Posted on Jul 23, 2010 | Tagged in: City of Friendswood , charity
Last week, the Friendswood City Council unanimously voted FOR the FM 528/Moore Road site as the new home of the city’s animal shelter.
The new Moore Road facility will be built at a cost of no more than $1 million, and will replace the current shelter located on Deepwood. The current shelter’s history of flooding was a key factor in the citizen argument against a remodel and an obvious consideration by all council members.
“A lot of work has gone into this and it’s time we make a decision,” council member Mike Barker said before council voted 6-0 for the FM 528 site.
Deepwood’s condition and accessibility issues were also mentioned because, although it had passed their last state inspection conditionally, the state had an understanding that the city was going to take action and build an up-to-date facility.
“What really causes the problems down there is the creek flooding,” Friendswood Police Chief Robert Weiners said.
Posted on Jul 14, 2010 | Tagged in: sports , Friendswood ISD
Friendswood Independent School District held a public grand opening for their new $6.5 million dollar Natatorium on Monday, July 5 after the 115th Annual Fourth of July parade.
“It’s been a while coming,” said George Rodgers, FISD Assistant Superintendent for Business Services. “We expected it a little bit sooner than this, but we’re going to have a quality facility once it is turned over to us and that’s just the first step of trying to get everything at the high school done. So, we’re excited.” “It’s what they call a stretched 25. It’s 40 yards long and 25 yards wide.”
“You can have divers practicing on the short end of the pool and swimmers swimming on the other end,” he said. “It’s a very nice facility. It’s got men’s and women’s dressing areas and the nice lobby out front. It’s got seating for probably 250 in the raised area and then on the opposite side is where the competitors will have some bleachers.”
The district plans to provide lifeguards and cap the number of swimmers accordingly.
But, in the meantime, Patricia Hanks, District Superintendent, is in discussion with the City of Friendswood to see if they will assist with the costs of hiring these lifeguards.
Posted on Jul 13, 2010 | Tagged in: Untagged
This weekend, Lennar and Village Builders are keeping America moving with the 48-Hour Summer Blowout sales event!
This Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm, Lennar and Village Builders nationwide will be hosting one of their biggest home sales events ever. Savings even bigger than the homebuyer tax credit!
The homebuilders are providing 48 hours of spectacular savings with $4,000 towards closing costs, 4 free upgrades and 4% (4.59% APR) fixed for life though Universal American Mortgage Company at Lennar and Village Builders communities throughout the Houston area. Plus, arrive early for the opportunity to take advantage of the limited sale homes available.
With more than 60 communities throughout the Houston area, Lennar and Village Builders have homes for first time and move-up buyers that offer the most desired features and upgrades. Their commitment to superior design and construction is equaled only by their pledge to homebuyers for complete satisfaction before, during and long after move in.
Lennar is one of the nation’s leading homebuilders with more than 55 years of experience building homes and communities all across the country.
Village Builders, part of the Lennar Family of Builders, has enjoyed the distinction of being Houston’s luxury builder for more than 3 decades. The Village Builders brand is synonymous with excellence and is founded on a tradition of quality craftsmanship and innovative design. Recently, Village Builders was awarded the 2009 Highest Ranking for Customer Satisfaction (in a tie) in the Houston area by leading global marketing information services company, J.D. Power and Associates.
For more information on Lennar and Village Builders Communities visit Lennar.com or call (866) 203-6386.
Posted on Jul 8, 2010 | Tagged in: Untagged
Three Friendswood Development Company communities are among the newest to host open house weekends, when visitors can tour new and resale homes.
Lakes of Savannah, located just two miles from SH 288 in the Pearland area, Lakemont, located Westpark Tollway and Mason Road; and West Ranch located in the City of Friendswood - will all showcase a variety of new homes ready for move-in, decorated models and resale homes open with Realtors on site to answer questions.
The event, which began in Fairfield and has continued for years, is popular among residents and home shoppers because it gives them the opportunity to see the wide variety of homes available, talk to Realtors and new home sales professionals, and often talk to residents and find out why they are making these Friendswood Development Co. communities their home.
The open house event will take place on Saturday July 10 and Sunday July 11. New homes are open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Resale homes are open from 1- p.m. until 4 p.m. on Sunday. Each community will have maps and information on all available homes and directions to new home sales offices.
Posted on Jul 6, 2010 | Tagged in: business
On any given sizzling day in Friendswood, the ever popular Sno Beach is easily one of the most crowded businesses in town. Located in an un-obscure, but high traffic, little building situated across from the Friends Church Cemetery in the Perry's Grill parking lot, the line can often be 20 people deep!
Sno Beach features one of the largest varieties of snow cone flavors, which are rumored to be hand mixed by the owner, and can be enjoyed at one of their many thatched roof picnic tables. No tables available? Now they feature a large “umbrella bucket” full of oversized umbrellas to shade their loyal overflow patrons!
The flavors are truly delicious, include a large variety of sugar-free options, and actually taste like their namesakes. Having a hard time deciding? No problem… they will allow you to mix and match!
The next time you are out running errands on Friendswood Drive, make it a point to stop by - there’s no better treat on a hot sunny day!
Posted on Jul 6, 2010 | Tagged in: Friendswood ISD , education
Friendswood Independent School District is making some attendance policy changes for the 2010-2011 Student Handbooks.
“The biggest changes are for elementary and intermediate,” Deputy Superintendent Sherry Green said at the FISD Board meeting on Tuesday, June 8.
“High school and junior high take attendance by period and elementary and intermediate don’t do that,” Green said. “What we’ve done is we’ve added a part of day attendance procedure that is going to be brand new that we know we’ll get phone calls on.”
The changes boil down to tougher part of day absence rules, which according to both teachers and administration, are out of hand. The students will now only be allowed three parts of day absences per semester (9 week period) and on the fourth part of day absence, lunch or after school detention will be given to the student.
“Part of the day absence is coming 20 minutes after the tardy bell rings, or picking your child up 20 minutes before the end of the day. These are un-excused,” Green said. “Doctor’s appointments, being sick, those things don’t count. These are un-excused personal business.”
Posted on Jul 2, 2010 | Tagged in: Untagged
Toll Brothers will soon offer its innovative designs in West Ranch. This nationally known builder will feature a variety of one- and two-story home designs in Creekside starting in the high $300,000s.
For more than 40 years, Toll Brothers has been building luxury designs in prime locations throughout the country, and West Ranch is the company’s newest Houston location.
Toll Brothers has been honored with some of the housing industry’s most coveted awards including America’s Best Builder, National Builder of the Year and the National Housing Quality Award.
A Fortune 1000 company, Toll Brothers, Inc. is the successor to three generations of home builders and is a publicly owned company.
A sales office is planned to open this summer in West Ranch. For more information, call 281-992-2770 or visit www.tollbrothers.com.
Posted on Jul 2, 2010 | Tagged in: builders
Partners in Building will soon be offering its luxury home designs in West Ranch. A temporary sales office will open in early July and a decorated model is planned to open this fall. Known for its innovative designs, Partners in Building is one of the largest custom home builders in Texas.
Homes by Partners in Building in West Ranch will be priced from the mid $400,000s and include a variety of spacious one- and two-story designs that will be built in the Estates on some of the largest home sites in the community.
An impressive selection of floor plans will be available to custom buyers in West Ranch, where they can choose from existing designs or create one of their own.
Home buyers will also benefit from the company’s more than 50 years of success in home building and a team of experienced professionals who will assist them in every aspect of the home building process.
Partners in Building, known for its flexibility in working with each buyer to personalize his or her home, is also known for offering a vast array of design choices and some sought after features that buyers can consider adding to a home such as:
Posted on Jun 30, 2010 | Tagged in: events , environment , City of Friendswood
This year's 4th of July Celebration, "Red, White and Blue Go Green, Keep Friendswood Beautiful" will be a two day event! The celebration will be jam-packed with entertainment, food and fun for the entire family.
The celebration will kick off Sunday night with the concert and fireworks extravaganza beginning at 7 p.m. at Friendswood's Centennial Park. Popular entertainer Rick Trevino will headline the evening’s entertainment. The fireworks will light up the sky beginning at approximately 9:20 p.m. “The fireworks will be choreographed to patriotic music and are guaranteed to be one of the best fireworks displays in the Houston area,” state public officials.
Public parking will not be available at Centennial Park for the Evening Program. Free shuttle service will be available from Clear Brook High School and from Friendswood Community Church, on 2821 Parkwood Ave. Shuttle services will begin running at 6:30 p.m.
On Monday, July 5th The Grand Parade will travel down Friendswood Drive. The parade will begin at 10 a.m., at the corner of FM 518 and Heritage Drive, and will feature over 100 entries from Friendswood and around the State of Texas. The parade will conclude at Stevenson Park where rides, games, food, live entertainment and fun for the entire family will take place. The Zydeco Dots will be the featured entertainment along with a variety of patriotic performances throughout the day. The activities will begin shortly after the conclusion of the parade.
Posted on Jun 25, 2010 | Tagged in: honors , Friendswood ISD , education
The Friendswood Independent School District is again earning attention for its outstanding schools with the most recent focus on Friendswood High School, just ranked among Newsweek magazine’s list of America’s Best High Schools 2010.
Newsweek selects the best high schools in the country each year, based on the hard work of school staffs and their challenge to students with advanced placement college level course and tests. This year, just over 1,600 schools – only 6 percent of all public schools in the United States made the list.
Friendswood High School was developing its AP program less than 10 years ago, and today, according to the magazine, the percentage of students enrolled in the AP courses compared to the number of seniors, earned the school its coveted ranking.
The Friendswood Independent School District reports that what Newsweek did not measure that is equally important, is how well students perform on the exams.
An impressive 77.4 percent of the total of Friendswood High School AP test takers (831) earned a 3 or better on the AP exams, thus qualifying to place out of college level classes.
