one of the biggest Odyssey programs in Texas. Student teams qualified this year for state from the following SBISD schools:

• Spring Woods High School
• Memorial Middle School
• Cornerstone Academy
• Westchester Academy for International Studies
• Spring Oaks Middle School
• Terrace Elementary
• Nottingham Elementary
• Stratford High School
• Ridgecrest Elementary
• Spring Forest Middle School
• Valley Oaks Elementary
• Memorial Drive Elementary

Based on state competition, the following teams will advance to the Odyssey World Finals May 27-June 1 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa:

• Spring Woods High School placed 1st in the Theatrical Problem
• Westchester Academy placed 1st in the Engineering Problem
• Spring Oaks Middle placed 2nd in the Engineering Problem
• Cornerstone Academy placed 2nd in the Vehicle Problem

Westchester Academy Team Report
Three Odyssey of the Mind teams from Westchester Academy for International Studies competed in the April 12 Texas State Tournament held at Spring Woods High School.

The 11th grade team (Mia Alfonso from Memorial High, Mitchell Benson, Caroline Bik, Josh Diaz, Daniel Garcia, Cassandra Ung and Paige Williams) came in 1st place in Division 3, Problem 4 – the Stackable Structure.

The team advances to the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, which will be held May 28-31 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Coaches are Karen Benson and Jill Williams.

The 10th grade team (Adrian Villalobos, Diana Villarreal, Gustavo Rocha, Sara Farrokhi, Sam Farrokhi and Sarah Gualy) came in 4th place in Division 3, Problem 3 – It’s How we Rule. Coaches are Elizabeth Villarreal and Farideh Farrokhi.

The seventh grade team (Kaivon Dixon, Dash Jacobs. Madeline Schulman, Meredith Schomburg, Brock Rhebergen, Brian Chung and Ethan Rosenthal) came in 8th place in Division 2, Problem 3 – It’s How We Rule. Coaches are Lharissa Jacobs and Amy Schomburg.

High School Rankings

 It’s springtime again, and that means that many national newspapers, magazines and online news organizations are once again releasing their guides, rankings and graded lists of the best high schools in America.

 Three Spring Branch ISD campuses – Memorial and Stratford high schools and Westchester Academy for International Studies – are ranked among the top 500 campuses in the nation in the latest Washington Post ranking of U.S. secondary schools titled “America’s Most Challenging High Schools 2014.”

Among Texas ranked high schools, Stratford High was No. 49, followed by Memorial High at No. 50, and Westchester Academy for International Studies nearby at No. 52. Nationally, Stratford High ranked No. 368; Memorial was No. 389, and Westchester Academy was ranked 409 under the newspaper’s rankings.

The Washington Post rankings are compiled by education columnist Jay Mathews, who has been reviewing and rating schools nationally and in the Washington, D.C., region for 16 years.

 More than 1,900 schools are listed on the Washington Post rankings. Among other criteria are the percentages of students eligible for free or reduced price meals – a common benchmark for poverty or low income – and each school’s average SAT score.

The rankings also include an Index Score, or the number of college-level tests given at a high school in the previous year divided by the number of graduates that year. Also noted are the percentage of graduates who passed at least one college-level test during their high school career, which the Washington Post calls Equity and Excellence, or E&E, in its scoring system.

To review the Washington Post’s list of national and local rankings of high school effectiveness in preparing students for college, please visit: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/

 In separate but related news, U.S. News & World Report editors are expected to publish their annual rankings, titled “2014 Best High Schools,” this week. This group’s rankings will be available online only, and is being produced with the American Institutes for Research (AIR), a large social science research organization.

For U.S. News & World Report rankings, please visit: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2014/03/27/release-of-new-best-high-schools-rankings-set-for-april-22?int=a0ab09


Note: The following information has been updated and corrected.

New Features for Skyward's Family Access

Skyward is rolling out a new look and additional features for Family Access.  The new look will become permanent beginning in July 2014.  Until then, users of Family Access will have the option to switch to the new design starting April 22, 2014. Users that don't want to switch can continue using the current application until the July change.  

Some of the new features include:

·         Ability to view one or all of your children on one screen
·         More Language selections through Google Translator in Family Access
·         Improvements on the navigation bar
·         Easier access to attendance information
·         An updated calendar with the ability to color code items (attendance, assignments, test, etc.)
·         The ability to show only the current term
·         Additional Course information
·         As before parents can change their login and password for easy access