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Harmony: Home of Perfect SAT
L. Lin, 11th grade student at Harmony School of Advancement, received a perfect score of 2400 on SAT after scoring another perfect score in PSAT earlier this year.
Receiving a perfect score on SAT is a tough nut to crack. It is a rare accomplishment that is achieved by only fewer than 300 students every year out of 1.5 million students. That means, approximately one student in 5,000 taking the SAT gets a perfect score of 2,400. Harmony family congratulates Mr. Lin for this unequaled feat.
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Visit to Governor Perry
Harmony Science Academy (HSA) Bryan/College Station took a field trip to Austin, Texas on February 9th in order to attend a charter school rally and meet with state leaders. HSA students, staff and parents met with Governor Rick Perry and Representative Fred Brown at the state Capitol. Governor Perry spoke about the importance of parental involvement in education as well as the university choices in the state of Texas. Principal Harun Karan and Cluster Superintendent Bilgehan Yasar informed Governor Perry about the mission and goals of the Harmony School System. After meeting with state leaders, HSA students and staff attended a Texas Charter Schools Association rally on the South entrance of the Capitol.
Hosted by the Governer, students had an unforgettable opportunity to tell about their Harmony experience to Governor Perry.
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Harmony Excels at MathCounts
 On February 5th, 2011, students from two Harmony campuses, Harmony School of Excellence and Harmony Science Academy-Laredo , participated in their respective city-wide MATHCOUNTS competition and won first places. Houston team members Adam Abu-Shear, Andrew Jin and Vincent Liu placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively with a perfect score of 46. Both school's students are champions of Houston and Laredo and will advance to the 2011 Texas State MATHCOUNTS Competition that will be held on Friday and Saturday, March 25 & 26, at Hilton Austin Hotel in Austin.
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Harmony on National Spotlight
 Harmony Public Schools were again in the headlines in local and national papers. The New York Times article, jointly published on The Texas Tribune as well, is about the hard fact that charter schools pay a much higher interest rate than a traditional public school with the same kind of loan. The reason is obvious: charter schools cannot access the state's Permanent School Fund, which guarantees bond issues for public schools, allowing them to borrow at substantially lower rates. Second news, published on Houston Chronicle, is about the brief history of Harmony, KIPP and Yes Prep charter schools as well as Houston's convenience for becoming a sort of "Silicon Valley" of education. Harmony Public Schools are also given as the good example of entrepreneurial education model. You can reach the articles by clicking on the name of the newspapers.
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10th Year Anniversary in SA
 On February 7, 2011, Harmony Public Schools celebrated their 10th year anniversary in Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. Celebrating a decade of excellence, Harmony Public Schools organize a series of celebrations throughout Texas. Dr. Juan Sepulveda, Director of White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, was the special guest speaker of the night. Joseph D. Bray, President of BBVA Compass Bank, also addressed the audience with his keynote speech. Various awards were given during the night including Education, Support, Media, Business, Community, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters Award.
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I-SWEEEP is Around the Corner
 I-SWEEEP (International Sustainable World - Energy, Engineering, Environment - Project Olympiad) is around the corner. I-SWEEEP's Scientific Review Committee has recently announced the international finalists. Finalist projects were selected among 1100 applications from 82 countries. Deadline for national applicants is March 4. National finalists will be announced on March 15. Please, see the link below to see international finalist projects. http://www.cosmostx.org/isweeep/qualifiedprojects.aspx More information can be found here.
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UIL Programming Contest
 On Saturday February 12, School of Advancement programming teams participated in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Programming Contest organized by University of Texas Computer Science Department. Junior and senior teams competed in small school 1A-3A division and ranked second and third. Most participants in this contest are junior and senior high school students. This was the first time School of Advancement freshman junior team participated in this contest. Nevertheless, their performance is commendable. Individual written exam results: Sean Kim received 2nd place award . Paul Cruz ranked 4th. Paul Bang came 5th.
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BP Donates to Harmony
On February 2, Harmony School of Ingenuity received a generous donation from BP for the sole purpose of developing young minds across the state of Texas. The donation is for the microscopes and needed materials for the medical laboratory of the Harmony School of Ingenuity.
Harmony Public Schools thank BP for their continuous support to raise the future scientists, scholars and even Nobel laureates.
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Bond Financing Luncheon
As part of Harmony Leadership Luncheon Series, Harmony Public Schools organized "Bond Financing for Charter Schools" luncheon on February 1, 2011 at Omni Hotel in Downtown Austin.
The luncheon was organized for the sole purpose of helping charter school movement through tax-exempt bond financing and discussing the importance of school bond financing, issues related to school bond, and facility financing specifically for growing charter school organizations.
The Honorable Rob Eissler, Chair of House Committee on Public Education; David Dunn, Executive Director of TCSA and Karen Hughes, Global Vice Chair of Burson-Marsteller each made a welcome speech in the event.
The distinguished panelists featured Ken Mercer from State Board of Education; Deborah Jones from Morgan Keegan; Dr. Soner Tarim, the Superintendent of Harmony Public Schools; Thomas Sage from Andrews Kurth LLP; Nathan McClellan of Regions Bank and Thomas Torkelson, President and CEO of IDEA Public Schools. Each panelist delivered a brief speech while also answering the questions from the audience.
To see the photo album on our Facebook page, plaese click here.
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Harmony Visits Mayor Parker
On Monday, February 14th, students, parents and administrators from the Harmony Houston Cluster met with Mayor Annise Parker in her office downtown. Despite her busy schedule, Mayor Parker celebrated Harmony students' successes and gave a tour of the Press Room and Mayor's office.
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Ribbon Cutting at High School
Now it is official!
On Saturday, February 12, 2011, Harmony School of Advancement was the home of ribbon cutting ceremony for its official opening.
Honoring this meaningful event, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee made a brief speech about the contributions of Harmony Schools and School of Advancement in such a short period of time.
Dr. Soner Tarim, Superintendent of Harmony Schools, also welcomed the guests expressing his delight to be a part of Harmony Family for a decade.
Students displayed a breathtaking performance during National Anthem as well as other shows during the event.
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Art School Official Opening
On January 29, 2011, Congressman Al Green honored Harmony School of Art and Technology's official opening ceremony. Dr. Celepcikay, Board President, and Mr. Akyildiz, Superintendent of Houston-South Cluster, also joined Honorable Al Green in the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Please check out the photo album of this event on our Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49594&id=130156130369171
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Sugar Land Hosts Dr. Farney
Harmony School of Science - Sugar Land hosted the fourth Education in a Global Society Luncheon Series on February 17, 2011. District 10's State Board of Education Representative, Dr. Marsha Farney, delivered the keynote speech to an audience and proceeded to actively engage students in an interactive discussion concerning the benefits of a successful education, the various reasons as to why "Math Matters!", and the possibility that one day, she could very well be employed by one of HSS's own. A lively and energetic speaker, Dr. Farney advised the students that she currently works for them and is eager to see and take part in their future successes.
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Harmony Teacher Interview
Aggie-STEM has published an interview with Harmony Science Academy High School - Houston Physics Teacher Levent Sakar in its latest winter newsletter. The Aggie STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) center began as a partnership of Texas A&M, College Station and the Dallas Independent School District that established a center for STEM education. The center researches, creates and provides research-based professional development and other services for high-quality, secondary-level STEM teaching and learning.
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Gerardo Arevalo Accepted to Columbia University
 Gerardo Arevalo, from Harmony School of Advancement, has been accepted to Columbia University where he will receive approximately $60,000.00 in scolarships per year. Columbia University is an IVY League School and ranked #4 in the nation. Congratulations Gerardo!
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Abdul Accepted to Rose-Hulman
 Abdul Adesokan, HSA Houston student, has been accepted to Rose Hulman Instittute of Technology that has been ranked nation's one of the best schools for Undergraduate Studies for the past 9 years! Abdul is planning on studying engineering this fall. Congratulations Abdul!
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Soung Accepted to School of Visual Arts
 Soung Park, from HSA Houston, has been accepted to the School of Visual Arts in New York! Soung is interested in design and could study illustration and graphics. Congratulations Soung!
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Neriman Got Acceptance from NYU
 Good News keeps rolling in for the class of 2011! Neriman Cavdar, Houston High School student, has been accepted to New York University! Congratulations Neriman!
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Caritas Essays - Feast of Caring
HSA Waco has had a partnership with Caritas as one of their volunteer groups. Our student council chose Caritas to sponsor for fundraising activities, therefore, creating this partnership. Caritas is a not-for-profit charitable organization with a goal to eliminate hunger in Central Texas.
Recently, Caritas asked our students to write essays on the topic of, "why is it important to help and give to others." Caritas sponsors an annual banquet called the Feast of Caring where several of our student essays were placed on the tables to be read by attendees. In addition to having the essays available, three other students were chosen as the contest winners, and were asked to read their essays during the Feast of Caring banquest held Feb. 24th.
The top 3 student essays were from:
Audrey Stevens, Yulitzi Escobedo, and Daniel Garcia.
To read more, click here
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Trip to the State Capitol
Students, parents, teachers and administrators of North Houston Harmony Schools had the pleasure of taking a trip to our state capitol building in Austin, on February 16th. The trip was to celebrate and commemorate the 10th year anniversary of Harmony Public Schools. Attendees were treated to a viewing of the House of Representatives legislation session, a tour of the building, meet and greets with various Representatives, and an interactive Texas history scavenger hunt.
While in attendance of the House session, the Harmony School System was given special recognition on the House floor for the many accomplishments of the schools and its students. The trip was a great opportunity for all attending to celebrate the success of the Harmony schools and to meet important people involved in our government.
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Abraham Lincoln: A History Maker 
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) served as the 16th President of the United States where he successfully led his country through the most serious military, constitutional and moral crisis by preserving the Union by force while ending the slavery and promoting economic modernization.
Father of four children, Lincoln was an outspoken opponent of the expansion of the slavery in the U.S., which he deftly articulated in his campaign debates and speeches. After war began, following declarations of secession by Southern slave states, he concentrated on both the military and political dimensions of the war effort, seeking to reunify the nation. He vigorously exercised unprecedented war powers, including the arrest and detention, without trial, of thousands of suspected secessionists.
Just six days after the decisive surrender of the commanding general of the Confederate army, Lincoln fell victim to an assassin - the first president to face such a fate. Lincoln has consistently been ranked as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.
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Charter Schools Looking for More Help
Charter school student Joshua Tamayo of San Antonio brought a message to Texas lawmakers Tuesday: "Don't cut our funding. If we're the future then why would they want to cut our funding?"
Helen Sherwood, a Houston parent of a student in a Harmony charter school, also brought a message as more than 1,000 charter school advocates visited the state Capitol.
Read more...
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School of Innovation to Recognize African-American Inventors
A local charter school will celebrate African-American inventors and a nationally known poet in honor of Black History Month.
Harmony School of Innovation has announced that it will hold two assemblies featuring African-American inventors.
Nationally known poet and playwright Thomas Meloncon has been invited to speak during the assembly, which will feature student performances highlighting African-American inventors and their creations. A gospel medley from the University of Houston Good News Gospel Choir is also scheduled.
This event will take place on Monday, Feb. 28, at the school's campus, 9421 W. Sam Houston Parkway S.
Read more...
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Senator Van de Putte Praises Harmony 
Senator Van de Putte talks about a newly-opened Harmony campus who offered her father, a war veteran, to help Harmony on a voluntary basis. Deeply touched by the offer to her father, Senator praises Harmony Schools in her wonderful speech.
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Brain Teaser of the Month
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Happy Birthday Jane! 
Each month we will ask a math or science-related question in our newsletter and the first three respondents will be awarded with a modest gift. Hurry up, time is ticking!
This Month's Question:
Jane's birthday is exactly six weeks later. Her birthday is today if the month and day are reversed. What is Jane's birthday?
Send your answers to
news@harmonytx.org
Last Month's Answer:
Yes, this is possible if we choose the rock as pumice or volcanic glass that could float in water and the wood comes from the desert ironwood tree, so dense that it actually sinks in water.
There were only two correct answers to last month's brain teaser. Congratulations David Taylor and Ashley Keyes. Their modest gift will be sent to their addresses.
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