HOUSTON, Texas – Schools across the country are grappling with significant challenges, including teacher burnout, financial strain, and declining enrollment. In Houston ISD, these pressures are amplified by the expansion of the controversial New Education System, which is now impacting more campuses.
At Fleming Middle School in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward, Principal Devin Adams is using a creative, Olympic-themed approach to boost teacher morale and student performance.
“Our goal is to be number one, and to do that, you have to compete,” Adams explained. To fuel this competitive spirit, Adams has created a comparison group by hand-selecting other middle schools in the district to compete against internally. After reviewing recent assessment results, Fleming ranked second overall in the group.
Fleming, an HISD New Education System school, administers assessments every three weeks. Adams uses this data to identify areas for improvement and measure Fleming’s performance. While the recent assessments revealed progress in some subjects, the results also highlighted a need for improvement in math.
“We weren’t in the top three for math,” Adams admitted, adding that the school placed eighth out of ten campuses. However, he remains optimistic. “But they always end up catching up by the end of the school year,” he said.
To keep morale high, Adams says the system celebrates and rewards teachers for their performance in front of their peers. The principal believes this unique approach helps foster a sense of pride and camaraderie. “Just hearing them clap and cheer for each other made me happy,” Adams said.
Adams shared that Fleming is showing strong progress in several subjects, with science leading the way. The subject achieved a 95% testing participation rate, with 51% proficiency—the second-highest among tested areas. Reading performance was also solid, with Fleming surpassing district averages in some areas.
Looking ahead, Adams plans to continue driving the Olympic spirit forward, using each round of assessments to push both students and teachers toward higher academic achievement.
“We’re making progress,” he said. “I’m really proud of the work everyone is doing.”
Fleming Middle School is one of several campuses being tracked as part of Houston ISD’s New Education System. KPRC2′s Candace Burns is embedded on the campus for the second year in a row, documenting the changes happening under the new system.