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Saturday, May 16, 2015 • Vol. 60 • No. 28 Leader Small Display_Silva NEW PHOTO.indd 4/17/15 2:04 1 PM
Local parents worried over new HISD boundaries for Love, Sinclair elementaries By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
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The news that HISD Board of Education is again considering plans to reduce classroom overcrowding by adjusting neighborhood attendance boundaries at certain elementary schools is not a surprise to residents of Shady Acres – the issue was brought up and tabled at a March board meeting. But they are no less opposed now to the plan to change their elementary school zone from Sinclair Elementary to Love Elementary. “As a community we’ve worked really hard to establish a relationship with Sinclair and to support it,” said Kallie Benes, who lives in Shady Acres and would be rezoned to Love. “A lot of people have put in a lot of leg work. All that hard work would be lost in
a transition to a new school. We’d be starting all over.” Parents who live in Shady Acres say that they bought in the area partly because they had researched schools and were favorably impressed by Sinclair, who had HISD’s Teacher of the Year in 2013-2014 and received good rankings from Children At Risk, an A- in 2014 and a B this year. They say that Love, which the Texas Education Association said “meets standard” for 2013-2014, is not as strong academically as Sinclair. “Sinclair is a lot further along,” said Ivo Djambov who lives on 23rd Street and has three boys, the oldest of which would start kindergarten in 2016. “We liked what we saw there.” See Zoning, P. 6A
Photo by Betsy Denson Sinclair parent Kimberly Spaeth walks her boys home from school. While her family is not directly affected by the rezoning, Spaeth supports the Shady Acres community.
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An oldie but a goodie In this month’s edition of Food & Drink, Connie’s Seafood on Airline Drive is in the spotlight. The eatery has weathered the competitive Houston restuarant market with a dedicated following.
Contributed Photo Will Martin and his mother, Lori Martin share happy moments together; however the 6year-old boy suffers from Leigh’s Syndrome, a genetic disease which can turn simple colds into long hospital stays.
Youngster fights genetic disease with help from community
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Reagan’s Finest Reagan High School’s JROTC Program made a rousing appearance at this year’s national championships, winning a national title alongside numerous other first place, second place and third place awards. Read all about the students’ achievements in this week’s issue.
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The INDEX. Church
5A
Classifieds
4B
Coupons
6B
Food/Drink/Art Obituaries
1B 4A
Opinion
3A
Public Information Puzzles
2A 6A
Oak Forest resident owls captivate neighborhood, nature lovers across area
By Kim Hogstrom For The Leader
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com Although Oak Forest resident Mark Lear’s day job as the Associate Artistic Administrator for the Houston Grand Opera is pretty interesting, it is his recent birding hobby that is getting all the attention on social media. An owl house that he put up in his yard in late March of 2014 attracted a male and female eastern screech owl – so named Owlivia and Owlexander by Lear – who decided to use it for nesting. The result of their union – owlets Screech and Song, whose photographs have been posted on the Oak Forest Homeowners Association page – have captivated the neighborhood. A third baby owl, Thurston Owl the Third, just made his appearance earlier this week. Lear’s interest in owls started recently, after he saw one for the first time in his yard last year. He decided to put up an owl house and after doing some research online, he ordered one from an ornithologist living in Nacogdoches, named Cliff Shackelford, who builds owl habitats as a side business. “[Shackelford’s] website owlshack.com has a terrific
Photo by Betsy Denson Top: Owlets Screech and Song made their appearance this spring. Above, Mark Lear checks out Thurston Owl the Third, the newest addition to his owl family.
Frequently Asked Questions page which just enhanced my interest further,” said Lear. Lear also attended an “Owl Prowl” at Armand Bayou Nature Center, where he learned how to listen for owls, how to use a red filtered light to look for them without disturbing them too much, and even how to play owl calls on a smart phone to draw them closer. He put up the owl shack in late March 2014, mounting it 12 feet off the ground on a large ash tree in his backyard. By late summer, he had identified two screech owls hanging around his yard at dusk: a small reddish male (Owlex-
Will Martin may be one of the cutest 6-year-old boys in the Heights. His sparkling blue eyes and cheeky grin only hint at his intelligence and sense of humor. “Yes, Will is very bright, and he has impeccable comedic timing,” said his mother, Lori Martin. “He’s a charmer all right.” This youngster’s boyishly handsome appearance suggests nothing of his actual health. Will has Leigh’s Syndrome, a genetic disease affecting the mitochondria of every cell in his body. With no known cure, his prognosis is terminal. Will also suffers from a weakened immune system, meaning simple sniffles could turn into hospital stay from which he would not return. Last month, Will spent seven days in hospital with a brain infection. He has recovered well, according to his doctors, and functions at about 85 percent of baseline. “It’s been a slow recovery, but we See Leighs, P. 6A
See Owls, P. 7A
Waltrip High School to close childcare center By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com Sarah Maugans says she could hardly believe the words in the letter sent home with her 18-month-old daughter last week. United Way’s Bright Beginnings childcare center inside of the school, which has been part of the campus for years and provided daycare for children like her own, will close its doors at the end of the school year. “It has been quite a shock for many of us,” Maugans said. “The confusing thing for us has been that the daycare center has always been part of the construction going on at the school. We had been promised a new, inde-
pendent facility so it was quite a shock for them to say it would be closing.” First launched in 2002, The Bright Beginnings program is a joint venture between ExxonMobil and the United Way and focuses on providing early education with a focus on child development and interactive learning. Many of the children enrolled inside the childcare center at WHS are from the local parent population and other HISD employees; however several are students at the high school. In the 2012 bond used for construction and renovations at the high school, about $500,000 was allocated by HISD officials for use in upgrading the childcare facilities.
However, principal Andria Schur said the bid for the ongoing 2012 bond project came in about $3 million over budget. This was due in part to rising construction costs, as things budgeted for 2012 have since seen a hike in costs. In the letter to parents, officials cite a “monetary deficit in the bond budget” for the school’s renovations. “We had to make some necessary changes and cuts to our funds to meet that,” Schur said. “Unfortunately the childcare service is one of those items along with other necessary cuts.” Efforts are currently being made to relocate the facility.
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See Childcare, P. 6A
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