Innovate Award – SBISD, You’re the Best!

Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Scott Muri accepted a top prize on behalf of our district – the Innovate Award – during the annual Challenge Awards sponsored by the nonprofit Houston A+ Challenge earlier this week.

The Innovate Award was presented to Dr. Muri on behalf of the entire school district in an April 18 ceremony held near downtown at White Oak Music Hall. SBISD was issued the first-ever recognition under this new award category.  

This prize was one of several honors issued by Houston A+ Challenge and its board of directors to recognize the groups, projects and people who impact education in the greater Houston community in a positive way.

SBISD’s special award states:

“The Houston A+ Challenge Innovate Award is given to the project that best demonstrates how innovation can be utilized to transform education

Spring Branch ISD adopted a single focused goal of doubling the number of students who complete a technical certification, military training, two- or four-year degree.

To reach that goal, SBISD set out to build a strategic plan that shapes a vision of learning in the future that is unprecedented in its ambition. SBISD began the strategic planning process with a simple, bold question: “What if?”

Emboldened by a newly adopted law in Texas giving school districts freedom comparable to charter schools (Texas House Bill 1842 – Districts of Innovation), SBISD asked its community to dream about the promise and possibility of public education.

The plan, adopted unanimously, lays out a vision for personalization that requires educators in classrooms, on campuses, and in the district office to reimagine and redesign themselves to optimize learning experiences for every child.

This includes innovative efforts ranging from tiny ideas that show promise for personalization all the way to whole-school redesign. In addition to improving outcomes for students in SBISD, the hope is to provide learning models that inform a vision of what’s possible in Houston.”

To learn more about Houston A+ Challenge, please visit http://houstonaplus.org/.