Application features:

The applications to Harmony Public Schools for the 2012-2013 School Year have been started and it has already exceeded 15 thousand threshold! On the day we started accepting the applications (January 10), we received almost four thousand applications in 24 hours.The application deadline is March 15, 2012.

The Harmony's FIRST Lego League team – Viral Legend competed very well this past Saturday in the North Texas FLL Championship Tournament. They should be really proud of themselves for their performance and continued dedication to improve their team! They came in 7th out of 50 teams, but definitely plan on pushing their way to the top next year and go to FLL Word Festival.
Thanks to Mr. Love and Mr. Tran for project help and Mrs. Cortez for t-shirt design. Special thanks to Centeno, Adra, Olivares, Langford, Sindha and Pravel families for their support.

The team would really like to thank all of the mentors, sponsors, and administration that supported them through this entire process. Without these individuals and companies, the students would not have been able to do what they did and they are GREATLY appreciated.

Attention Prospective Parents:

We at Harmony Science Academy are accepting applications for the 2012-2013 school year. If you are interested please apply online here or come by the school to get the application form. We are accepting applications for grades Kindergarten thru 12th.

We will also have open house at the school in the folllowing times.

Friday, January 20, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 11:00 am
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 11:00 am
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 11:00 am
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 11:00 am


If you have any questions or concerns regarding enrollment, please call the school at 254-751-7878.

On Tuesday HSA Waco celebrated student achievements from the fall semester. Many students received awards for perfect attendance, no dps points, and honor roll. We had 100 2nd-12th grade students make the A honor roll and 230 2nd -12th grade students make the A/B honor roll. Among the honors presented was the TEA Recognized District award for the 2010-2011 year.
Also, we celebrated Harmony Waco's first graduating class by naming those seniors that have been accepted to college.

(Christopher B.-Art Institute of Austin,
Taylor E.-Baylor,
Meagan G.-Baylor and UMHB,
Jasmine K.-Baylor and UMHB,
Gabriel L.-Houston Baptist and Oklahoma Baptist,
Joshua P.-Baylor,
Audry S.-Midwestern State Univ.)

Many of these students also received scholarships. Congratulations to all of our students and we look forward to celebrating the second semester in May.

It's the most wonderful time of year! The malls are crowded, houses are decorated, excitement is growing, and the kids are out of school. Students at Harmony celebrated the end of the first semester and Holiday season with parties. There were many volunteer parents and lots of cupcakes and cookies. Everyone had a great time. Friends were able to take a break from the books and just hang out. The faculty and staff of HSA wish all our families a safe and happy holiday season. We'll see you January!

HSA-Waco joins with Baylor University in congratulating Baylor quarterback, Robert Griffin III, on winning the Heisman Trophy. Students and staff dressed in green and gold to show their Baylor Bear spirit. Sic 'em Bears!

The Polar Express arrived right on time in the elementary hall on Thursday. Students lined the halls as if sitting on the Polar Express while Mrs. Pharris read the story. Afterwards they had hot chocolate and watched the movie. A great time was had by all.
Click here for pictures

On Thursday afternoon, the teachers of HSA-Waco gathered for a time of great food, laughter, and relaxation after a successful first semester. It was a close race between Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Ermoian for "Best Holiday Outfit", but in the end Mrs. Ermoian was triumphant. There was also a gift exchange where things got heated when Mr. Altiyev stole Ms. Smith's scarf. We had a great time and would like to thank Ms. Cortez and the social committee for their efforts in organizing this event.
Click here for pictures

Thank you to the teachers, staff, students, parents, and PTO for your outstanding efforts to make this year’s science fair a success. Thank you to all the students who completed a science fair project and participated in this year’s fair! Your hard work and dedication to learning is admirable! Click here for pictures
And the winners are…. read more . . .

Great Job! The K-3 Holiday program was on Thursday night. The students did a great job. They worked very hard and put on a great show. We have very talented students at Harmony. We had a great audience as well. Thanks to all who attended. A special thanks to the K-3 teachers and Coach Johnson for all their hard work and help. Harmony Science Academy Waco is very fortunate and proud to have Mr. Porter as their music teacher. Happy Holidays to all.
Click here for pictures

SING!, HSA's elementary choir, gave their holiday performance at the end of the K-3 program on Thursday. They did a great job and provided a great ending to a great program. Thanks to the choir for their hard work and to the choir parents for their support and dedication.
Click here for pictures

Congratulations to H.S.A. Waco’s First Lego League Robotics Team—Viral Legend! During this past Saturday’s competition, they won 1st Place in Robot Game (highest single match score among 31 teams) and 2nd Place overall Championship (robot game, robot design, team spirit, core value and project presentation). This has qualified them to move on to the North Texas Regional FLL Championship Tournament to be held on January 21, 2012. Team members include Marcos Ibanez, Michael Ibanez, Tarek Adra, Safiq Sindha, Edgar Olivares, Sara Langford, Elyse Pravel as mentor and coaches Mr. and Mrs. Yaman. Thanks to everyone involved and especially Ms. Cortez for help with t-shirt design and Mr. Love for project idea. Great Job Team!
Click here for more info about FLL

A visit was made to Waco's Police Chief Brent Stroman this week to inform him about the wonderful things we are doing here at Harmony Science Academy. We were proud to see that one of our year books was on display in his office, as we have visited him in the past as well. He continues to be supportive of our school, and is happy to offer any assistance. Chief Stroman may even pay a visit to our school to discuss leadership with our CRLP students. We will certainly look forward to his visit. HSA is proud of the work our police force does for our city, and are supportive of them as well. If you see police officers out in the community, be sure to say "thank you" to them for a job well-done.

Dear Prospective Students/Parents,

As enrollment season approaches, we would like to share a couple of reminders with you.

1 - The application period for Harmony Public Schools is between January 10 and March 15 for the 2012-2013 school year.
2 - All applications prior to January 10, 2012 will be considered for the 2011-2012 school year.
3 - Any application received after March 15, 2012 will be placed on the waiting list in the order of the date in which the application is received.
4 - The Lottery will be drawn during the last week of March 2012.
5 – Selected students will be announced by the end of the 1st week of April 2012.

Please note that any application received is only considered for one school year. If your child is not selected for enrollment, a new application must be submitted for each year.

Harmony Public Schools do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or disability in providing educational services, activities, and programs, including vocational and career technology programs, in accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, (as amended), Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended).

Dear parents/guardians,
You may click on Wednesday Mail link on the left side of the website and view weekly newsletters.

DISTCO 2012 is part of a series of “Digital Storytelling Contests". DISTCO 2012 is an online contest where Students and Teachers in K-12 are invited to submit their original digital stories between November 28, 2011 and January 27, 2012. please check our website at distco.org for complete timeline and rules. The project has certain benefits for both students and teacher. It is a way of exposing and challenging the students in a competition where they can show their certain skills in multimedia, technology, researching, writing and creativity. DOWNLOAD DISTCO 2012 Flyer Here
Participants could win IPAD or INano from among the many rewards available this year. You could win an IPAD or IPOD Nano. SUBMIT YOUR DIGITAL STORY BY JANUARY 27, 2012!

Great Job! Harmony Science Academy-Waco students, parents and staff. We collected 2,781 pounds to donate to Channel 10's Food For Families food drive. Student Council, through several fundraisers, was able to donate $500 to Caritas. Mrs. Pharris' Kindergarten class wins free dress for a week by collecting the most cans at 150. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Click here for pictures

The 4th grade class was able to visit the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday. They split up into three groups and took turns visiting the exhibits and learning about exercise, health, and drug awarness. The students had a great time. Thanks to all the parents that helped.
Click here for pictures

Mark Hines, a civil engineer with the City of Waco, visited the 9th-11th grades on Thursday. The students learned about a career as a civil engineer. Some of the topics that Hines discussed were what a civil engineer designs, what education they need, and how civil engineering compares to other types of engineering. It was very informational and we thank Mark for taking the time to visit.

We had a great turnout on Tuesday for the Family Thanksgiving Dinner. Thanks to everyone who brought food, drinks, and dessert. Also thanks to the social committee for their efforts organizing this event. We are very thankful for our Harmony families and wish all of you a great week off next week.

7-12 grade students may volunteer on Friday from 4:30-7:00 at Channel 10. Volunteers will be helping organizing canned food that has been donated for families in the community. Students must have a form of transportation to the station and approval from Ms. Ventresca.

This past Sunday HSA held a car show benefit for the family of 2nd grade student, Cameron Halvorson. Cameron is battling cancer and will be going for more treament next Monday. We were able to raise more than $600 for Cameron, but are still taking donations until Friday. We had a lot of support from the staff, students and parents of Harmony. Thanks also to Albert Lara and Passionate Car Club for bringing some great cars.
Click here for the news coverage

The 4th-12th grade attended a great Veterans Day assembly today. We had many student participants including the Boy Scouts, choir, Pete A, Lacey M., and Waahid M. Todays guest speaker was John Kelley, U.S. Army Retired. He gave an outstanding speech that motivated the students to be successful in school and as adults. Thanks to the Social Studies Departmet, Mr. Moore, Mr. Ocampo, Mrs. Holt, and Mr. Meyers for their hard work to organize this program. We raised $300 for the Wound Warrior Project. Great Job HSA!

K-2 and 4th and 5th grades attended a fire safety program on Monday. Each grade learned about a different aspect to fire safety: stop, drop, and roll, don't play with matches, and having an exit plan at home. After the program inside the classes were able to go outside and see a fire truck. Thanks to Jeff Wilhelm, Waco Fire Department, and Station No. 2 for providing a great program today.

On November 1st, HSA-Waco received a visit from distinguished guest, Senator Birdwell, of the Texas State Senate. He toured our school which included student demonstrations in the science lab, robotics, and math classes. In addition, he was able to talk with some parents and students as well as HSA administrators about Harmony Public Schools' mission and its success through the years. Senator Birdwell was impressed with the quality of education being offered, and wished us continued success.

The Harmony – Waco Power Surge Robotics team competed very well this past Saturday in the B.E.S.T. Robotics Competition. The team’s Engineering Notebook carried us into the Wild Card match, and the team put up a really good fight. The Notebook ranked 4 out of 30 teams and the team won Best T-shirt Design for the competition. The team really pushed themselves and really gained a lot of great knowledge in their first attempt at a Robotics competition (they’re all freshmen). The team is really pumped for next year, now that they know exactly what is being looked for and what to do. The students have already begun discussing ideas to implement and begin working on for next year. They should be really proud of themselves for their performance and continued dedication to improve their team! They came in 10th overall out of 30 teams, but definitely plan on pushing their way to the top next year!

The team would really like to thank all of the mentors, sponsors, and administration that supported them through this entire process. Without these individuals and companies, the students would not have been able to do what they did and they are GREATLY appreciated. read more . . .

HSA, along with Passionate Ride Car Club, will host a Car Show benefit for 2nd grader Cameron Halvorson on Sunday, November 13th. Registration is from 11:00-12:00 and show is from 1:00-5:00. Some clubs and departments will be selling concession or providing games and activities. Registration fees for cars is $15 and $10 for bikes.

The 9-12 grade students attended a career day presentation with channel 10 weatherman, Rusty Garrett. The students enjoyed learning about his career. Rusty was very impressed with not only the students, but also the school. He said he could tell by the student's questions that there are "brilliant science minds" at work here at Harmony.

The 9th grade students visited the Waco Engineering Fair at the Waco Convention Center on Tuesday. They had many oppurtunities to meet with different kinds of engineers and ask them question about math, science, and their jobs. Freddie Bohn and Brandon Keeton were able to participate in a flight simulator sponspored by Lockheed Martin.

HSA's first Homecoming week was a success. Due to the students participation the theme days raised money for several organizations around the school. Thanks for showing your spirit. The Tiger football team fought a hard battle on Saturday. Great effort!

CONGRATULATIONS to Victoria Hernandez and her family on becoming HSA's first homecoming queen on Saturday. Victoria plans to attend MCC in the fall and study pediatric nursing. Also congratulations to Taylor Else, Meagan Garcia, Jasmine Kirk, and Audry Stevens for participating in the first homecoming court. The five senior girls were very successful in raising money for the senior class. We look forward to next year and having the 2012 Senior class "Come Home."

Dear Students and Families:

We encourage you to visit the Channel 25 KXXV website at http://www.kxxv.com to nominate your favorite teacher. Once on the News 25 website, you will see the Educators Credit Union Student Choice Award icon and it says "click here." From there you just have to submit the student's name, teacher's name and a brief statement of why you are nominating that teacher. It's that simple!

We feel this would be a great way to honor that special teacher. Winners are announced weekly on that station which includes a short news clip of the teacher and nominating student.

An added bonus is that our school gets a mention as well. More importanly, we do have wonderful teachers here at HSA-Waco, and we would like them to receive some public recognition for the excellent job they do.

Thank you for taking the time to nominate a teacher!

The 5th grade field trip was a great success. We visited the Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown. We learned how they were discovered, how old they are, and the names of the formations. Thanks to all the parents that went-You were a great help. Stay tuned for pictures.

Harmony Science Academy was pleased to welcome Texas House of Representatives member, Marva Beck, to our school. During her visit, she gained insight to the entire Harmony Public School System, took a tour of the school, and had a chance to speak with parents, students and teachers. Overall, she was impressed with our school and the success of Harmony schools state wide. We are very happy that she was able to take time out of her busy schedule to pay us a visit!

Pete A., 12th grade, was sworn into Waco's Youth Council this past week. Congratulations to Pete for this achievement.

On Tuesday 6th and 7th grade students learned ways to be successful in school and life during "Why Try?" presentation. Thanks to Nancy Gage and Starry Counseling Center for their program.

Harmony Science Academy's high school robotics team participated in the HOT Fair parade. Many parents and students also walked in the parade shaking hands and passing out candy. Crowd enjoyed seeing robot at the parade.

Two Harmony Science Academy High Schools (Dallas and Austin) were ranked among the top public high schools in the nation, according to a recent analysis by the Newsweek.

Newsweek announced  Best High Schools in America list yesterday. The magazine has been ranking the nation's top 500 public high schools for more than a decade. The rankings are based on graduation rates, college enrollments upon graduation, the percentage of students who take tests for advanced placement courses, and the average college entrance exam scores, among other criteria.

This year, Newsweek studied more than 1,000 top schools to determine the best of the best: the ones producing kids ready for college and life. Harmony Public Schools is proud to have two schools among the top 500 schools in the nation!

In addition to the Best High Schools in America list, Newsweek created an additional list of high-performing schools, labeling them as the "TOP TEN MIRACLE SCHOOLS".  And two of those six are Harmony Schools!
The Austin-American Statesman is proudly sharing the success of these Texas schools with their readers as well. The Harmony Science Academy - North Austin came in at 144 and the Harmony Science Academy - Dallas landed at 165 on the list of 500 schools.
We are so proud of our students, parents, teachers and administrators who dedicate themselves to a standard of excellence each day. Thank you for your continue support of education and educators in Texas.

Students from two Harmony campuses, Harmony School of Excellence and Harmony Science Academy-Laredo , participated in their city-wide MATHCOUNTS competition and won first places. 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.
MATHCOUNTS is a national enrichment competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory. To secure America's global competitiveness, MATHCOUNTS inspires excellence, confidence and curiosity in U.S. middle school students through fun and challenging math programs.

MATHCOUNTS is one of the country's largest and most successful education partnerships program involving educators, industry sponsors, and students. President Barack Obama and former Presidents George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald W. Reagan have all recognized MATHCOUNTS in White House ceremonies.

Many congratulations to team members, their parents, teachers and school administrators.

Leon Lin, 11th grade student at Harmony School of Advancement-Houston, received a perfect score of 2,400 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 was achieved by only a handful of students. A perfect score is 2,400 points. Approximately 1,000,000 students take the SAT each year and on average, only 20 of them get a perfect score.
The SAT has three sections and three scores (Writing, Math, and Critical Reading) each on a scale of 200 to 800. The average total score is approximately 1,538 points. An average score is acceptable for most colleges and universities. However, some of the top schools will expect you to achieve an SAT score of 2,100 of more. A score above 2,100 puts you in the 90th percentile, meaning that you scored better on the test than 90% of test takers. Most top American colleges (Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, etc.) are looking for scores above the 90th percentile of all that year?s test-takers.

Harmony family congratulates Leon for this great feat.

Good news just keep rolling!

Five Harmony Schools, who consistently demonstrated strong academic performances over a three-year period, have been recognized by Texas Education Agency (TEA) for Title 1 Part A, Distinguished Schools for 2010-2011.

Harmony Science Academy Dallas
Harmony Science Academy Austin
Harmony Science Academy Fort Worth
Harmony Science Academy Waco
Harmony Science Academy El Paso

All of these Title I, Part A schools achieved the Academically Exemplary rating for the present school year and have a residing population of 40% or more low income students - as reported on NCLB Consolidated Application for Federal Funding.

Distinguished Performance Schools have achieved a minimum of a Recognized status for the two previous years, and Distinguished Progress Schools have increased their status from either Academically Unacceptable or Acceptable two years ago, to Recognized or Exemplary last year and Exemplary this year.

Read more and take a look at the detailed list on read more . . .

Harmony Science Academy’s Senior class will be selling Paw Prints to be painted on the driveway for $100 each! Each print will include your name or business. If you are interested in purchasing a paw print and helping out the seniors, please contact Ms. Klinke in room 145 or at kklinke@harmonytx.org

Starting October 20th, Chuck E. Cheese in Waco will have Harmony Night the first Thursday of every month. We invite everyone to take their families to Chuck E. Cheese as 15% of total sales that day go to HSA High School students. This fundraiser will last through the end of the year.

Harmony Public Schools have released 2011 College Acceptance Report and 2011 SAT Report.

The reports clearly prove that Harmony Public Schools continue to provide high-quality education to Texas children. As Harmony Public Schools, we will strive to take this success to the new levels.

To take a close look at the reports, please click on the names of the reports above.

It is the policy of the Harmony Science Academy Charter School to locate and identify any child who contacts or enrolls in the Charter School who may have a disability and be in need of special education and related services, regardless of the severity of the disability, in accordance with its procedures as reflected in the CHILD FIND legal framework of the Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process, located at: http://framework.esc18.net/. read more...