Archive for category: Harmony Times

 The U.S. Department of Education has granted Texas-based Harmony Public Schools $18 million for further expansion of its public charter school network throughout the Lone Star State.

The announcement was made April 3 by the DOE’s Office of Elementary & Secondary Education. The grant will further Harmony’s current “Inspiring Futures Across Texas” growth initiative, which focuses on offering quality enrollment opportunities to more Texas students at future Harmony campuses.  Currently, Harmony has 60 campuses across Texas, and one online-only virtual academy.

“Our new student application numbers are higher than they have ever been, and continue to grow each year,” Harmony CEO Fatih Ay said. “All over Texas, families are seeing the opportunity that Harmony Public Schools contributes to their communities, and this grant is proof that the U.S. Department of Education sees the value that Harmony provides, as well.”

The award was the latest in multiple major federal grants received by Harmony for its schools and programs. In recent years, Harmony has been awarded more than $110 million by the Department of Education, including:

• In 2020, the Department of Education awarded Harmony $27.8 million for its Teacher and School Leader (TSL) Incentive program to train, equip, and retain top-level school leaders at its campuses across the state.
• In 2019, the Department of Education also awarded $8 million to Harmony for its innovative “Leaf to STEM” program, which expanded its pioneering programming in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to elementary learners. 
• In 2017, the DOE also awarded Harmony a $26.7 million Teacher Incentive Fund grant for the school’s Supporting Top Educators Program (H-STEP), aimed at rewarding Harmony’s highest-performing education with additional compensation.
• In 2012, the DOE awarded Harmony a $30 million Race to the Top grant to support locally developed plans to personalize and deepen student learning, directly improve student achievement and educator effectiveness, close achievement gaps, and prepare every student to succeed in college and their careers.

Additionally, Harmony Public Schools has recently received financial support from a variety of education-focused philanthropic organizations, including the Charter School Growth Fund, KLE, CREEED, FWEP, and the George W. Brackenridge Foundation.

Harmony Public Schools is a Texas-born, Texas-wide public charter school system with campuses serving PreK-12 students in 23 cities across the state, including Greater Houston, DFW, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Waco, Lubbock, Odessa, Bryan, Beaumont, and the Rio Grande Valley. Harmony’s curriculum places a heavy focus on STEM skills, Character Education, project-based learning, and college readiness. 

Harmony is now accepting applications for both students and team members for the 2023-24 school year.

About Harmony Public Schools

Harmony Public Schools are 61 high performing PreK-12 college preparatory charter schools throughout Texas. Harmony blends the highest standards and expectations, with a rigorous math- and science-centered curriculum and dedicated and engaged teachers and families to cultivate excellence and prepare students to succeed in college, careers and life. At Harmony Public Schools, we believe every child can succeed, and we are committed to helping them realize their full potential. To learn more about Harmony Public Schools and our 58 campuses across Texas, please visit: www.harmonytx.org, and follow us on Twitter at @HarmonyEdu and ‘Like’ us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HarmonyTexas.

Dear Harmony Families & Team Members,

Welcome back!

With a new year comes new opportunities and a time for new beginnings. We believe this school year is going to be filled with more opportunities than ever for achievement, exploration, and inspiration for our students and team members across Texas.

This year, Harmony is proud to welcome its largest class ever – roughly 42,000 students – to our 60 campuses. Harmony also experienced its largest batch of new student applicants – more than 50,000 – for this school year. Neither of these accomplishments could have been possible without the support of our Harmony families and staff members sharing the good word about their school with friends, neighbors, and families. For that, we owe you our thanks.

Whether your family is new to Harmony or you’ve been with us for years, Harmony will offer each of our scholars the same high-quality, STEM-focused education filled with opportunities to connect and engage with their schools, teachers, and classmates.

Though it has been only a few days since the first of our schools opened for the 2022-23 school year, already we have some exciting news to share. This week, the Texas Education Agency released its first State Accountability Ratings since the start of the pandemic. We are excited to report that five HPS districts and 23 HPS campuses earned a perfect “A” rating on this key report. Two districts and 32 campuses also received “B” ratings. Collectively, Harmony was the highest scoring major Texas charter school network in terms of the percentage of campuses which scored a “B” or better.

These results come on the heels of some extraordinary spring STAAR test results, which found that statewide not only had most of our students made up any achievement loss caused by the COVID pandemic, but in the majority of our schools, our students actually scored higher than they did pre-pandemic. Despite these successes, the work to help our students fully rebound from the pandemic will continue throughout 2022-23, as we continue to emphasize additional learning acceleration and ongoing emotional well-being support for our students.

Our TEA Ratings and STAAR scores are just a couple of the reasons why we’re so excited to begin another school year, but there are plenty more. In addition to our normal annual programs and initiatives, Harmony will be focusing on several key areas this school year:

• School culture and climates of character will continue to be a primary focus for all of our campuses. The positive results of this ongoing initiative already are plain to see. Systemwide, we have seen a dramatic drop in behavioral incidents at our campuses, as an increase in counselor staffing is helping to better support students before possible issues arise. HPS also is proud to share that in 2021-22, three of our campuses were named National Schools of Character, making a total of seven HPS national winners in the past three years. Thirteen campuses have also been named State Schools of Character. We expect several other campuses to earn these honors this year.

• We will continue to focus on school safety measures and scientific-based health protocols to keep our students and staff safe and focused on achievement. Over the summer, each of our schools conducted additional campus safety training, including security audits of their points of entry. This is in addition to the long-standing security measures already in place, which include yearly safety audits, which exceed the TEA requirement of once every three years. We will continue to work to increase the safety of our school communities, as keeping our students and team members safe is our highest priority.

• For our former students, we will continue to offer a number of assistance programs to ensure their long-term success after HPS. First, the HPS Alumni Career Center will provide ongoing support and services to assist them with career development, job placement, and long-term success. Next, Harmony is extending its postsecondary support services with the new Alumni College Coaching program. The program aims to provide on-college campus coaching, and monthly success workshops to increase Harmony graduates’ enrollment, retention, and more importantly their college completion. It will be piloted at three universities this fall: the University of Houston, University of Houston-Downtown, and North American University. Finally, our College & Career counselors are wrapping up a successful season of “summer melt” intervention to make sure last year’s graduating seniors become this year’s entering college freshmen. Across our system, HPS made personal contact with 94% of our Class of 2022 to make sure they are still enrolled in college, have their financial aid in order, and know when and where to be on Day 1 of college.

• To help prepare our students for the workforce, we will continue to expand our Career & Technical Education (CTE) and Industry-Based Certification (IBC) programs. Harmony currently offers more than 650 career pathways courses in 10 different fields, including Biomedical Science, Engineering, Programming & Software Development, Accounting & Financial Services, and Business Management, among others. In 2021-22, HPS invested more than $19 million in federal funds into these programs, allowing more than 15,000 students to get a jumpstart on the future careers of their dreams.

• Through our Harmony Partners in Education program, we will continue to seek businesses, volunteers, and other community members who can bring resources and opportunities to our schools and students. During 2021-22, Partners in Education matched more than 1,000 partners with school projects across our system.

• For students interested in a career in public service, HPS will continue to expand its rapidly-growing Service Leadership Society, which already is among the largest of any school system in the state. Harmony’s SLS program is dedicated to encouraging civic engagement among our students and exposing them to leadership opportunities within their communities while at the same time, allowing them to interact with elected officials and their staff.

• To continue supporting the continued influx of interest in Harmony, we are continuing to add new campuses and expand others. This school year, HPS debuts two new campuses – Harmony School of Excellence-Katy and Harmony School of Science-San Antonio – as well as four additional major campus expansions. We’re also breaking ground on three others – in El Paso, Fort Worth, and Leander – this school year.

As you can see, we all have a lot to look forward to this year.

On behalf of our team members, faculty and staff, I would like to welcome you and your family to the 2022- 2023 school year. We look forward to getting to know your family better this school year and sharing all that Harmony has to offer.

Sincerely,

Fatih Ay
CEO | Harmony Public Schools

Children need nutritious meals to learn, grow and thrive.

The Summer Meal Programs ensures kids have no-cost, health meals this summer and return to school read to learn.

Help us spread the word about this valuable program!

Text FOOD to 304-304 or visit SummerFood.org to find a site.

Los niños necesitan comidas nutritivas para aprender, crecer y prosperar.

Los programas de comidas de verano aseguran que los niños tengan comidas saludables sin costo este verano y regresen a la escuela leyendo para aprender.

¡Ayúdenos a correr la voz acerca de este valioso programa!

Envíe FOOD al 304-304 o visite SummerFood.org para encontrar un sitio.

Each school year, thousands of families submit their application to become a part of Harmony Public Schools.

Here’s how we select applicants for enrollment each year to make sure each applicant has an equal opportunity to become our next high-achieving Harmony scholar.

STEP 1

Each January, we ask current families to let us know if they’ll be coming back to Harmony next year. This is called “Re-Enrollment.”

STEP 2

Based on the number of students returning next year and the number of classes in each grade level, we determine how many open spots we will have for new students.

STEP 3

Meanwhile, new families are submitting their applications during our annual Open Enrollment season, which runs from November 1 through February 10 each year.

STEP 4

After February 10, if the number of new applicants is greater than the number of available spots we have, Harmony holds a “blind lottery” to make sure all applicants have a fair opportunity to be seated.

STEP 5

Families of students selected for enrollment are notified. Those not selected are put on a “waitlist” and contacted as soon as a spot opens up.

… and that’s it!

Here are some answers to our applicants’ most frequently asked questions.

#1 – IS THERE ALWAYS A LOTTERY?

Not always, but often.

Whether a lottery is needed is determined by the number of spots available at each grade level and the number of eligible applicants interested in them.

#2 – I WAS SELECTED FOR ENROLLMENT –
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO NEXT?

Most importantly, we need you to officially accept the spot (a link will be provided on the acceptance letter). Then, between now and next fall, you’ll need to officially register your child and provide a few documents verifying their identity and home address.

After that, we’ll see you on the first day of school!

(Note: If you were accepted by more than one campus, please register at your preferred campus and decline the invitation of any others. This will allow us to offer those spots to another prospective Harmony family.)

#3 – I WAS PLACED ON A WAITLIST –
IS THERE ANY CHANCE I WILL GET TO ATTEND?

Absolutely – so don’t give up hope! Students initially placed on a waitlist are given the opportunity to enroll all the time at Harmony, often for one of the following reasons:

• A student who was initially selected in the lottery didn’t completion registration by the deadline.
• A student who was initially selected in the lottery moved away.
• A student was selected by two schools in the lottery, but of course could only register at one.
• We added an an extra class at the grade level for which you applied.
• One of our nearby campuses had an opening,
  and reached out to see if you were interested in attending there.

More Questions?

Reach out to us on Let’s Talk to let us know how we can help!

Re-Enrollment for current Harmony families who plan to return next school year is January 4-28, 2022.

Re-Enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year for Harmony families begins soon.

During this time of year each January, we ask families to complete a simple, online Re-Enrollment process, letting us know they’ll be joining us for another great year of learning and fun next school year, which starts in August 2022.

This simple step allows us to make sure each current student’s spot at Harmony is reserved for the following school year, and assess how many new student seats we have available for other applicants.

Re-Enrollment at Harmony Public Schools runs January 4-28, 2022. Look for more details in your email inbox, via Skyward, or on our Facebook page soon.

In the meantime, check out these 6 things families need to know about Re-Enrollment at Harmony Public Schools.

#1 – When is Re-Enrollment season?

For the 2022-2023 school year, re-enrollment will be January 4-28, 2022.

#2 – How do I apply for Re-Enrollment?

The preferred method for re-enrollment is through the student’s online Skyward account. (A link to Skyward can be found at the top of your campus homepage or you can simply click here.). Parents without internet and/or Skyward access may also request a paper re-enrollment option from their child’s campus.

#3 – What is the difference between Re-Enrollment and Open Enrollment?

Re-enrollment is intended for current Harmony students planning to stay at their current campus the following school year, or who will naturally feed upward to a new campus (e. from elementary to nearby middle school). Open Enrollment is for new students, or current students who wish to change Harmony campuses for personal reasons (ex. transferring to a campus closer to home).

#4 – If a student plans to stay at the same school next year, are they automatically guaranteed re-enrollment if they complete the re-enrollment process before the deadline?

Yes, so long as their family completes the re-enrollment process.

#5 – What happens if a parent does not submit their re-enrollment information before the deadline?

If a parent misses the deadline to complete the re-enrollment process, then the student will lose his/her reserved space for next school year and must apply during Open Enrollment, held November 1-February 10 each school year. To apply, visit www.HarmonyTX.org/Apply.

#6 – What does a Harmony parent need to do if they would like to stay with Harmony, but transfer to a different campus for the next school year?

If a parent would like to change Harmony campuses for the following school year, they must submit an application for the desired school at www.HarmonyTX.org/Apply.