The Houston Academy for International Studies (HAIS) is a

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

in Midtown

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It is located on the

Houston Community College System Houston Community College (HCC), also known as Houston Community College System (HCCS) is a Public college, public community college system that operates community colleges in Houston, Texas, Houston, Missouri City, Texas, Missouri City, Greater ...

's Central College

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-li ...

. It opened in August 2006.

Mission

The school focuses on preparing

students A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

for

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

and their roles in

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

as global

citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

. It is a small high-school program, designed to serve up to 400 students in grades 9 through 12. It opened initially to 100

9th grade Ninth grade, freshman year, or grade 9 is the ninth year of school education in some school systems. Ninth grade is often the first school year of high school in the United States, or the last year of middle/junior high school. In some countries ...

rs for the 2006-2007 school year and plans to add a new 9th-grade class of 100 students every year, as each previous class advances. The new campus for HAIS is located at the former J. Will Jones Elementary, also located in Midtown; it was scheduled to open for the new 09-10 school year in the fall. The Academy is a

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...

with the

, the Houston Community College Central Campus,

Houston A+ Challenge Houston A+ Challenge, now Texas A+ Challenge, is a not-for-profit public-private partnership based in Houston, Texas. The organization's mission is to serve "as a catalyst for change in the public schools that educate nine of every ten children in ...

and the

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Ma ...

’s Network of International Studies Schools.

Administration

The school's principal, Melissa Jacobs-Thibaut, is a professional

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

, educator and community-development specialist with 13 years of

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

and international teaching, teacher training and leadership experience. Between 1996 and 2001, she worked for the United States Peace Corps on assignment in

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. Since 2001, Jacobs-Thibaut was the Instructional Coordinator and Charter Manager at Cage Elementary School/Project Chrysalis Middle School in Houston.

Attendance

Admissions

To be accepted at HAIS, potential students must submit completed applications along with supporting documentation, which are submitted to a general lottery drawing.

School uniforms

As of the 2017 And 2018 school year there will be no uniform policy but the students will still have to follow the HISD school dress code.

Curriculum

In preparation for university and possible careers in international business, students are required to complete two service-learning projects, four years of foreign language study, and the curriculum required by the Texas Scholars program. To graduate, they must also complete a 180-hour, internationally focused internship. Students in grades 11 and 12 will be able to earn both high-school and college credit by taking HCC classes. The Academy also provides students with the opportunity to participate in international programs such as

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

Demographics

As of 2022, 93.4% of the students were racial and ethnic minorities and 68% were low income students. The demographics for the 2021 - 2022 school year are listed below.

Transportation

METRORail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...

Red Line stop, the

Ensemble/HCC Station Ensemble/HCC is an island platformed METRORail light rail station in Houston, Texas, United States. The station was opened on January 1, 2004, and is operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO). Located Midtown ...

, is located nearby, as are several METRO bus routes.

References

External links

Houston Academy for International Studies
(Archive)
HISD HomepageHouston A+ ChallengeInternational High School at J.W. Jones
- Houston ISD Bond Information {{authority control Houston Independent School District high schools Public high schools in Houston University-affiliated schools in the United States Early College High Schools Charter schools in Houston Midtown, Houston