More than 200 Special Schools educators listened as Harris County Department of Education’s (HCDE) Chief Human Resources Officer, Dr. Tyrone Sylvester, spoke during their professional development. He called for Denise Alamos to join him at the front of the Irvington Conference Center and asked the crowd, “Who is this?”  

Sylvester was met with shouts of, ‘That’s Denise,’ or ‘Our administrative clerk.’ All he could do was shake his head and say, “No, this is HCDE’s September Employee of the Month!”  

Colleagues describe Alamos as loyal. Her strong work ethic and institutional knowledge of the education system landed her employment offers outside HCDE, but she has always declined. Alamos believes in the Department’s mission to serve students who struggle in a traditional setting because she was one of them. 

“I would have been one of our kids at Highpoint School,” Alamos said. “I moved schools a lot and was always the new kid. Our school had gangs and cliques, where everyone grew up with each other. I was small, liked to talk and would get into many fights. That made me not want to go to school.”  

When Alamos enrolled at Houston Community College to finish earning credits for her high school diploma, she learned about HCDE and was quickly hired. Throughout her tenure, she’s worked at Academic and Behavior Schools East and West and Highpoint North before it was transformed into Fortis Academy. Her experiences as an administrative assistant and educational aide allowed her to get to know the students personally and become their haven.   

“We would see a lot of students run out of the classroom upset or be very angry and destroy the classroom, and for some reason they would run down to my office,” Alamos recalled. “I would try to calm them down and ask what’s happening. I think since they didn’t see me as an authority figure, they could relate to me, and I was able to figure out what upset them.”  

She learned how to build a foundation of trust with the students and gained an understanding of campus operations that worked to her advantage when she moved to HCDE’s main Irvington office. Now, she plays an invaluable role in the Special Schools division.   

“Denise Alamos-Jones is a superstar,” said Dr. Margaret Patton, curriculum and special services director. “I can’t imagine our Schools division being so purposeful and successful without Denise. She handles everything with our contracts, ensuring they’re solid and tight with our home districts. She is our customer service representative because she cares for everyone and makes them feel like a valued part of the HCDE family. Life without Denise would probably not look at all the way it does now. She is the glue that binds our Schools division.” 

Alamos is positioned to touch the lives of every student served at HCDE’s four special schools as she handles the contracts with each ISD that purchases a seat for their student. She works with districts on emergency placements, payments and potential resources like the sensory rooms at each AB school. After communicating potential needs to campus principals, she sits down with them to look at their budgets and analyze where adjustments can be made. She’s developed a specific process over the years to make budgeting easier for campus staff, which has aided in principals in obtaining necessary additions on campus while remaining profitable and stress-free. 

“It doesn’t matter who it is; if they don’t get the budget, they know they can call me,” Alamos laughed. “If they’re asking me questions, I’ll sit there, and if we have to go through it 10 times, we’ll go through it 10 times. If you don’t understand it, you can keep asking me questions until we figure it out.” 

In addition to assisting the campuses with their budgets, Alamos keeps an eagle eye on the division’s annual budget to ensure they can support educators and students. The funds provide additional classroom resources for teachers, support several professional development opportunities throughout the academic year and networking events like the Schools Division Update.  

“She is here sometimes until 7 p.m. the night before those events to make sure the rooms are set up, and in the morning, she makes everyone feel at home with a warm greeting,” Patton boasted. “We make sure our people have snacks throughout the day to keep them engaged and alert, but Denise is very purposeful and intentional about setting up our budget so that we can afford to do those things.”  

She also creates training for campus administrative staff to ensure they can provide excellent service to their principals, students and parents who might need daily assistance. While the sessions are often hosted during work hours, Dr. Ned recalled when Alamos continuously stayed late to ensure a new administrative assistant received training when it became difficult to focus during school hours.  

“I’m packing up to leave, and she’s training our admin because the kids kept pulling their attention during school,” Ned described. “I figured it might happen occasionally, but this was ongoing, and Denise never complained. For many people, life happens after 4 p.m., and it’s time to go, but Denise will always provide an opportunity for individuals to work on getting better at their craft and show them how to be successful.”  

Alamos is HCDE’s September Employee of the Month because of her dedication to serving others and her intention in daily tasks. She wants to create and maintain a better school system than the one she experienced, and what better place to do that than HCDE?  

“You’re only as good as your reputation outside of the organization, and if people don’t have good things to say about the organization, it’s going to be very difficult for you to grow your business,” said Ned. “Denise is a big part of why our relationship with the districts is so successful, and why we can serve each student placed at one of our Special Schools campuses. We are grateful for her.”