New Houston ISD initiative pairs businesses and nonprofits with lower-rated schools

Houston Independent School District (HISD) has unveiled a list of community partners sponsoring the district’s lowest-rated campuses as part of the newly launched “Houston Promise” initiative. This program, introduced by state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles, aims to improve struggling schools across the district.

The list features 43 organizations, including prominent professional sports teams such as the Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, and Houston Texans. Additionally, 13 groups with religious affiliations have committed support, alongside notable individuals like Scott McClelland, former president of the Texas grocery store chain H-E-B. Several organizations have adopted more than one school to provide ongoing assistance.

In September, Superintendent Miles announced that the “Houston Promise” would pair 64 C- and D-rated HISD campuses—based on the Texas Education Agency’s annual accountability ratings—with businesses and nonprofits. The goal is ambitious: all HISD schools are targeted to achieve A or B ratings by 2027.

### About the Houston Promise Initiative

Community partners in the Houston Promise initiative are asked to contribute in several meaningful ways:

– Provide teacher appreciation lunches or breakfasts twice a year
– Support student achievement celebrations twice annually
– Host campus beautification projects
– Volunteer regularly at sponsored schools
– Publicly celebrate the schools and the Houston Promise initiative through social media
– Make small donations for campus principals to use at their discretion toward academic needs

While HISD has yet to offer specific details regarding the donation processes and finalize which partners are linked to each campus, the district remains optimistic.

### A Vision for Change

Miles emphasized the uniqueness and challenge of the initiative: “No other district in the nation would even attempt [this goal], but we’re the first ones that are in a position to do it. The team and the staff and the kids believe we can do it.”

Significant progress has already been made. For the first time since the Texas Education Agency took control of HISD in June 2023—due to persistently poor academic performance in one high school—the district has no F-rated schools this year. Under Miles’s leadership and the board of managers appointed by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, the number of D-rated campuses has dropped sharply from more than 100 in 2022-2023 to just 18. This marks a critical step toward ending the state takeover and restoring local control.

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### Full List of Houston Promise Community Partners:

– Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS)
– Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Alpha Kappa Omega Chapter
– Amigas and Friends
– Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation
– Camden Properties
– Corebridge
– David Weekley Family YMCA
– Dios Habla Hoy Church (Loving Houston)
– Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church
– Grace Presbyterian Church (Loving Houston)
– Harris County Courts at Law Judges
– Harris County Precinct 4
– Houst, Rho Beta Beta Chapter
– One Church at Bethel Family/Free Community Church (Loving Houston)
– Philly Connect
– Pneuma Church (Loving Houston)
– Port Houston
– Possible Missions
– ProUnitas
– Revive Church (Loving Houston)
– Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics
– Sallyport Investments
– Scott and Soraya McClelland
– Sibme
– Tackling Crime in the Red Zone
– The L1 Foundation
– United Healthcare
– University of Houston Downtown
– Veterinary Support Services at Charles River Laboratories