IIW Signups Begin!!

Signups for IIW begin Monday during lunch for Freshmen.

The signup forms will go live once lunch begins. At this same point in time, the descriptions for IIWs available to Freshmen also go live. Certain IIWs have certain restrictions and requirements. Its important to make sure you understand these before you choose an IIW.

9th Grade IIW Options  - Signup now closed
WAIS IIW Page

Signups for IIW begin Monday during lunch for Sophomores and 6th Graders.

The signup forms will go live once lunch begins. At this same point in time, the descriptions for IIWs available to Sophomores also go live. Certain IIWs have certain restrictions and requirements. Its important to make sure you understand these before you choose an IIW.

6th Grade Options - Signup now closed

6th Grade Parent Letter - Signup now closed

Sophomore Options  - Signup now closed

WAIS IIW Page

Signups for IIW began Monday, Sept. 14th during lunch for Seniors and 8th Graders.

The signup forms went live once lunch began. At this same point in time, the descriptions for IIWs available to Seniors & 8th Graders also go live. Certain IIWs have certain restrictions and requirements. Its important that students make sure they understand these before you choosing an IIW.

Students who didn't signup will have to speak to Mr. Wegscheid regarding late signups. Due to not signing up on time, options are limited as some groups are now full.

8th Grade IIW Options - Signup now closed
Senior IIW Options - Signup now closed

WAIS IIW Page

About the Color Run

The first ever WAIS Color run is going to be September 25^th, during school and we are looking forward to having a lot of fun and building a community here at WAIS.  The money raised in the color run will help support our students in their many learning adventures this year at WAIS.

Right now, we are encouraging kids and parents to go to www.funrun.com and register your child to participate for WAIS.  The school code is 658-412.   This will allow you and your child to be ready to get started on the first day of our fundraiser.   You will  need to know your child’s homeroom, or advisory teacher in order to register them.

If you are interested in helping us during the Color Run, please sign up here:  http://vols.pt/8274Hr.  We are hoping to get volunteers to help with a variety of tasks that will be needed during the pledge period (September 14-25^th) and afterwards (September 28-October 2).  Thank you in advance for any time you can donate.

Additionally, if you would like to reach out to businesses for them to donate as a sponsor we have a letter ready and all you need to do is email either Lynda Fitzsimmons at lyn.fitz.22@gmail.com or Jennifer Collier at jennifer.collier@springbranchisd.com for a copy.

The fundraising will be open for two weeks and kids will receive prizes throughout the two weeks prior to the color run and a t-shirt to wear on the day of the run.
 

On September 25^th, during school hours, student will participate in the color run on one of our fields.  This will be lively event with music, fun, and movement.

 

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

Previously sent out by our director:

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

WHEN:  SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
TIME:  6:00pm*

 *Please note the below times of special meetings for 6th, 7th and 10th grades.


Please join us for a night of great information.  Hear from our PTA, your child's teachers, and get information on how your child can make this the best year yet!  Schedules for the evening will be sent home with your child.  Please ask them to provide you with your schedule.  We hope to see you there!!

6th Grade
Pine Cove Meeting
5:30-6pm or 7:30-8pm
Theatre

 7th Grade
Camp Allen Meeting
5:30-6pm or 7:30-8pm
A225 and A228 

10th Grade
Personal Project Meeting
5:30-6pm or 7:30-8pm
Dining Hall

8th Grader, Clay, published in local publication, GuideStar

Eighth grader, Clay, has an article published in this month's edition of GuideStar, the Houston Astronomical Society’s newsletter.  His article, “Finding the Cosmic Order: the Story of Kepler’s Laws of Motion,” appears on page 12 in the newsletter.

Clay also placed first in our 2015 GeoBee last spring, and competed at the state level competition.


Excerpt from the editor in the September edition of GuideStar: 

I'm pleased to have new articles in this GuideStar by Clay (...). Clay has a nice article on Johannes Kepler, Rene tells us about inspiring kids to get into astronomy, and Larry and Susie tell us about the Stellafane 2015 event. Thanks. 

Opening of Clay's Article: 

 Finding the Cosmic Order
The Story of Kepler’s
Laws of Motion 

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has made lots of news recently, helping astronomers discover many exoplanets orbiting other stars, such as super-Earth Kepler 452b, which was just found recently. But who was Kepler?

Johannes Kepler’s laws of motion marked a major turning point in the history of astronomy and sci- ence. It threw out the old systems of epicycles and orbs and replaced it with a system based on physics and observation that holds true to this day. Kepler’s book on his discoveries, Astronomia Nova, or “New Astronomy” was well named. It was the beginning of a scientific revolution in as- tronomy that led to Newton and the rest of mod- ern science, astronomy and physics. Without them, we might not have the same understanding of the universe that we do now.

(...)  

Read the rest in the September issue of GuideStar.
      https://www.astronomyhouston.org/newsletters/guidestar

SBISD Snapshots also included an article about Clay's accomplishment.
      http://sbisdsnapshots.blogspot.com/2015/10/eighth-grader-publishes-article-on.html

SBISD Community Education

SBISD Community Education offers over 100 courses mostly to individuals who are 16 and over.  The Dance Program offers different types of dance for 3 years old to teen-adults as well as adults in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Zumba, Yoga, Flamenco, Ballroom, Country Western, and Salsa.  You may walk in and start a class anytime during the session.  Registration starts this Saturday, Aug. 29^th from 9:00 AM to noon.

Community Education also has a variety of classes, some of which are ESL, Languages (Spanish, etc.), Computer Basics, GED Prep, Sewing, Art, Cake Decorating, Guitar, Interior Decorating, Floral Arrangement, etc.  Driver’s Education and Motorcycle Safety are also offered.

Most courses offer a payment plan during each semester. 

The best way to see the rest of the courses, schedules and to register online is to go to the website at: http://communityed.springbranchisd.com 

To register in person, registration dates are as follows:

• September 1, 9:00-4:00
• September 2, 9:00-6:00
• September 3, 9:00-6:00
• September 5, 9:00-1:00

The Community Education program is located at:

West Support Center
2100 Shadowdale Dr., Suite 2-A
Houston, TX  77043
713-251-1695

SBISD Convocation 2015

On August 14th, SBISD held Convocation 2015, to mark the start of the school year, our new Core Values, and our first school year with the leadership of Dr. Scott Muri. Convocation included speechs and performances from many SBISD students, from elementary through high school. This also included a band performance by students from the four traditional SBISD high schools; Memorial, North Brook, Spring Woods, and Stratford.

Speakers included a WAIS class of 2016 student, Josh McCune, who shared about the difference his studies at WAIS have made on him, not only educationally, but also as a person.

Josh McCune with Dr. Scott Muri and WAIS Director Jennifer Collier.

He’s the incredibly bright high school senior who has done research on eradicating the Ebola virus and who plans to become a biomedical engineer.

See the SBISD Blurb
Read the Full Article on SBISD Snapshots
See the SBISD YouTube Video

The Best of Spring Branch

New SBISD Superintendent Dr. Scott Muri wrote an article after witnessing the immediate response by many SBISD families and staff to the Gentry House Apartment fire. An article was also published in the SBISD Snapshots blog, read it here: Heart-Filled District Response to a Big Apartment Fire.


Published in the Houston Chronicle
in response to SBISD support of the
nearly 100 Spring Branch families
affected by an apartment fire in SBISD.

"One of the things I have heard over and over again this month as the new Superintendent is that a major strength of this school district is its community. This week, I had an opportunity to experience this in action first-hand after the devastating Gentry House Apartment fire. I was privileged to see your Collective Greatness as so many SBISD Family members responded immediately and with so much heart to support the over 300 individuals displaced by this fire.

Despite the sadness of this event, I was overcome with tremendous pride and personal emotion as I toured Edgewood Elementary‘ s hallways and cafeteria Tuesday night.  I smelled smoke on the clothing of our staff members and realized many had been out near the fire scene on Kempwood. You helped calm families, and you let them know that our doors were open. Edgewood became an American Red Cross shelter after the blaze.

I saw Edgewood teachers and staff nurturing their own students, Child Nutrition Services workers preparing food and sharing water, and both campus and district leaders working closely with the Red Cross and other community organizations to make sure we did all we could to support their efforts.

Our Transportation Department sent buses to the fiery scene to offer transport to all, especially the young, elderly and disabled. Operations Department staff turned up air conditioning and set up key building systems. Custodians showed up to clean and maintain the building. The Grounds Crew members moved donations inside and later moved the mountain of donated clothes to St. Jerome Catholic Church next door. I saw our SBISD Police officers creating a safe environment for everyone.  Principals, teachers, and staff members from all areas of our district put down what they were doing Tuesday night. and rushed forward to help. In just a few hours, you transformed Edgewood Elementary School into a home for those that had lost everything in this devastating fire.  

The SBISD family was not the only part of our community to respond.  The American Red Cross, local community crisis assistance organizations, the fire department, and faith community were all on site to provide support to those in need.  One of the most inspiring examples of support was the seemingly endless line of community members coming by to donate clothing, food, money, and supplies, with many of our own high school students volunteering to help unload and organize the donations. 

The CEO of The American Red Cross was there, too, and he witnessed this district’s strengths – our great community and our Collective Greatness.  He shared with me how incredibly impressed he was with the response of our district.  As many of you have told me, values matter in SBISD. One of those core values that matters when we are all at our best – Collective Greatness – was incredibly evident this week. What you did this week was awe-inspiring to me."

-Dr. Scott Muri

See the article on Chron.com