3 Houston Schools Fight to Keep Doors Open

District's plan aimed at bringing up scores to stave off closures.

The Houston school district has embarked on a last-ditch campaign to keep open a handful of schools that have been unable to shake Texas’ stamp of failure for three or more years.

This school year could be the last for the three schools, which will be shuttered if they don’t improve enough by next spring.

Since school opened Aug. 14, the district has been raining help on John McReynolds Middle School and Sam Houston and Kashmere high schools. District leaders hope that mentoring, extra staff training, extended class time, and better use of data to guide teaching will boost the schools’ scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS, and keep their doors...