AIMS 2024-2025 Board Members

Rachel Portnoy is a proud HISD Magnet School graduate; having attended Herod Elementary, Johnston Middle School (now Meyerland Middle School) and Lamar High School. Rachel is excited that her two children are following in her footsteps by attending the magnet program at Arabic Immersion! Rachel is a licensed master social worker and the guardianship investigator for Harris County Probate Court 3. Ms. Portnoy has worked with the elderly, disability rights, and community outreach for the majority of her career and is active volunteer for the school. Rachel has been the PTO Board Secretary for the past year. Rachel, her husband Ryan, and two kids Genevieve and Remy enjoy traveling, eating good food, and attending fun events in Houston. Rachel looks forward to working with YOU to make AIMS the best school community in Houston!!!

Hi, my name is Jessica Keough. I am the mother of a first and second grader at AIMS. My passion is gardening and my day job is real estate. I am excited to share my love of history through documenting our own school’s history over the course of the next school year. I also love building beautiful gardens that not only can teach us where our food comes from but also learn about different life cycles that naturally take place. From creating our own soil, collecting rainwater and learning gardening skills, we hope to pass these lessons on and create long lasting and magical memories with the children of AIMS. I look forward to working towards the beautification of our history and garden spaces.

Originally from Maryland, I have a BA in modern languages and linguistics from UMBC and a PhD in global political economy from Old Dominion University (Norfolk VA). We moved to Houston in 2016 for work in immigration with the Dept. of Homeland Security. Currently I work with DHS as a trainer on electronic systems. I have past leadership experience with my labor union and on the boards of NGOs. I have managed budgets of small and medium-sized charitable organizations and have completed training in budgets and the duties of treasurers.

My name is Kiara Phillips and I have a future 5th grader, 2nd grader and Kindergartener. I’m Home Health Pediatric Physical Therapist Assistant. I would like to to support the positive momentum that the PTO has created for our school and our children. Having a strong background in documentation with my current job, I feel that running for secretary is a direct way that I can help contribute to the PTO executive board while also assisting with other activities around the school.

My name is Samah Issa. I have a bachelor in English Literature and Linguistics and I work as a freelance English-Arabic community interpreter for international and local organizations. Having the chance to be nominated for vice president is an honor that I greatly appreciate. I started my journey with AIMS ever since my first child started Pre-K. At the beginning the road was somehow rough having to deal with Corona’s unfortunate times, but I still tried my best to support virtually with my kids. My Second year at AIMS, I had the opportunity to volunteer many times in school, and meet all the great people there. My third year, having two kids at AIMS, I used to join almost all of the events as a volunteer, halfway through the school year I’ve become an Associate Teacher where I can be helping officially more and more whatever theyneed in the school. My goal for the future is just to keep on supporting and helping AIMS to grow in the best way it could be and to see our kids receive their bilingual education and thegood culture we all look forward to.