Westwood Elementary students will return to class Aug. 24 after Friendswood ISD confirmed the campus meets air quality standards, according to an Aug. 18 release from the district. Staff may return to campus as early as Aug. 19, the release states.

What you need to know: The district received confirmation from a third-party environmental consulting firm at SETX Environmental Inc. that all 26 areas tested at Westwood Elementary met air quality standards.

In case you missed it: The district previously reported increased moisture and visible surface mold in parts of the building. Air and surface testing conducted by an environmental consultant in July found elevated mold levels but did not identify black mold.

When Lj Henderson started creating science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, activities for children during the COVID-19 pandemic, she noticed a gap in early childhood education.

How it started: With 25 years of experience in education and pediatric speech therapy, she believed young children needed more opportunities to explore problem-solving and communication skills before entering kindergarten.

That idea became Little STEM Academy, a private school in Pearland that opened in 2020, where Henderson serves as the school’s Dean of Instruction.

What they offer: Little STEM Academy serves students ages 3 through first grade and follows the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS, standards while incorporating STEM concepts across subjects.

“We have them during the most critical period of brain development,” she said. “We want to make certain that we are giving them as many opportunities to think critically.”

📍2975 Kingsley Drive, Ste. 137, Pearland

Houston airport workers will receive a minimum wage increase of $5 for a new wage of $20 an hour, which will gradually rise to $23 an hour by 2028.

What this means: Mayor John Whitmire signed an executive order Aug. 12 alongside members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the labor union that represents airport workers, that would immediately begin the new wages.

Workers employed by air carriers, concessions and airport contractors will qualify for the raise.

“This helps, but this is just the beginning,” Whitmire said. “It's not going to be just wages. It's going to be working conditions.”

Before signing the executive order, the minimum wage was $15 an hour at Houston airports, including Hobby and IAH. This is the first salary increase for Houston workers since 2023, when former Mayor Sylvester Turner raised their minimum wage from $12 to $15 an hour.

One more thing: The increase is scheduled to go up to $21 in January 2027, $22 in October 2027 and by 2028 it will be $23 an hour.

The Texas Education Agency released public school accountability ratings for the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 14.

"We use [A-F ratings] as a way to evaluate our own performance as adults, and then build action plans so that the way that we run our schools next year can be even better than last year," Education Commissioner Mike Morath said during an Aug. 14 news conference.

The overview: Across the state, 85% of campuses received a C rating or higher, which is considered “acceptable" academic performance.

Schools are rated based on three criteria: student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps.

Zooming in: At least one district, Austin ISD, is at risk of being taken over by the TEA after two of its middle school campuses received their fifth consecutive failing grades this year. State law requires the agency to shutter those campuses or take control of the district.

Any potential state-mandated closures or takeovers will not happen immediately, as districts with concerns about their ratings have through Sept. 11 to appeal scores to the TEA.