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Harmony Public Schools awarded $18 million grant for ‘Inspiring Futures Across Texas’

 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.

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Notice of District Safety Committee Meeting April 13, 2023

District Safety Committee Meeting Invitation

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announcement

2023 Public Comment on Federal Grant Applications

We are moving into the time of the year when we make plans and apply for Federal Funds applications (ESSA) for next school year, and we would like to gather parent and community feedback for our applications. Please use one of the public comment links below to share your comments or feedback with us:

Estamos entrando en la época del año en que hacemos planes y solicitamos solicitudes de fondos federales (ESSA) para el próximo año escolar, y nos gustaría recopilar comentarios de los padres y la comunidad para nuestras solicitudes. Utilice uno de los enlaces de comentarios públicos a continuación para compartir sus comentarios o comentarios con nosotros:

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Harmony Science and Engineering Fair Logo

Join the 9th Annual Harmony Science and Engineering Fair

Dear Students,

We hope you will consider joining us with your projects for our 9th annual Harmony Science and Engineering Fair (H-SEF).

H-SEF 2023 will be virtual in two rounds this year. Details can be found here.

It is open to the 6th -12th grade level students.

The application deadline is March 3rd, 2023.
Registration link: https://harmonytx.org/hsef

H-SEF 2023 Committee

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HPS NTX LOTTERY 2023 ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS

HPS NTX LOTTERY 2023 ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS

The link and the access code for parents is below. When we start the live stream on Lottery Day, parents will be able to stream it from the link below. Thank you.

https://harmonytx.org/lottery

Access code: DF1322

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Harmony makes history, winning TASBO Award of Excellence for finance

Harmony Public Schools is the first public charter school to win the prestigious Award of Excellence in Financial Management by the Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO), the organization has announced.
The award is given to Texas school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and education services centers that demonstrate professional standards, best practices, and innovations in the area of financial management and reporting.
The criteria to qualify for the Award of Excellence in Financial Management is stringent, based on financial accounting and reporting guidelines identified by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Financial Accountability System Resource Guide (FASRG). Applicants must submit documents across 11 key areas, which are reviewed by a TASBO accounting subcommittee.
“Making sure that each of our financial decisions is efficient, effective, and, most importantly, ethical is among our greatest operational priorities,” Harmony CEO Fatih Ay said. “In doing so, we are able to maximize our resources and provide our students with the most robust educational experience that can be offered.
“We are extraordinarily pleased to be honored with this award,” Ay said, “and are grateful to our finance team for putting our schools in a prime position to succeed.”
Harmony also was awarded its second Award of Merit for Purchasing Operations by TASBO. The Award of Merit was established in 2009 to recognize Texas school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and education services centers that are committed to following professional standards in the acquisition of goods and services. Harmony remains the only charter school system to earn the award.
“These organizations have gone above and beyond to demonstrate transparency by meticulously documenting their districts’ policies and procedures,” said Tracy Ginsburg, TASBO Executive Director. “Not only have they showcased the ways they monitor spending, improve budgeting, implement controls, and enhance financial reporting, but they have shared their best practices with colleagues throughout Texas, helping even more educational organizations to better utilize taxpayer dollars.”
Members of the district’s finance team will be honored at an awards reception sponsored by Frontline Education in San Antonio, Texas, on February 15 during the 2023 TASBO annual conference.
Led by Chief Financial Officer Ebru Akyildiz, Harmony’s finance department includes 30 team members specializing in six separate subdepartments: purchasing, payroll, grants, budgets, accounting and capital management.
The department has implemented a number of industry-leading best practices, including working with the Texas Education Agency, TASBO and independent, external auditors to ensure transparency and accountability in all financial operations.
For the department’s efforts, Harmony also was awarded seven “A” ratings by the TEA in its annual FIRST Financial Accountability Ratings during the most recent award cycle in 2022.
Harmony also was the first double-rated charter school system in the U.S. to be highly rated (“BBB”) by Moody’s and S&P Global with (“AAA”) long-term program rating that reflects Harmony’s qualification for the Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) Bond Guarantee Program.
“We are one of the largest Texas charter management organizations, but we don’t want to just speak about our size – we want to be able to speak about our quality and the accuracy in our processes,” Akyildiz said.
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.
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School Operations (Delayed Start) Update for Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023

UPDATE: Harmony School of Innovation-Waco will be on a two-hour delayed start for Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.
Further updates or changes to school operations will be communicated through our school Messenger system, school website, and official Facebook pages.
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School Closure Update for Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023

UPDATE: All Harmony North Texas & Waco schools, as well as the District Office, will be closed on Wednesday, Feb. 1, due to continued winter weather conditions. All extra-curricular activities are also canceled for tomorrow.

We will continue to closely monitor roadway reports for Thursday, Feb. 2. Any additional updates or changes to school operations for Thursday will be communicated through our school Messenger system, school website, and official Facebook pages.

Stay warm and safe!

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School Closing Update for Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023

All Harmony North Texas & Waco schools, as well as the District Office, will be closed on Tuesday, Jan. 31, due to anticipated winter weather this evening and overnight. All extra-curricular activities are also canceled for tomorrow.
We will continue to closely monitor the weather for Wednesday, Feb. 1. Any additional updates or changes to school operations for Wednesday will be communicated to our Harmony families through our school Messenger system, school website, and official Facebook pages.
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GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION (GATE) ANNOUNCEMENT

In accordance with the Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented students, Harmony Public Schools will begin taking referrals for all interested students in grades K-12 for Gifted and Talented (G/T) screening.
Anyone interested in the educational welfare of these students may nominate them for assessment. Students in grades 1 & up who were tested in Fall 2022 are not eligible to test in Spring 2023. Referral forms are available at the front office and on the school’s website (see below).
The referral forms must be returned or emailed to the front office by January 31, 2023. The Spring GT testing window is set by the campus in February or March. Campuses may elect to use NWEA MAP scores as a prescreening criterion for GT Testing.
For more information about the screening and identification process, parents may contact the school’s GT Coordinator/Teacher.

Parent GT Referral Form in English

ANUNCIO DE EDUCACIÓN PARA DOTADOS Y TALENTOSOS (GATE) 
De acuerdo con el Plan Estatal de Texas para la Educación de Estudiantes Dotados / Talentosos, Harmony Public Schools comenzará a tomar referencias para todos los estudiantes interesados en los grados K-12 para la evaluación de estudiantes dotados y talentosos.
Cualquier persona interesada en el bienestar educativo de estos estudiantes puede nominarlos para dicha evaluación. Los estudiantes en los grados 1 y superiores que fueron evaluados en el otoño de 2022 no son elegibles para la prueba en la primavera de 2023. Los formularios de referencia están disponibles en la oficina y en el sitio web de la escuela.
Los formularios de referencia deben devolverse a la oficina de la escuela antes del lunes 31 de enero del 2023. Los campus pueden optar por utilizar las puntuaciones de NWEA MAP como criterios de preselección para las pruebas de GT.
Para obtener más información sobre el proceso de selección e identificación, los padres pueden comunicarse con el entrenador / maestro de GT de la escuela.

Parent GT Referral Form in Spanish

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We're Hiring

BILINGUAL AND ESL TEACHERS NEEDED!

We're Hiring

Harmony Public Schools is recruiting talented, compassionate bilingual teachers dedicated to helping every student succeed. Harmony offers a competitive salary, excellent benefits and a commitment to excellence in the classroom.

Interested applicants may apply online.

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Dyslexia Awareness Month

October is in the United States. Let’s deepen our understanding of this language-based challenge and try to raise awareness in our community.

 Eight-year-old Evan is one of the brightest children in his third-grade class. He has a wonderful vocabulary and knows everything there is to know about baseball—he can even tell you who played in each of the last ten World Series games and who won. But when it comes to reading about baseball—or anything else—Evan has a lot of trouble. It takes him a long time to read each word, and even longer to read whole sentences. He often has to guess at how you say a word—and sometimes his guess is wrong. Reading out loud is especially stressful and embarrassing. His teacher recently told Evan’s parents that she thinks he might have dyslexia.

 Most people assume that part of being smart is being able to read well. About 100 years ago, though, doctors figured out that some people, even some very smart people who do really well at many other things, have trouble learning to read. This difficulty with reading is called dyslexia.

 Excerpt from: http://dyslexia.yale.edu/resources/dyslexic-kids-adults/on-being-dyslexic/

Useful Links:

What is Dyslexia? – Kelli Sandman-Hurley

https://improvingliteracy.org/brief/defining-dyslexia

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/videos-about-dyslexia

https://dyslexiaida.org/

https://dyslexiaida.org/fact-sheets/

http://www.dyslexia.yale.edu/resources/parents/

https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/texas-dyslexia-handbook-2021.pdf

Recommended Movie:

Taare Zameen Par- Every Child is Special https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z14uE7U0HY

Ishaan, a student who has dyslexia, cannot seem to get anything right at his boarding school. Soon, a new unconventional art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh, helps him discover his hidden potential.

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Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Announcement!

Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Announcement!

In accordance with the Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented students, Harmony Public Schools will begin taking referrals for kindergarten and newly enrolled students in grades 1-12 for gifted and talented screening. 

Anyone interested in the educational welfare of these students may refer them for assessment. Referral forms are available at the front office and on the school’s website.

 

Parent GT Referral Form in English

Parent GT Referral Form in Spanish

 

The deadline for GATE referral is September 30, 2022, and G/T assessment period will take place in October. For more information about the screening and identification process, parents may contact the school’s G/T coordinator or G/T coach/teacher.

GATE (Educación para estudiantes dotados/talentosos) Anuncio

De acuerdo con el Plan Estatal de Texas para la Educación de Estudiantes Dotados / Talentosos, las Escuelas Públicas de Harmony comenzarán a recibir referencias para kindergarten y estudiantes recién inscritos en los grados 1-12 para la evaluación de estudiantes dotados y talentosos.

Cualquier persona interesada en el bienestar educativo de estos estudiantes puede nominarlos para dicha evaluación. Los formularios de referencia están disponibles en la oficina y en el sitio web de la escuela.

 

Forma de nominación

 

La fecha límite de referencia de GATE es el 30 de septiembre de 2022 y el período de evaluación de G / T se llevará a cabo en octubre.

Para obtener más información sobre el proceso de selección e identificación, los padres pueden comunicarse con el entrenador / maestro de GT de la escuela.

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Welcome to 2022-23: A message from CEO Fatih Ay

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

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