Principals Corner
Principals Corner

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year Houston Upper Elementary School! I am incredibly excited to be your principal and look forward to an amazing year of learning and growing. Education is so very important. Education is more than grades and report cards. It is the gatekeeper for so many things in life that it is vital that we work as a school and community to ensure that every student has access to a rigorous and relevant learning experience to inspire them to be life-long learners and to pursue any dream they can imagine! Our mission at Houston Upper Elementary is to ensure high levels of learning for ALL students. We cannot do it alone. Therefore, I urge you to please join us in making this goal a reality for our children. Please communicate with your child's teachers, and find ways to supplement the learning your child is receiving at school in relevant ways at home.

I am thankful that you have chosen Houston Upper Elementary School as your child’s school. I am looking forward to an amazing school year. If you have any questions throughout the year, please know that I am here for you! Through our collective dedication to our students, I am confident that we will achieve Success for All! Here’s to a wonderful year!

Tina Tabb, Principal

HUES NEWS

8 months ago

By Rebecca Wortham


Where Every Student matters and Every Moment counts.


hues new flag.

Thank you Woodmen of the World and Mrs. Pettit for our new flag for the Houston Upper Elementary School. We are very grateful and appreicate your generousity.



HUES Jr Beta Service Project.

HUES Jr. Beta Club members made over 90 goodies bags for the residents for our local nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Houston. The students wanted to show how much they care for the residents by packing bags to give each person, making cards, and visiting with each one. The goodies bags and community boxes were filled with journals, socks, readers, cookies, puzzles, memory games, adult coloring books, craft supplies and so much more. These items for each facility were delivered by the Beta students on February 9th. 




Family reading night

HUES hosted its first ever Family Reading Night on February 6, 2023.  Over 100 students were in attendance for the fun event! Every student was given a Treat Bag that included a new book, bookmark, and other goodies.  Students could participate in the Book Walk, have fun at the Photo Booth, and shop at the Scholastic Book Fair. Snacks were on hand for everyone to enjoy, and there was also a station where students could read books with their parents and take AR tests on the computer. 3rd Grade parents received information on the Reading Gateway test on how they can help their child at home to be successful on the test. Door Prizes were given away throughout the event, including such fun items as McDonald's gift cards and a Bluetooth Speaker!It was a great night for students, parents and teachers to come together to encourage reading throughout the school! 

HUES Family Reading Night was funded by a grant from Mississippi Professional Educators.  MPE supports teachers and students through grants, scholarships, and teacher training as a foundation for the education and achievement of students throughout the state.










                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 HUES Jr. Beta Club members are collecting throw blankets for “Benny’s Blankets” for our Spring service project. “Benny’s Blankets” is a nonprofit organization that provides blankets for cancer patients to use while undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Blanket donations can be given to any HUES Jr. Beta member or sponsor or dropped off at the school. Monetary donations are also welcomed to help with the purchase of blankets. Donations will be collected now until February 23, 2023.


HUES Winter Wonderland

Houston Upper Elementary students were rewarded with a Winter Wonderland Celebration for not receiving any Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs) for the 2nd 9 weeks.  They enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies with a movie, the inflatable slide, and a ‘Build A Snowman’ game. 










pbis sANTA sHOP






SECRET SANTA 

On Tuesday, December 6th, HUES Jr. Beta students were visited by the Secret Santa. He was visiting Houston as part of a documentary about the origin of Houston's Secret Santa at the Dixie Diner in 1971.  He described how Secret Santa had visited numerous cities and gave monetary gifts to thousands of people throughout the years.  He gifted each Jr. Beta student with $20.00 and challenged them to spread kindness and joy. The students and staff in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas cheer brought by Secret Santa.  His story will air on CBS on December 28.





Playground Dedication

On Friday, December 2, Houston Upper Elementary School cut the ribbon on its brand-new playground.  Students were excited to play on their new playground.  Wanting a better playground for her students, Principal Angel Carr applied for a grant from the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation. The 5,380-square-foot playground has 24 pieces of play equipment with turf safety surfacing and shading systems. The playground structures are designed for physical activities such as climbing, crawling, jumping and running to improve balance, flexibility and cardiovascular health while promoting creativity and building social skills.  Mrs. Carr, the teachers, and students are incredibly grateful to the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation for their new playground.






golden givers. can food drive.

Congratulations to Mrs. Leigh Ann Kimbrough's homeroom for being the "Golden Givers" this year during the HUES Jr. Beta can food drive. Mrs. Kimbrough's homeroom generously donated the most items this year and was rewarded with a pizza party. All items that were donated were sent to families in our local area. 




Golden Givers Can Food Drive Winners

HUES Jr. Beta Induction

Houston Upper Elementary Jr. Beta Club held its annual induction ceremony on Tuesday, November 15th. Fifty-four new members were added to the club’s roster, bringing the total to seventy-three members. HUES is proud of the hard work and exceptional behavior these students have shown to achieve this prestigious honor.







Fourth Grade Jr. Beta 

HUES's Beta Canned Food Drive was a huge success. Over 2,000 items were donated and Beta members helped deliver the goods.





Fifth Grade Jr. Beta

Fifth Grade Beta members helped deliver can goods.








soda pop!

Mrs. Parker’s 5th grade GT students are seen here participating in a variety of research and science activities during a recent “Soda Pop” unit. They also received a coke float as a reward for all of their hard work at the completion of the unit! At HUES, every student matters and every moment counts! 












ar popcorn bar party

HUES students are enjoying a Popcorn Bar this week after meeting the Accelerated Reader goal. The bar has 36 different flavors of popcorn to pick from and has various toppings too. These unique flavors have dazzled their taste buds this week and are a huge hit!  Students get to create the perfect snack of their choice and watch a movie while they eat their popcorn creations.  








Benchmark block party

Houston Upper Elementary School celebrated students’ achievements from their first benchmark assessments with a Block Party.  Students danced and played different games to celebrate their hard work. At HUES "Every Student Matters, and Every Moment Counts!"






september

HUES Teacher, Staff, and Student of the month.

Teacher of the month: Tabatha Smith

Staff of the month: Jerri Griffin


Gavin Campbell, Janeli Chavez, Jeriah Jones, Henry Tran, Cainen Pierce, and Deontae Cousins

Sadie Martin, Rena Kilgore, Aubriee Randle, Dallas Hillhouse, Lincoln Blansett, and Rowan Smith

Grey Tate, Crystal Vazquez, McGovern Smith, Trace Dendy, Victor Ibarra, Clouse, and Madison Tucker


HUES AWARDS DAY

At Houston Upper Elementary Pace Awards Day, two hundred and thirty-two students were recognized for their performance on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) tests given in the spring of 2022. Certificates were presented to those students whose scores were proficient or advanced in Math, English Language Arts, Science and/or showed growth. These students will receive various parties for their accomplishments. Ten students at HUES were recognized for achieving perfect scores on MAAP state tests and were given $100.00 for each perfect score.  Also, ten students were recognized for achieving perfect raw and scale scores and they received $200.00. Four students were recognized for achieving proficient on the English Language Proficiency Assessment and were given $50.00.  PACE Foundation sponsored the cash awards.    













accelerated reader 

Houston Upper Elementary School is excited about reading this year. We like to encourage our young readers to read often. Reading builds fluency, vocabulary, and background knowledge. As an incentive to promote independent reading, HUES held a competition to see which classroom in each grade could acquire the most AR points in a five week period. The results were amazing! Our school collectively acquired approximately 2000 AR points in a five week time frame. It is obvious how much our students love to read!The winning homerooms with the highest AR score totals were rewarded with extra recess time and their homeroom teachers were given $50 each to spend on library books for their classrooms. Ms. Madison Vail’s 5th grade homeroom won with 186.1 AR points. Mrs. Tate’s 4th grade homeroom won with 191.0 AR points, and Ms.Victoria Fuqua’s 3 rd grade homeroom won with 177.1 AR points. This reading incentive was a huge success, and we look forward to the next one. HUES, were every student matters and every moment counts!


3rd Grade 177.1 AR Points

4th Grade 186.1 AR Points

5th Grade 186.1 AR Points

robotics in technology lab.

Students at HUES are exploring early robotics while attending Mrs. Hodnett's Technology Lab. They are excited about learning about coding in real life.






Beta service project

Houston Upper Elementary’s Jr. Beta club members collected and transported water to the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Department as the first of several service projects for the 2022-2023 school year. These service projects benefit their local community as well as other communities across our nation. Service to others is one of the most important characteristics of National Beta membership. The motto, “Let Us Lead By Serving Others,”  states the philosophy upon which National Beta was founded. HUES Jr. Beta Sponsors would like to thank those who so generously contributed bottled water to make this project a success. 











A Typical Day at HUES





August

HUES Teacher, Staff, and Student of the month.


Teacher of the Month: Ms. Heather Boyer



Taylor Griggs, Kensley Horton, Reagan Wright, Kenslee Taylor, Perla Vazquez, Braylen Davidson, and Jacie Hodges

Joe Harold Pepper, Tyler McKaskle, Kingston Gates, Angelina Guererro, Kendyll Cousins, and Alena Hiner

Cayson Pierce, Davis Griffin, Soriya Conway, Lillian Petty,  Arrington Voyles, and  Grayson Chisolm

POSITIVE OFFICE REFERRALS

Congratulations to these students for being respectful, responsible, and positive to be successful.  When students received a positive office referrals, they are recognized with a trip to the Principal’s office, but for a good reason.  Students received an award and prize. Week of  August 15-22, 2022.

POSITIVE OFFICE REFERRALS

Congratulations to these students for being respectful, responsible, and positive to be successful.  When students received a positive office referrals, they are recognized with a trip to the Principal’s office, but for a good reason.  Students received an award and prize. Week of  August 8-12, 2022.



WELCOME BACK 


Where every student matters and every moment counts.

Bullying Procedures for Processing a Complaint

6 years ago

By Shane Presley

Procedures for Processing a Complaint  

Any student, school employee or volunteer who feels he/she has been a victim of bullying or harassing behavior, or has witnessed or who has reliable information that a student, school employee or volunteer has been subject to bullying or harassing behavior shall report such conduct to a teacher, principal, counselor or other school official.  The report shall be made promptly but no later than five (5) calendar days after the alleged act or acts occurred.  The school official shall complete a “Bullying/Harassing Behavior” complaint form which shall include the name of the reporting person, the specific nature and date of the misconduct, the names of the victim of the misconduct, the names of any witnesses and any other information that would assist in the investigation of the complaint.  The report shall be given promptly to the principal or superintendent who shall institute an immediate investigation.  Complaints against the principal shall be made to the superintendent and complaints against the superintendent shall be made to the Board chairman.    

The complaint shall be investigated promptly.  Parents will be notified of the nature of any complaint involving their student.  The District official will arrange such meetings as may be necessary with all concerned parties within five (5) working days after initial receipt of the complaint by the District.  The parties will have an opportunity to submit evidence and a list of witnesses.  All findings related to the complaint will be reduced to writing.  The District official conducting the investigation shall notify the victim and parents as appropriate when the investigation is completed and a decision regarding disciplinary action, as warranted, is determined.   

 If the victim is not satisfied with the decision of the District official, he/she may submit a written appeal to the superintendent.  Such appeal shall be filed within ten (10) working days after receipt of the results of the initial decision.  The superintendent will arrange such meetings with the victim and other affected parties as deemed necessary to discuss the appeal.  The superintendent shall provide a written decision to the victim’s appeal within ten (10) working days.   If the victim is not satisfied with the decision of the superintendent, a written appeal may be filed with the Board.  Such appeal shall be filed within ten (10) working days after receipt of the decision of the superintendent.  The Board shall, within twenty (20) working days, allow the victim and parents as appropriate to appear before the Board to present reasons for dissatisfaction with the decision of the superintendent.  The Board shall provide a written decision within ten (10) working days following the victim’s appearance before the Board.