Last week, we honored our veterans, and our Hastings Junior ROTC cadets celebrated 248 years of the Marines with a special cake-cutting ceremony. We appreciate those who sacrificed for us by volunteering to serve in the Armed Forces. Thank you, Principal Lynette Miller, ROTC Marine Instructor SergeantMajor Jason Boldenow, and ROTC Teacher Montsho Sanders for organizing this celebration for our students.

During this holiday season, we partner with our local Boys and Girls Club and host an Angel Tree for 40 local Alief students. The waiting list has an additional 400 Southwest Houston students on it; with most of those being our Alief students. I encourage district employees to stop by my office and adopt a student. I am big on traditions so you can count on this partnership for our students in the future. Thanks to Elmer Torres, a former Alief student leading the Boys and Girls Club, for lifting this need in our community.

This past week, we partnered with Horus Scholars to give students on-the-spot admission and scholarship opportunities. As we work to strengthen our college and career focus and outcomes, this exposure and opportunity opens up pathways to success for students. You should have seen the reaction when students were awarded full-ride scholarships of more than $100k. Check out the photos here. Scholarship awards totaled more than 2 million dollars for Alief students. The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) – Houston Area Section collegiate freshman scholarship application is now open and will close on March 1, 2024.

Students may apply to one or multiple scholarships through a single application found at this link.

Our current state leaders are entering their fourth special session, and vouchers remain a focus. The focus is on providing “choice” for families. Alief offers multiple “choice” opportunities, and we are focused on growing more options here in Alief ISD. Learn more about House Bill 1 here. Currently, we host two of the best schools in the state, Alief Early College and Alief Kerr High School. Our goal as we move forward is to continue to strengthen academic outcomes and provide even more opportunities for our families.

Next week is a time to reconnect with family and show gratitude for one another. Please know that I am grateful for each of you! Enjoy this time with your family and friends, and as you partake in a good meal, don’t forget to monitor your health and steps with Walking Spree.

Celebrations

Congratulations to Kerr High School art students! Artwork created under the direction of lead high school art teacher Keri Reynolds is currently on exhibit through December 8th at the Alief Henington Library, located inside the Alief Neighborhood Center. The exhibit can be previewed at the following link.

Congratulations to our November Scholar Athletes, Melinda Winston from the Hastings basketball team and Eric Dadzie from the Elsik football team!

  • Melinda is an exceptional student-athlete who consistently shines in everything that she does. She is on the verge of becoming the all-time leader scorer in Hastings storied history while academically maintaining g a 4.6 GPA and being ranked #3 in the class of 2024. We are so proud of her and know that she will go on to do amazing things.
  • Eric has been an amazing leader on the playing field and in the classroom during his time here at Elsik High School. He has always been a leader by example on the field but also a leader when it comes to academics. Eric has done everything that has ever been asked of him and excelled while maintaining academic excellence.

Junior Bissinatt Abdelasis is a two-time 6A State qualifier. She finished 68th at the state meet with a time of 19:05. This was 34 places higher than her sophomore year, and her time was a meet personal best as well, running 1.5 minutes faster than last year.

Alief ISD students take the stage! Alief ISD Fine Arts is beyond excited to introduce the inaugural Alief Community Nutcracker, a remarkable collaboration between the Bayou City Ballet School and the Alief Independent School District!

Each month, I recognize one secondary student, two professionals, and two support staff as monthly MVP Award winners. We encourage all stakeholders to make a submission via the December MVP Award Submission form by November 13th.

Share your Alief ISD good news here.

Dr. Anthony Mays
Superintendent
Alief ISD

Looking forward