On Thursday, November 14, 2014, the HISD Board of Education approved the establishment of the school.[3] The board approval was unanimous, and at the time there were no protesters. In May 2015 around 12 people complained about the future school to the HISD board.[4]
Its initial campus, in Block 21 of the Houston Heights,[5] previously housed Holden Elementary School and the Energy Institute High School.[1] The district planned to upgrade the heating and cooling systems, restrooms, lighting, and technology of the former Holden building.[6]
A total of 490 applications for 132 slots for students were submitted.[4] The school opened on Monday August 24, 2015 with 130 students,[7] all in preschool and kindergarten.[8] The school has plans to create one new grade level each year.[9] The school ultimately plans to have the eighth grade as the highest level.[6]
On the opening day a group of about 30 protesters gathered around the school,[7] accusing it of being anti-American and hindering assimilation.[4]
In 2015 each student spent half of their day learning in English and the other half learning in Arabic. The school focused on Modern Standard Arabic after an HISD cross-functional team deemed that it should do so.[8]
However, the school has now changed tack and has applied for IB (International Baccalaureate) status,[12] causing for a rewrite of the school's curriculum. The IB authorization process takes two to three years,[13] and it is expected that a new curriculum will have been developed by that time.
^Harris County Block Book Maps. Volume 20: Houston Heights Index Map. Version 1 (PDF and JPG) and Version 2 (PDF and JPG). Also Volume 20, Page 17: Houston Heights Block 21 (PDF and JPG) which is marked for the Houston Independent School District.
^Lockard Connor and Barziza Addition, Blocks 12 and 13. Harris County Assessor's Block Book. Volume 23, Page 68 (PDF and JPG) and 69 (PDF and JPG). They indicate the Montrose School, which HSPVA was built upon and where AIMS moved to.
