message from the superintendent
December brought another month of notable successes and community involvement for Harmony Austin. Nikita, a Pflugerville student, was published for her work on cancer research, our seniors began to receive sports and academic scholarships this month, and many of our staff and students found opportunities to give back to their community through volunteering. Thank you to those who gave through the Amazon link to ensure our own families were cared for this season. As we look back on 2017, there is much to be thankful for, but we know that 2018 will be a year filled with more goals and accomplishments. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from Harmony Austin!
We wish all our Austin families the Happiest of Holidays! We look forward to seeing everyone back after the New Year on Thursday, January 4th.
character matters
One of Harmony’s core values is Character Matters. At Harmony, we guide our students to value integrity, show respect, and be responsible. The HPS Austin leadership team values leading by example and joined community non-profits for volunteer opportunities during this season of giving. Thank you to the Austin Police Department, Travis County Sheriff's Department, and Austin Safe House for allowing us to join your efforts in serving the city of Austin.
students serving the community
HPS Austin students loved being in the community throughout the month of December. High school students at Harmony School of Excellence volunteered with the Austin Police Operation Blue Santa. Jose C., HSE Senior, has been volunteering with the organization since he was a 7th grader alongside his mother. Every year, his goal is to expand his volunteer group and bring awareness to such a great cause in the community. HSE students wrapped gifts for certain age groups in the south Austin area. “I didn’t do it to get recognized or for fun. I had a goal in mind and I wanted to meet community members. I’m glad we were able to build a special connection with the Blue Santa staff,” said Jose. HSE’s National Honor Society program also led their campus in serving the community with a holiday gift giving initiative. Community group Dove Springs Proud donated funds to help the program be a huge success. All gifts collected by NHS will go back to families in the south Austin community.
Harmony Science Academy Pflugerville students also found unique ways to give back to their neighborhoods. The Hispanic Honor Society students and sponsor, Ms. Hernandez, volunteered at a Pflugerville nursing home. Students danced, sang holiday songs, and socialized with nursing home residents and staff. Pflugerville’s middle school students in the S.P.A.R.K.lets (Students Promoting Random Acts of Kindness) Club held a school-wide food and toy drive to benefit the Pflugerville Police Department’s Blue Santa organization.
Harmony Celebrates Student Success
Nikita kondapalli
It’s not every day that a local cancer researcher is asked to present at a prestigious international conference, but Harmony Science Academy Pflugerville’s Nikita Kondapalli got that chance. Nikita was invited to present her research paper on the risk of additional malignancies in Hodgkins Lymphoma survivors at the American Society Hematology’s annual conference in Atlanta. Nikita is also listed as a co-author of a second paper focused on Leukemia survivors, which was presented (by the paper’s lead author) during the same conference. Both papers will be published in the American Society of Hematology journal Hematology 2017. Separately, Nikita’s research paper on Hodgkins Lymphoma has been selected for publication in a Japanese medical newsletter. Nikita plans to be a Pediatric doctor and has always been interested in the medical field. She spent her summer with the other co-authors reviewing data to write up the papers. A doctor at Baylor Scott & White, Round Rock, TX (Dr.Rakesh Surapaneni, MD4) brought the team together and assisted them. See more on Nikita’s accomplishments at the link to her KXAN story below!
Jr cruz
Harmony Science Academy Pflugerville Senior Jr Cruz who has received his first college acceptance letter from College of Saint Elizabeth in New Jersey! Jr and HSAPf Coach Rodriguez, who has coached Jr since 8th grade, recently visited New Jersey to visit the campus and play a soccer scrimmage game with the college's soccer team. Jr has been accepted to play on the soccer team and has received a scholarship to attend. We look forward to more acceptance letters to come and we are excited to see where Jr will begin his soccer career.
STEm4All
hour of code
Computer Science Education Week is a celebrated annually at HPS Austin. Each year, 100% of students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th participate in the Hour of Code- a global movement to increase computer science participation and awareness through a variety of engaging activities.
Harmony Science Academy Pf middle school students were busy coding in Ms. Lockett’s technology class during Hour of Code!
Students at Harmony School of Innovation participated in Hour of Code activities during their technology class with Mr. Sanchez. Owner of the recent web and mobile application, KWADDLE, Mr. Deven Hariyani stopped by to witness our kindergarten students coding!
Harmony School of Political Science hosted tech industry representatives during Computer Science Education Week. Jorge Orozco from GoogleFiber allowed students to sample the latest virtual reality technology via VR kits from GoogleExpedition. Mr. Ross Burns, product technologist from Dell, shared his extensive field experience regarding the advancement of technology and coding with a visit to high school students.
Harmony School of Science students proudly display their certificates for participating in Hour of Code.
The Harmony School of Science Austin 5th grade classes had special visitors from the Social Solutions, a software engineering company which specializes in working with nonprofits.
Students hard at work while observing the Hour of Code.
The Social Solutions Austin Development team members helped our students code during class at Harmony School of Science.
Harmony Science Academy Austin’s 7th grade technology class had a special visitor from Monkee-Boy Web Design, Inc.! Mr. David Saunders spoke about his career path from Archaeology to his current position as the company’s Front End Web Developer.
Harmony Science Academy Cedar Park participated in activities using themed programs on code.org like Star Wars, Moana, and Angry Birds to learn skills for coding. Ms. Tackett also visited the Texas Computing Center on the UT campus. She brought back training on Lego-WeDo robotics including Morris Code machine and Navajo Code Talks projects.
engineering class at Harmony school of excellence
Harmony School of Excellence Principal Sharifov joined campus Assistant Principals as science judges for engineering class projects. Students have been working diligently on advanced projects in for their engineering class this semester. Their showcased projects were rated based on content knowledge, organization, and oral presentation. Future engineers at HSE Austin were confident in their knowledge and skills to respond to engaging and complex questions. The feedback received will help them to improve their work as they move into the second semester.
steam fests
Our annual STEAM fests were in full swing in December. Students and the surrounding south and central Austin community enjoyed fun activities with interactive projects from the several departments: Math, Biology, Physics, Science, Engineering, Chemistry, Web Development and activities from: ELA, Art, Language Department, Music, Social Studies. One of the crowd favorites from Harmony School of Excellence was a live dissection where students demonstrated safety practices in the laboratory while investigating the anatomy of a dogfish shark. Harmony Science Academy Austin held its 1st annual S.T.E.A.M. Fest this year which included a winter concert, art show, and many hands-on science and math activities.
hps austin promotes a love of learning
Miracle Austin visits Harmony School of Excellence and Innovation
Harmony School of Excellence hosted Young Adult cross-genre author, Miracle Austin, for a meet and greet with 10th grade English Language Arts students. Students had the opportunity to purchase exclusive character prints and signed copies of her current collections, Boundless, a diverse collection of short stories and free-verse poems and Doll, a traditional story about a high school girl. Afterwards, Mrs. Austin was delighted to take a campus tour of Harmony School of Innovation where Principal Molina was able to welcome her to campus. “I so enjoyed! An honor for me to visit such a prestigious school!” said best-selling author, Miracle Austin.
math olympiad success
5th grade: 1st place: Kate L., Old Town Elementary; 2nd place: Arhant C. , Harmony School of Political Science; 3rd place: Aryan B., Harmony School of Political Science
8th grade: 1st place: Jair C., Harmony Science Academy Austin; 2nd place: Oscar C., Harmony Science Academy Austin; 3rd place: student, Hill Country Middle School
g.r.e.a.t. program graduates
A group of Harmony Science Academy - Austin 7th grade students successfully completed a 13-week G.R.E.A.T. program in partnership with the Austin Police Department's Police Activities League of Austin - PAL. The G.R.E.A.T. program is taught by APD officers who volunteer with the Police Activities League. The program and the G.R.E.A.T. curriculum focus on positive partnerships in the community and teaching our students about making the right choices in and out of school. Students and their G.R.E.A.T. teacher, Officer Soliz, celebrated the accomplishments of the graduates in a ceremony and classroom pizza party.
happy holidays
Harmony School of Innovation staff feeling festive in holiday sweaters
Harmony Science Academy Pflugerville students enjoying their annual Winter Formal
Harmony Science Academy Austin perform holiday songs at their first annual STEAM festival
Fun and educational activities at Harmony Science Academy Cedar Park's Holidays Around the World
Always making learning fun at Harmony Science Academy Cedar Park in Computer Science
Harmony School of Innovation students perform for families at their Winter Concert
Little reindeer at Harmony School of Science Winter Performance
Treats for the whole family at Harmony Science Academy Austin's Holidays Around the World event
volunteer with harmony
Calling all Science Fair judges
We are inviting community members who are interested in volunteering their time to join us in January as a judge for our annual district level Science Fair. Please fill out the application at the link below if you would like to be involved in judging Harmony's amazing projects.
We need you! Can you help? Community members and parents are encouraged to volunteer at HPS. Every day, volunteers fulfill essential needs especially in the administrative, support and fundraising areas so that HPS's teaching staff can focus all its energy on its young students. Volunteers may be utilized in the classrooms, assisting in the office, library, and cafeteria, or at community fundraising events. If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up at the link below!
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Community bus stops
We are so excited to offer bus routes for the 2018-19 school year! Sign ups will be announced during the Spring Semester.
Meet the district office leadership staff
930 E Rundberg Lane Austin, TX 78753
1421 Wells Branch Pkwy Suite 200 Grades: 6th-12th
930 E Rundberg Lane Grades: PK-8th
13415 FM 620 N Grades: 5-12th
12200 Anderson Mill Rd Austin, Texas 78726 Grades: PK-4th
11800 Stonehollow Dr. Suite 100 Grades: K-5th
2100 E St. Elmo Rd Grades: 6th-12th
2124 E St. Elmo Rd. Grades: K-5th