Reading :
Lego Literacy Log Sheets (for students in PK-3rd Grade)
Wrap Around Services:
Evelyn Olivares
evelyn.olivares@houstonisd.org
Backpack Buddy is back at Parker this school year! Backpack Buddy is a program that helps alleviate child hunger by closing the weekend gap for hungry children. Every Friday, students participating in this program will receive a nutritious, children-friendly food sack to take home and be back to school on Monday, eager and ready to learn. Backpack Buddy welcomes elementary, middle, and high school schools to participate. If you are interested in your child to participate in the program, please feel free to come see me for an application or you can email me at evelyn.olivares@houstonisd.org All students’ participants must have a signed permission slip.
HISD- West Division- Parker Organization Chart
F. Mike Miles
Superintendent
Kasey Bailey
West Division Superintendent
Delinda Castro
Senior Executive Director (Unit)
Joseph Welch
Executive Director of Feeder
Antravian Carter
Principal
antravian.carter@houstonisd.org
Assistant Principal, Bryan Berry bberry1@houstonisd.org
Assistant Principal, Gina Garcia gina.garcia@houstonisd.org
Assistant Principal, Jennifer Mills jmills2@houstonisd.org
Intervention/Title 1
Heather Grosso
Resource (SPED)
Phebe Chen
HISD Terms to Know
BoM – Board of Managers: this is the current governing body of the district. These 9 managers were selected by the TEA (Texas Education Agency) to replace the elected school board for the duration of the state takeover of HISD. They will be replaced by elected officials in a rolling pattern at the discretion of TEA, as the district shows achievement toward the exit criteria set by TEA.
DOI – District of Innovation: This is a state designation that districts can adopt by electing to meet certain requirements, which then allows the district freedom to waive certain state regulations or requirements related such as student start date/end date, teacher evaluation system, 90% attendance rule, requirements for waivers to hire certified teachers. HISD became a District of Innovation last academic year, and subsequently made changes to the school calendar, certification waivers, 90% attendance rule for high school students, DAEP for vaping and are currently in the process of changing the teacher evaluation system to go into effect in 2025-2026 academic year.
NES/PUA/School Autonomy – New Education System/Per Unit Allocation: Last year, schools were either NES, NES-A (New Education System – Adjacent), or Non-NES. This designation referred to whether a school was required to adopt the New Education System, volunteered to adopt the system for the first year (becoming NES this year), or was not a part of the NES system. At the end of the year, a new school autonomy document was produced which laid out a new reference system – Level 1 (NES schools and D-/F rated schools), Level 2 (C/high D rated schools), Level 3 (A/B rated schools), Level 4 (SUS – Separate and Unique Schools; ie, HSPVA, Mandarin Immersion, etc.). Schools that are level 2-4 are now referred to under a budgeting term – PUA, or Per Unit Allocation. This is a reference to the budget practice of providing the autonomous schools a per student budget allocation, which the schools are allowed to spend as they see fit, under certain general guidelines. Level 1 schools are centrally funded and have zero control of their budget or spending. Parker is currently a Level 3 PUA school.
TES/TTES – Teacher Evaluation System/Texas Teacher Evaluation System: the performance evaluation system for HISD teachers. Most districts utilize TTES, a state-derived evaluation system. HISD currently uses their own version of TTES, but it contain modifications to account for NES systems. Currently, there is a new TES system under review, which is scheduled to be adopted by the Board of Managers at the next meeting. The proposed system is opposed by local teacher unions and is a source of concern to some teachers.
Spots – On the spot observations/coaching: Spots are conducted regularly throughout the year for all teachers as a piece of their evaluations. Observers enter classes and observe for 10-15 minutes, and complete a checklist form with their observations, which scaled 1-15. Observers may engage in on-the-spot coaching for teachers to help improve their teaching to align with district expectations. Administrators are expected to conduct 6 spot observations per week, and observers for teachers may include school administrators and/or visiting district personnel. Some teachers are observed multiple times per week. School administrator spot observations are expected to align with the IRT observations.
IRT – Instructional Review Team: Four times per school year, an independent IRT will be conducted at each school by a team from another HISD division. They come and perform spot observations in multiple classes to check for alignment to district expectations. Like the spot observation, the IRT features a checklist for each observation, which ranks various criteria for a total 1-15 score. The spot observations are averaged/aligned to assign a formal school-wide score. These scores factor into principal evaluations. The West Division goal for is for schools to achieve 12+ by the end of the school year. MPVA’s most recent IRT was 10.5.
MRS- Multiple Response Strategy/aka Engagement Strategy: This is a common best teaching practice to engage students in the lesson, through a variety of tools such as turn and talk, gallery walk, pair and share. MRS/Engagement Strategies are a district expectation for all students. NES schools are required to utilize 1 of 8 identified MRS every 4 minutes. PUA schools are supposed to have greater autonomy to select and embed an engagement strategy, provided engagement strategies are used regularly throughout the lesson.
LO – Learning Objective: Each class should have a posted, visible learning objective for each lesson that changes with lesson, identifying the objective of the lesson and what students should be able to do by the end of the lesson (ideally, by the end of the initial direct instruction period). Identifying an LO for each lesson is a best teaching practice; posting a visible LO is a district expectation.
DOL – Demonstration of Learning: This is a best teaching practice that is intended as a check of understanding for the instructor to gauge how well students have internalized the material. DOLs are built into district curriculum and take place after 45 minutes of direct instruction. At NES schools, students are redirected for the second half of instruction based on their mastery of the material demonstrated by the DOL (typically a 5 question multiple choice quiz utilizing former STAAR questions). In PUA schools utilizing district curriculum, the DOL is more varied, as is whether or not it counts for a grade.
District Curriculum: formerly known as NES curriculum. This curriculum is produced by the HISD Curriculum Department in a slide deck and generally follows the NES guidelines for curriculum, emphasizing individual objectives for each lesson, allowing 45 minutes for direct instruction on that particular LO, a 10 minute DOL/check for understanding, and then additional 35 minutes for further differentiated instruction, depending on the student/class needs. MPVA officially uses district curriculum in some subjects, but teachers have the autonomy to adjust or change the district provided curriculum, provided they do so as a teaching team. Alignment across the team (7th grade English, 6th grade Math, 8th grade US History for example) is paramount.
District Expectations: the district sets expectations for high quality instruction which are evaluated in spot observations and IRT walks. This is focused on the content, pacing, engagement, high order thinking and other areas identified by the district as necessary for high quality instruction. These expectations exist in every level of autonomy, NES or PUA.
MAP/NWEA (BOY, MOY, EOY): This is the testing which takes place throughout the year (Beginning of Year, Middle of Year, End of Year), and the testing the district uses is produced by NWEA. This evaluates where and how a student learns in a nationally normed test. HISD expects certain levels of growth from all students. This is a factor in teacher evaluations as well principal evaluations and are considered predictive for STAAR scores.
STAAR – Texas State Assessment Exam: Every student 3-8 grade takes the STAAR test annually in Math and Reading, and some grades will also take the Science exam. This test is state mandated test which rates students on their level of knowledge for that grade level, based on the state standards for each grade level. High schoolers take specific end of year assessments in Algebra, English 1, English 2, and Biology; passing is required for graduation. Students can achieve one of 4 ratings – Masters, Achieves, Approaches, Did Not Meet. STAAR scores are factors in teacher and principal evaluations, and a major factor in the school ratings produced by TEA.
