Environmental Scan

Humble ISD is located seventeen miles Northeast of the Houston metroplex in Harris County. It encompasses the cities of Humble and Kingwood and other subdivisions/communities that are part of Houston. Humble ISD is projected to serve 48,541 students in the 2024-25 school year. (Population and Survey Analysts, 2024, p. 7) There are 44 campuses (30 elementary, eight middle, and six high schools). The average age of residents in Humble ISD is 36.1; 42% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and 20% are school-aged children. (Population and Survey Analysts, 2024, p. 16). The median household income in HISD was $99,027 in 2021, and the median home value is $239,100. (Population and Survey Analysts, 2024, p. 16). These factors indicate that HISD is an affluent community of primarily employed families. When we consider the community's demographics, it shows that this is marginally true as it depends on the geographical location within the district. 

The district comprises 48.4% economically disadvantaged and 11.3% emergent bilingual students. (Humble ISD, n.d.-b)It is interesting to note the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, considering the median household income is close to $100,000. The district is quite large geographically, and there are vast socioeconomic differences within the areas the district serves. This is important when looking at the district and comparing individual campuses and the resources students can access. One must consider the campus's location and the demographics specific to that campus. For example, students at Willow Creek Elementary have very different resources than students at Jack Fields Elementary. Willow Creek Elementary has 568 students, 3.7% economically disadvantaged and 1.6% emergent bilingual. (Humble ISD, n.d.-d). While Jack Fields Elementary has 627 students, 87.7% are economically disadvantaged, and 35.2% are emergent bilingual. (Humble ISD, n.d.-a). Reflecting on the differences between these two campuses in the same district, it is evident that student's needs and available resources are vastly different. 

Based on socioeconomic information, students at Willow Creek Elementary are more likely to have access to technology and the Internet outside of school than students from Jack Fields Elementary. Given these resource needs, librarians and the campus must be intentional about the technology services provided for students at school and home.

Humble ISD has 50,347 resident students, and 48,565, or 95%, attend HISD with 701 out-of-district transfers. 691 students attend charter schools, 1,084 attend private schools, and 750 attend nearby districts. (Population and Survey Analysts, 2024, p. 25). It is essential to consider that most students in the area attend public schools. To maintain this attendance rate, the campuses must be up-to-date with the newest technological trends to continue attracting enrollment. 

My home campus is Elm Grove Elementary, which opened in December 1978 and serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in Kingwood. While some of the campus building is original, a devastating fire in the summer of 1999 caused over 3.5 million dollars in damage and destroyed many classrooms and the library. The school was too damaged to open in the fall of 1999, so the entire campus was relocated to the old Humble Elementary campus for the 1999-2000 school year. 

The 2022-2023 enrollment at Elm Grove was 616 students. The demographics are: African American 10.7%; Hispanic 38.8%; White 39.4%; American Indian 0.3%; Asian 2.9%; Pac. Islander 0.8%; Two or more races 7.0%; Economically Disadvantaged: 57.0% English Language Learner: 7.6%. (Humble ISD, n.d.-c) Although the campus is 57% economically disadvantaged, it is not designated as a Title 1 campus. In the 2022-23 school year, 15.3% of students received special education services, and 9.2% were identified as dyslexic. There are 65.7 staff members, 43 of whom are certified teachers. The student-to-teacher ratio is 14.3:1; this includes all certified teaching staff, not just classroom teachers. (Humble ISD, n.d.-c) While the ratio is low, the general education classrooms have about 20-22 students in the lower grades and 22-27 in the upper grades. 

Elm Grove has two full-day co-teach pre kindergarten classes. Because of the high SPED population, both classes have two full-time paraprofessionals in addition to the classroom teacher. We also have two double-staffed classrooms, one in second grade and one in third grade. These classrooms have two certified teachers at all times. Elm Grove also houses the applied skills program for kindergarten through fifth-grade students. There are thirty elementary schools in Humble ISD, and Elm Grove is on a smaller scale in student enrollment, with eight schools serving fewer students and six being about the same size. Elm Grove has fewer ELL students than other campuses but a higher SPED and dyslexia population. 

Currently, the library houses six Chromebooks designated for library use. There is also a Chromebook cart that can be checked out, but it is usually reserved for upper-grade classrooms. The Chromebooks in the library are also frequently used for testing throughout the year. Although they are 'designated' for the library, they are only sometimes available. Our campus and district have a rotating schedule to refresh technology at least every seven years. The idea is to ensure that all technology does not become outdated simultaneously, creating a financial burden on the district. However, this coming school year, we are slated to receive a technology overhaul from the bond that passed in 2022. The technology overhaul the campus receives next year will go a long way toward improving our access to devices and technology for students and teachers. We will receive updated technology for the entire campus, including a 2:1 ratio of devices per student and Clear Touch monitors in each learning environment.

Specifically, the library offers access to relevant technologies, tools, resources, and services. We have BeeBots for coding, a Clear Touch monitor, and a 3D printer that can be accessed in the library. The bandwidth is sufficient to support wired and wireless connections throughout the campus and the library. We also have digital resources available on and off campus through the common district website/app. Students can access SORA, PebbleGo/Pebble Next, Gale Elementary, and Capstone Interactive from anywhere by logging into their school district dashboard.Other apps that teachers often use include Wixie, Flip, SplashLearn, Prodigy, Starfall, Google Classroom, Canva and Zearn.

Most teachers on our campus use our technology, but it can be a struggle because of the age and number of devices we have available. Upper-grade teachers use Chromebooks daily in their classrooms for instruction and assignments. They also assign homework to students in Google Classroom, but because they know that all students do not have access to devices at home, they provide options where they can complete paper and pencil work instead. In the younger grades, we primarily use iPads for students because they are familiar with them and can access them independently. In my classroom, I still have four desktop computers that work intermittently. I have kept these in my classroom because students need to learn how to navigate with a keyboard and a mouse. With the new technology coming this next school year, I am unsure if I will have the option to keep the desktops in my classroom or if Chromebooks will replace them. 

Considering the geographic location of my campus, we are in an area that is hot and humid, and we have frequent flooding and hurricane issues. This spring, our campus had flooding happen around the school twice, which is not uncommon. While the physical school building does not flood, the streets around the school and houses do. We also have frequent power outages at the school when there are storms or wind. During the last three weeks of this school year, we missed two instructional days, one for flooding and one for lack of power. We had another day when the power was out for more than half the day, not to mention the many days we arrived at school when the power had been out, and the plugs for technology (Wi-Fi, projectors, etc.) were not working. All of these environmental factors affect the use of technology for instruction in the classroom and students’ ability to access technology at school and home.

I am excited about the new technology we are receiving on campus next year, but I would also like to see consideration for students' access at home. During COVID, students without devices could check out a device for home use and a district hot spot if needed. Students can come up to the school and access the district Wi-Fi by logging into their district dashboard. While this is an option, students must be near the school to log in. Since we are not a 1:1 campus or district, it would be ideal to allow students to access devices when needed to take home and internet access through a hot spot. This would also level the playing field for the students across the district when there is such a vast difference in their experiences with and access to technology. 

Being familiar with the campus and community environment is vital as a librarian to ensure that you are intuitive to the needs of the campus and community. As a technology leader on campus, the librarian understands how teachers use technology for instruction and how students access technology. For example, if the students at the campus have limited access to devices at home or do not have internet access, the librarian could provide time before or after school for students to access devices in the library. The librarian can provide staff development opportunities for teachers to implement technology available on campus and in the classroom. Campus-specific staff development is necessary as not all campuses have equivalent devices or software that they use. At my campus, our PTA purchases programs for us to use, such as RAZKids and Flocabulary. Since not all campuses in the district have these programs, the librarian needs to be familiar with them and provide teachers with information on how to implement them effectively. 

Our district has more unique challenges in comparison to more economically homogeneous districts. Overall, our district is making strides to improve access to technology across the district and ensure equivalency among campuses with very different demographics. 

References

Humble ISD. (n.d.-a). (Jack M. Fields Sr. Elementary homepage). Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://www.humbleisd.net/o/jfe/page/campus-information

Humble ISD. (n.d.-b). (About Humble ISD). Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://www.humbleisd.net/page/about-humble-isd

Humble ISD. (n.d.-c). (Elm Grove Elementary homepage). Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://www.humbleisd.net/o/ege/page/campus-information

Humble ISD. (n.d.-d). (Willow Creek Elementary campus page). Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://www.humbleisd.net/o/wce/page/campus-information

Population and Survey Analysts. (2024). Humble ISD demographic study (2023-24). https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/3592/HumbleISD/3880606/Humble_ISD_Demographic_Study_2023-2024.pdf