How One District Answered 13,000 Voices

What does a school district do when 13,000 families speak up and ask for more options for their students? If you’re Aldine Independent School District, you listen and then you get to work. In 2021, Aldine ISD, located in the southeast part of Houston, surveyed their parents, community members, and students about what they wanted to see from the district as it related to learning options and the message was clear: families wanted more choices. According to Chief Transformation Officer Adrian Bustillos, the answer was simple in theory but bold in practice: “you broaden the portfolio of offerings.” But before building anything new, the district did something equally important. They looked at the data. 

The district considered the following data points: 

• Nationwide nursing shortages with a concentrated focus in Texas on licensed vocational nurses (LVNs), registered nurses (RNs), and certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) by 2032. 
• Examined underutilized space across the district and particularly on the Nimitz freshman campus. 
• Aldine is a medical desert with limited hospitals and clinics in the surrounding area. 
• Houston is the world’s largest and premier medical center.

Vision for the Future 

Equipped with community input and nationwide needs, the Aldine team knew they couldn’t build in isolation, so they sought out partnerships with purpose and intentionality. Thanks to a generous grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies and a collaborative partnership with Memorial Hermann, a 14-hospital healthcare system, Aldine’s Health Education and Learning High School (HEAL) opened in 2023 to meet the request of those families and community members several years ago. 

HEAL expands Aldine’s current choice and targeted offerings, including Avalos  P-TECH, the Blanson Career and Tech Center, and La Promesa as choices for students and families. HEAL serves as the hub for medical and health-related career opportunities, offering students five distinct specialized pathways: Nursing, Pharmacy, Medical Imaging, Healthcare Business Administration, and Occupational/Physical Therapy.

Each pathway is open to all grade levels across the district with no current GPA requirements for admissions. With 190 students slated for each pathway and a target enrollment of over 700, Aldine is taking solid steps to address the future shortage in the medical profession. 

Partnership Power

“Our partnership with Memorial Hermann has set the bar on how we want to engage with other community partners. They’ve been excellent,” Bustillos stated. Aldine and Memorial Hermann walked side by side in the repurposed gymnasium, designing replicas of rooms in the hospital to house the new pathways. From the nurses’ stations to the patient intake cubicles to the rehabilitation area and down to the restrooms, students are fully immersed in real-world environments.  

The simulation areas were designed to ensure that students could demonstrate confidence when shadowing healthcare professionals and during their internships at area hospitals. For example, the mock hospital has the same imaging machine used by Memorial Hermann, and HEAL is the only high school in Texas with the machine. The partnership also extends to educators who receive guidance and current knowledge from dedicated Memorial Hermann staff members for each of the pathways. Prior to HEAL, Memorial Hermann established a school-based health clinic in Aldine to provide low-to-no-cost care (vaccines, antibiotics, dental care, etc.) to residents. While the clinic is not formally associated with HEAL, it found a home in the new facilities, which increased the number of community members served by 100%. 

The nursing pathway area includes lights and sounds commonly heard in hospitals. 

Real World Living and Learning 

Each student who is accepted into HEAL participates in a summer program to become acclimated to the structure and environment of the simulations which is led by Memorial Hermann staff. During this time students also participate in CPR and Stop the Bleed classes before the school year starts. 

At the onset of each school year, students travel to the Medical Center to see the air ambulance, walk the facilities, and meet with Memorial’s CEO who encourages students at the start of their medical journey. When the school year starts, regardless of their pathway designation, students become familiar with the various protocols in the mock hospital through experiential exercises. They cover their core content for a portion of the day and spend the second half in spaces that mimic rehabilitation rooms, pharmacy offices, and surgical suites. Due to partnerships with community colleges, students will also obtain industry based certifications and over 20 hours of college credit.

Additionally, staff from Memorial Hermann serve as guest speakers and mentors to students. They meet with their designated group of students as they move throughout the program to create an authentic relationship with the students. “I tell the students these are people you really want to know especially when you apply for your summer apprenticeships,” stated Fernanda Flores, Director of Transformational Learning Programs. “Many of our students haven’t left this side of town let alone the medical center so it’s a big deal to gain this level of exposure.”  

Students gain experience serving as both patients and administrators responsible for patient intake.

Conclusion

The HEAL Center clearly demonstrates the powerful results when a school district actively listens to its community and aligns educational strategy with real-world needs. By responding directly to the call for more choices and simultaneously tackling critical issues like medical deserts and workforce shortages, Aldine has created a model for purposeful education collaboration. Their partnership with Memorial Hermann ensures that students are not just learning theory; they are gaining confidence, relevant experience, and building social capital in an environment that mirrors the professional world.