The Houston Learning Network (HLN) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting critical thinking and lifelong learning.
We help Houston-area educators access resources to grow their practice and transform their classrooms. We connect teachers with innovative professional development opportunities and foster collaboration among educators in schools, museums, libraries, and beyond.
The Houston Learning Network grew out of the H2H Initiative, which was created in 2012 by the Harvard University Club of Houston to meaningfully improve the quality of education in Houston-area schools while fostering a close relationship between Harvard and the city of Houston. The H2H Initiative was spun off from the Harvard University Club of Houston as a separate entity in 2017 and continues its work as a key activity of the HLN.
Since 2012, the HLN has enabled more than 100 teachers to travel to Harvard to participate in professional development programs that have transformed their teaching. Teachers have learned cutting-edge educational best practices and brought them back to Houston in order to benefit students of all ages, with a particular focus on students in HISD and other public school districts. Most teachers have participated in programs at Project Zero, an institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education founded in 1967 that has led investigations into arts and education, the nature of intelligence, understanding, thinking, creativity, cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural thinking and ethics.
Participating teachers and administrators continue to work together, using what they have learned to transform their schools one classroom at a time.
Going forward, the HLN will continue to be a force for promoting knowledge sharing and empowering teacher professional development. We plan to expand our impact by funding more teacher professional development experiences, hosting local events, and sharing great ideas and best practices from Houston-area teachers. We hope to spend the years ahead expanding our network to reach more educators, students, families, and community partners.
The Houston Learning Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Charitable donations are tax deductible in accordance with the law.
2012
The H2H Initiative is created by the Harvard University Club of Houston
2017
The H2H Initiative spins off from the Harvard Club of Houston as a separate entity and now operates as the Houston Learning Network
2020
During the pandemic, expanded support for virtual professional development opportunities
2021
Developed Idea Library for sharing Houston-area teachers' best ideas for innovative teaching and learning
Scott Johnson
Andrew Casler
David Church
Marion Keller
Tricia Monticello Kievlan
Donald Lam
Esther Olivarez
Kathe Pate
Christian Stevenson Winn
Several members of our leadership team have been study group leaders at Project Zero Classroom at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Here's what they had to say about their experiences...
"Professional development and learning sticks when it comes from the ground up, from the teachers themselves."
Andrew Casler
Principal, Oak Forest Elementary School (HISD)
"When a classroom creates a 'Culture of Thinking' children are free to wonder and seek out answers to essential questions around a topic that they are learning. They can take a tame topic and make it wild or take a wild topic and tame it."
Donald Lam
STEM Academies Coordinator (FBISD)
"The Harvard PZC experience has challenged us as educators to move from thinking about learning to using thinking to learn."
