HPISD Honors Parkitects, MIS/HPMS Nurses

The Highland Park ISD board of trustees recognized outstanding work by students and life-saving efforts by nurses during its Sept. 23 meeting.

The board honored MAPS environmental architecture students Avner Magilow, Camden Coale, Jaden Taylor, Rohan Portteus, and Juliana Maambo for their first-place finish in the Urban Land Institute’s UrbanPlan Americas Student Competition.

The Highland Parkitects beat out teams from around the country and Canada to win the challenging contest, which required them to balance competing interests and financial constraints to create a plan to redevelop part of the fictional city of Yorktown. 

After developing their initial proposal, the students had just two hours to respond to an additional twist and prepare a pitch for Yorktown’s “city council” of Urban Land Institute volunteers.

The board also recognized McCulloch Intermediate School/Highland Park Middle School nurses Amanda Settle and Stacy Eckeberger with Life Saving awards. 

The nurses’ quick thinking, decisive action, and skill saved the life of Ronnie Renfrow, whose heart stopped while he was making a delivery at MIS/HPMS on the last day of the 2024-25 school year.

Also during the meeting, the board:

• Received a check for $230,000 raised by the Park Cities Dads Club at its Teachers Cup Tournament in April. 
• Heard a report on the district’s 2025 ratings from the Texas Education Agency. HPISD and each of its schools received A grades from the TEA, and HPISD earned the highest score of all 5A/6A public school districts in the state.
• Listened to an update on new instructional practices, including grammar assessments aligned to specific grammar instruction, writing opportunities in all content areas and feedback on writing, anticipated data from a new writing assessment being given to fourth, seventh, and 11th graders, and opportunities for purposeful practice and homework.
• Reviewed the process and timeline for the adoption of new math textbooks.
• Received an update on teacher evaluations.

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Sarah Hodges

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Sarah Hodges is editor of People Newspapers. She wrote for The Kansas City Star, served in the Peace Corps, worked as a law firm associate, and spent more than a decade caring for her children as a stay-at-home parent prior to joining Park Cities People as managing editor in 2024. In her spare time, you can find her running, either around the neighborhood or to various kid activities.