HOUSTON – Feb. 20, 2019 – Spring Independent School District is hosting its first learning summit, along with a round of focus groups, in an effort to explore innovative learning strategies and develop a graduate profile for Spring ISD students.
The Spring ISD Innovative Summit will offer community members an opportunity to gather together with district leaders to discuss what learning should look like in the classroom. The summit will feature two available sessions, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., or 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., on Tuesday March 5 at Dekaney High School (22351 Imperial Valley Dr., 77073). During each session, the district will be seeking candid input from Spring community members, including their thoughts on what Spring ISD students should be able to know and do once they graduate.
“This is an exciting time in Spring ISD,” said Superintendent Dr. Rodney Watson. “We are currently in the process of gathering ideas from the Spring community to ensure our district continues moving toward the goals in our strategic plan.”
RSVP here for the Spring ISD Innovative Learning Summit on March 5.
One topic to be discussed during the summit will be the district’s new Math Innovation Zones (MIZ), which will launch during the 2019-20 school year. On Jan. 29, Commissioner of Education Mike Morath announced Spring ISD as one of only 15 education organizations selected to launch the Texas Education Agency (TEA) MIZ grant, which focuses on the implementation of high-quality blended learning programs in math at targeted schools in the district. Through the implementation, teachers will be able to identify prior student knowledge, create differentiated academic plans for each student and adjust plans in real time based on instant feedback.
“The Math Innovation Zone grant from TEA is designed to help develop a blended learning environment in which part of the instruction takes place online using various digital instructional resources and face-to-face instruction with the teacher,” said Susan Pelezo, director of Spring ISD Instructional Technology. “This format allows for each student to have individualized instruction.”
In addition, the Curriculum and Instruction department will host a series of innovative learning focus group meetings on March 1, March 6 and March 7. Students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members are strongly encouraged to register to participate. The feedback from these community summits and focus group meetings will be combined with the results of an online survey to provide direction to a strategic design team a they develop a model of learning.
“We want to make sure all of our students are prepared to succeed as they move on to college, technical schools and the workforce,” said Watson. “We need your ideas on how to make that happen.”
To participate in one of the focus groups, RSVP here.